Hillwood Estate and Gardens

This montage of photos from our Traveling Herb Seminar this past September highlights the Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens, the home of cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. She designed this home and garden to remain a museum and their aptly named slogan is "Where fabulous lives". The outside gardens have many "rooms" including a Japanese garden, a Russian area, a putting green, cutting gardens, quiet areas to sit and relax or visit and so much more. The inside of the home features an amazing collection of Imperialistic Russian Art and 18th C French Art and furnishings. This museum is well worth the visit if you are in Washington DC.

Many thanks to our friend JP for taking these photos and sharing them with us!

Miniature Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 c. crushed gingersnap cookies (approx. 20)

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 c. pure pumpkin

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 32 miniature muffin cups with paper cups.

Combine cookie crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press small amount onto bottom of each paper cup. Bake 3 minutes.

Beat cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar, spice, and vanilla in mixing bowl until blended. Add eggs; beat well. Carefully spoon into paper cups. Bake 20 minutes until set. Cool on wire rack. Remove tarts from pan; refrigerate.

If desired, garnish with a small dollop of whipped cream and a dusting of zested chocolate or finely chopped pecans.

The Fall Tea Tray!

You can tell the seasons have changed... the tea tray takes on a spicier look! Shown here, a recent afternoon tea service for SereniTea Wednesday. We started with a homemade Butternut Squash Apple Soup. Yummy! Local and organic butternut squash produced a warm and comforting cup of soup. The tiered tray was presented next, and it featured:

Sweet & Savory Cheddar Sandwiches

Mixed Pepper Squares

Crescent Chicken Salad Triangles

Tuna & Egg Salad with Lettuce

Sweet Radish on French Style Cheese Spread

Traditional English Cream Scones

Walnut & Raisin Scones

Mock Cream, Jelly, Fresh Fruit

Pumpkin Nut Roll

Almond Candy Bars

Millionaire's Shortbread

all accompanied with endless pots of piping hot tea. Enjoy!

Preparing for winter

For as long as we can remember Mechanicsburg has had quite a few albino squirrels, catching the attention of anyone that is lucky enough to spot one scampering around the area.A special thank you to Zachery who snapped this photo out the van window one afternoon last week. The squirrel appears quite busy gathering acorns and creating his winter stash.

Happy Halloween!

Years ago (20 to be exact), my mother handcrafted this beautiful golden herbal wreath and lovingly presented it to me for my then new home. Alas, the wreath, now faded and showing its age, has been relegated to the garage, silently working its magic over the years. It even survived the moment when an older sister decided to clean up my garage and throw away the terribly faded and forlorn wreath. Fortunately, I discovered its disappearance before the garbage truck arrived and quickly retrieved it. Scorned for her attempt to toss the wreath and having learned her lesson, said sister has never again touched the wreath, although, fortunately for me, she still cleans the garage when her special craft events are held there. Secretly tucked in the back of this wreath is a handwritten note in my mother's inimitable penmanship:
Trefoil, Johnswort, Vervain, Dill,
Hinders Witches of their will!
You are covered!
Good thing!
We seem to have an abundance of willful witches among us.
Happy Halloween!

Witchy Woman

Our customers are so much fun! They are a large part of why we love what we do! These photos were taken at our recent annual Garlic Dinner which this year featured a special witchy woman guest, thus inspiring many to come dressed as a witch.

Our special guest was Eliza Blackheart of the Breckenvale Coven. She presented a lively program on the history of witchcraft, witches and witch hunts as well as the history of Halloween, Jack o'Lanterns, trick or treating and more.

Ghostly Lemon Tartlets

Another fun little Halloween treat that worked its way to the tea tray this week included these lemon tartlets topped with ghostly forms. Simply prepare a tiny tart, any filling will work, top with a large piping of Cool Whip loosely shaped into a ghost and ending with a peak. Using miniature chocolate chips, add two spooky eyes. Boo!

Spidery Deviled Eggs

Celebrate this Halloween season by serving a creepy plate of deviled eggs with black olive spiders crawling around the top. Simply prepare deviled eggs using your favorite recipe. Add a touch of Tabasco if you want a little extra zip. Then, take a black olive, slice it in half to form the body, and slice the other half into very thin legs. Gently place body and legs on the deviled egg. Happy Halloween!

Festive Black Cat Sandwiches

These little fellows graced our tea tray this Halloween week!
Pimento Cheese Black Cat Sandwiches
3 c. grated sharp yellow cheddar cheese
1-1/2 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese
3 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 - 4 oz. jar pimento peppers, drained
pumpernickel bread

In a food processor, combine shredded cheeses, mayonnaise, mustard and peppers and process until smooth. Spread pimento cheese on to pumpernickel bread. Top with another slice of bread. Using a cookie cutter, cut sandwiches into desired festive shapes. Black cats as shown here; or witches hats or scary bats would be appropriate also.

Afternoon Tea at Hillwood Estate

Our most recent Traveling Herb Seminar took us to the Hillwood Estate and Museum, the home of Post cereal heiress, Marjorie Merriweather Post. This lovely home, beautiful art museum and luscious formal gardens also provided us an opportunity to have afternoon tea.
Our lovely individual single plate of tea party fare included four classic tea sandwiches: egg salad, salmon, chicken salad and cucumber salad. Our scone was served with butter and jelly and the four sweets included a fruit tart, mini chocolate eclair and two filled cookies. We were also served either hot Earl Grey or Iced tea. Our group was served in a private function room next to the restaurant.

Garlic Dinner - 18th Annual

Garlic! Garlic! Garlic!
This past Thursday we enjoyed our annual Garlic dinner where it is estimated that our guests each consumed three entire heads of garlic (yes, heads!).
The Menu:
Jalapeno Garlic Stuffed Olives
Garlic Spiced Mixed Nuts
Garlic Goat Cheese Spread & Baguette
Basil Pesto Crostini
Leafy Green Salad with Roquefort Cheese, Onions and Pickled Hot Pepper Rings and Creamy Garlic French Dressing

Baked Garlic & Herb Chicken
Garlicky Green Beans & Herbs
Oven Roasted Garlic, Potatoes, and Yummy Peppers,
Parmesan 'n Herb Garlic Bread

Carrot Cake with Roasted Garlic Cream Frosting

Folger Shakespeare Library

Our most recent Rosemary House Traveling Herb Seminar took us to Washington DC for a visit to the Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world's largest and finest collection of Shakespeare materials in addition to major collections of other Renaissance books and manuscripts.

Our interest in the Library was the small Elizabethan Garden located in the side court yard. We had a fabulous docent who gave us an enthusiastic tour outlining the plants featured and their uses during that time period.

The main feature was this knot garden of thyme, rosemary, germander and boxwood.

Many thanks to our friend JP for sharing her photos of the trip!