Deck the Halls!

A tabletop tree is the perfect decoration for a tea room - perfect size, eye level for viewing, and festive for the season. A tabletop tree decorated with tea themed ornaments seems the perfect solution for a tea room tree. This little tree is my favorite holiday decoration - one of the first to go up during the decorating session, it brings smiles to my face as I see the little ornaments again after a year. All tea related in many ways, most were gifts from family, some are even jewelry pieces, others are tea strainers that aren't really practical to use but perfect for a tree, and several bring memories of vacations past where I found a sweet remembrance that would be perfect for the tree. Alas, I can't show each and every ornament, you need to visit the tea room to see them all, but here are a few that grace this very special tea tree.

Plants in our Advent Wreath.

Wet, wet, wet on this second Sunday of Advent.

The Advent wreath is a circle to remind us of God's love which never ends. Evergreen branches in the wreath and Christmas trees are symbols of everlasting life. The advent wreath we began last Sunday had a nice base of evergreens. To that we added a bundle of mature ivy (Hedera helix) with berries and also some berried Holly (Ilex aquifolium). The ancients believed evergreens to be symbols of the continuity of life through the dark days of winter. The plants verdant foliage has decorated homes at midwinter solstice since pre-Christian times. Early Christians saw in the spiny leaves of the holly the crown of thorns, the red berries symbolized for them the blood of Christ. Ivy was believed to lessen the influence of wine, as well as assisting in predicting the future. In folklore, both plants are powerful protectors against evil.

Gingerbread Houses

What fun we had this past Saturday....a tea room full of moms and daughters each working together as a team to decorate a Gingerbread House. It was a delight to see the many creative ideas that were swirling around the room. These photos show a sampling of the houses that were crafted that day. Mini pretzels were used as a fence around the house. And tree-shaped pretzels adorn the yard of one of the other houses. Wheat Thins became shingles and M & M's evolved into a path to the door, a mini candy bar. Why, even Santa is atop one of the houses, with a candy bar sleigh and candy cane runners. How clever - no two houses alike! After the decorating project, we had a very simple tea party with hot chocolate and gingerbread.

You Better Watch Out.....

.......Santa Claus is coming to town... and here's a peek at a few of the Santa decorations that adorn the tea room this holiday season. The culinary Santa collection is just inside the main doorway, greeting you upon arrival. And on occasion, there are even delicious fragrances wafting from the kitchen that you might just believe Santa was quite busy himself, baking a batch of those gingerbread boys and girls or perhaps a spiced plum pudding. The other grouping of Santas is perched high on a shelf in the main room. When we were getting the tea room ready to open, my father made several narrow shelves that sit above the doorways and are perfect for displaying special collections. This particular shelf changes with the holidays, or it can also be found filled with a collection of ornamental teapots. The perky stuffed Santa with the fuzzy beard and dressed in a red flannel outfit is one that I stitched in my teenage years! He has seen many a holiday, and I chuckle when I see him, as he magically transports me to my youth. Even though his beard is thinning and his buttons are popping off, he stirs memories that are quite special. He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.

Easy to make Roping

We are busy decorating for the holidays and also holding a variety of classes to help others prepare for the holidays both inside and out. One of our classes this week was as my kids would say "easy peasy". This roping class was made with a combination of faux and fresh greens. The trick is to have a piece of faux roping, we used 9 foot lengths. The secret is it must be roping that is wired and bendable. Then you simply add a variety of fresh cut greens. If you are going to use it indoors the greens must be well conditioned. To condition greens we cut them and put them in room temperature water for 2 or 3 days. If possible it is best to submerge them. If you are using the roping out doors the conditioning process is not as critical as it is if you plan to use greens inside our dry homes. So to make your own roping, cut your conditioned greens into 6-8 inch pieces and wire them into the faux roping using the bendable wired roping as your mechanic. The class went very quickly with most everyone finishing their project in about an hour. We had a large variety of greens: white pine, scotch pine, boxwood, chamaecyparis, red berried holly (for outdoor use), variegated arborvitae, concolor fir, and then some of the ladies added in pinecones and ribbon also.

Advent Wreaths

Brrrr, it is a damp and chilly first day of the Advent season!

Another of our Christmas workshops was to create these beautiful advent wreaths. We used a block of floral oasis, which we quartered lengthwise to fit around a 10 inch box wire wreath form. Everyone worked on a black catering tray to keep the moisture off the table and to make it easy to carry the wreath home. We added a large variety of fresh cut greens and herbs to the oasis. Since these greens and herbs are in oasis that you can continue to add water to, they will stay green and fresh throughout the whole season of advent. To make our wreaths even more special we used a number of herbs and greens that are found in the Bible. A few of the greens of the Bible used in this wreath are mentioned in Isaiah 60:13 'The Glory of Lebanon shall come to thee, the fir tree, the pine tree and the box together'. Those three greens and the majestic Cedar of Lebanon formed the base of our advent wreath. Cedar was for centuries a rich source of timber for countries around it. Solomon built his great temple which endured for 300 years. Not only is it a strong tree but a beautiful one as well. Cedrus means "strong and firmly rooted". We also added other herbs of the Bible or plants that have an association with the advent season. We will blog on those on the other advent Sundays.

Angels, Angels, Angels

Angels, Angels and more Angels were featured at historic Union Church in our charming little town of Mechanicsburg, PA. A small but hard working committee organized this display of all types of angels from the "mop head" angel on the chair to the golden home made paper mache angel, which has become a family heirloom. It was a cold and chilly night, when our family walked down to our town's tree lighting ceremony and then to Union Church to see the angels. The young and young at heart received a halo and were read a children's story about angels. We finished our evening with a carriage ride around town.

Christmas flowers

Monday was our garden club's annual Community projects benefit. Penn Cumberland Garden Club hosts a luncheon featuring a talented flower arranger. They also sell lots of fresh cut and conditioned greens, baked goods and other ways and means. It has turned into a not to be missed event. The speaker this year was Michael O'Neill of Foxboro, PA. Here is a small sampling of his arrangements.

The candle sticks have an orange with another half an orange on top. The 24 inch candles are put through the oranges and then the fresh greens were poked into the top half orange which keeps them moist and looking fresh through the event. It smells wonderful also.

The simple tartan plaid arrangement is a clear glass cylinder container lined on the inside with fabric. Clever!

The ornament arrangement was made with 45 carnations (!) tucked into an oasis ball. The top of the ornament is a gold spray can lid with a pipe cleaner hook.

Gingerbread Boys & Girls!

Preparations are underway for the next holiday event at the tea room. The fragrance of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and freshly grated nutmeg perfumed the air as these Gingerbread guys and gals were baking yesterday. The tea room will transform into Mrs. Claus' kitchen as we will be decorating Gingerbread houses on Saturday, another holiday tradition. Simple decorations have brought these cookies to life, and they await their fate. Our mom and daughter teams have the option of nibbling on gingerbread cookies, or simply adding them to their creations. 
Not having enough patience or time to actually bake and construct eighteen houses, there is a local bakery that whips up the houses, and provides the royal icing 'glue' and a variety candies to decorate the houses. In addition, we provide these little guys, along with a cup of hot cocoa at the end of the morning. The tea room is quite a sight with all those houses decorated in red and gold wrapped candies, little girls and boys beaming with pride as they show off their accomplishment, instant holiday decoration for the moms. 

Our Annual Holiday Tea

The Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving marks the beginning of our holiday season. Our Annual Holiday Tea is served on these days, with groups at 11 am and also 2 pm. The tea room is decorated for the holiday, and the festive tea plates and cups have replaced the English floral patterns that we use throughout the year. The first course consisted of Amaretto Cheese spread with assorted crackers, and a few pieces of a Clementine. That was followed with the sandwich course. We served warm Phyllo Cheese Triangles, local Red Radishes on white bread with French Style cheese spread, Chicken Waldorf salad Triangle with, Pimiento Cheese Spread on Pumpernickel, and and Open Faced Cranberry Maple Spread Sandwich, in addition to a small serving of local, organic Sweet Potato Slaw. The scone course, served piping hot, fresh from the oven, included Traditional English Cream Scones and Orange Almond Scones accompanied with Mock Clotted Cream, Lemon Curd, Cinnamon Honey Butter, and Cherry Amaretto Jam with fresh orange slices and sweet pineapple cubes. The final course, pictured here with the Tea selections for the day included rich Irish Cream Fudge, Mini Pumpkin cheesecake, Thumbprint cookies and a Chocolate Chip/Pecan cookie. With poinsettia tablecloths, and bright red napkins, the holiday season has begun. The table top tree is up, and fully decorated with tea themed ornaments. Twinkling lights, holly leaves, and red berries grace the swag that hangs from the stairway. Decorative Santas are tucked here and there throughout the tea room. With the hint of holiday music in the background, the holiday celebrations have begun. Let our hearts be merry!

Super Scone Sunday

This past Sunday was a special event at Sweet Remembrances. During the winter months we like to feature a scone and tea event which we call Super Scone Sunday. We offer a variety of scones with mixed toppings, and assorted fresh fruit, all accompanied with a warm pot of properly brewed tea. The top tier held heart shaped lemon-cherry scones with fresh orange slices. The middle tier featured triangular pumpkin scones with grapes and kiwi slices. The bottom tier held traditional English cream scones and thin slices of green apple and red pears. The toppings included a mock clotted cream, lemon curd, cinnamon honey butter, and Marmalady's cherry amaretto jam. The tea selection is varied, and the pots are refilled cheerfully. As you can see from the photo, we have switched to our holiday decor with festive tea cozies and poinsettia topped tiered stand.

In Sweet Remembrance

Today, November 26th, is our mother's birthday. In sweet celebration, I am happy to share a page from Bertha Reppert's Twelvemonth Herbal. This herbal provides a peek into her personal diary. She wrote about her herb garden, her family, and shared easy recipes from her kitchen.

Full of favorite quotes and fun tips, it is an easy to read herbal with each page devoted to a day in her life, centered around herbs. On her birthday, she shares her favorite things.

November 26, My Favorite Things

Visiting a well clipped knot garden...Making wormwood wreaths...Watching winter birds at the feeders in the snow...Bird songs at nesting time...The sound of rain against windows...Pansy faces, smiling at me...Purple...Little girls in jumpers and tights...Small Boy Scouts on parade, carrying flags...A gloomy day with nothing scheduled...Noisy holidays when everyone comes home...Family, close friends, laughter and love...Hyacinths in February, in pots, blooming...A letter from my sister...Bach's B Minor Mass, in its entirety...Wearing my "sheep to shawl," plant dyed...Embroidery - and the time to embroider...A cold bedroom, warm comforters and snuggling...Markets, especially farmer's markets, anywhere...To feast my eyes on earth's bounty...Borage growing lustily in a crack in the pavement...Strolling cool damp woods on a hot summer's day...Golden witchhazel threads glowing in a winter woods...Walking barefoot in the grass...Sunny fields of golden mustard...or dandelions...or goldenrod...Church bells peeling the Angelus while I'm working my stilled garden...This is my birthday wish list!

The quotes that she included on this page:

The angel that presided o'er my birth,

Said "Little creature, formed of joy and mirth,

Go love without the help of anything on Earth." - William Blake

and also,

Whoever loves much, does much. - Thomas A. Kempis

Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you and miss you.