what a ham!
It's time to harvest the dandelions for the annual spring salad. Dandelion Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing is an Easter tradition in our household. When our Mother prepared the salad, she featured the dandelions as the centerpiece of the salad. However, over the years, we've increased the amount of bacon and eggs to top the salad, but still keep the requisite dandelions too. The virtues of Dandelion are many but we are sure the bacon dressing negates the benefits. 
Dandelion leaves are a fabulous diuretic. Dandelion is so rich in potassium that it ends up being a potassium sparing diuretic. In fact, many who use dandelion leaf as a diuretic end up with a net gain of potassium! Dandelion root is a bitter herb, that is often roasted and used as a coffee substitute. The root is also effective for making your digestive system work efficiently. When I think of how many millions of dollars have been spent to eradicate this amazingly useful plant it makes my head spin.
featuring bunnies taking tea was a window display in Fortnum & Masons in London. One afternoon, several years back, friend Linda of Friendship Tea, and I were walking the streets of London in pursuit of anything tea and happened upon this display. Isn't it a lovely composition? Wish I could pop in and order their Afternoon Tea.
These colorful permanent floral arrangements in large tea cup planters decorated the women's bathroom in The Stone Mansion in Baltimore, MD.
Decidedly colorful and cheerful, they fill a large space in a rather spacious bathroom. And conveniently, since they are in tea cups, they fit in for Miss Spenser's celebration of Tea Cup Thursday!
The annual Mid-Atlantic Tea Business Association seminar was held in the stately Stone Mansion. Following the programs, we were escorted to the tea room for a delicious repast. The first course featured spicy Maryland crab soup and a salad with a delicate creamy dressing that complemented the soup.
The three tiered tea tray is always such a delightful presentation, no matter what tea room you visit. The top tier held a sweet blueberry scone and a savory cheddar scone. The middle tier, laden with tea sandwiches, included a creamy cranberry chicken salad in a half croissant, sliced turkey and cranberry on raisin bread, 
cucumber & tomato with a creamy spread, and bruschetta with diced tomato and feta. Each tea sandwich provided a delightful taste sensation. The bottom tier held the desserts
which included a cherry cheesecake, a miniature red velvet cupcake, sweet potato tart and a fresh fruit skewer. Yum! We're both eagerly anticipating another tea room visit! Although we don't know when or where yet, we'll be sure to make it happen!
A colorful array of assorted tea party treats (menu posted here) greeted the visitors at this special event.
It was a pleasure to honor our father, Byron Reppert, at this very special event. We welcomed many guests to this reception, including long time customers and past employees of the Rosemary House. Family friends traveled a distance from NJ and MD to surprise him. And the oldest guest, a long time resident of Mechanicsburg, turns 101 this year!
Congratulations Dad!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Mechanicsburg Postcard Series Book Available 
Tasseography is the art of tea leaf reading, a form of fortune telling. This cup features a wide assortment of shapes and symbols within the cup, such as an owl, snake, dagger, arrow, frog, and fan. Each symbol can be interpreted to have special meaning. The designs offer a visual cue of the shapes that might appear in the brewed tea leaves. The saucer has the twelve symbols of the Chinese zodiac, each associated with an animal such as the dragon, the rabbit, the snake, etc.
Alas, I don't have experience in reading tea leaves, or foretelling the future. I simply enjoy collecting this style of tea cup, and have a wide variety of different fortune telling cups. 
She shared her cup with me and inquired if I was familiar with this style of cup. 
Upon closer inspection, you can see these holes around the base of the cup. The interior cup portion is suspended in the middle.
Mary suggested that the holes in the outer layer create a cooler area to hold the handleless hot cup. Ruth commented that it is a pretty pattern, but not an older one as the maker's mark is a recent design, within the last 5 years. Martha discovered it to be a Hankook fine bone china, and that the cups are double walled to protect your hands from the hot liquid and that those are ventilation holes at the bottom of the exterior wall. Mary Jane considers this to be a wonderful treasure, similar to one she has. All thoughts and comments are appreciated from this generous group of tea enthusiasts. They are happy to share their knowledge, post recipes, and simple contribute to the ongoing conversation about tea. Thanks to this fine group for helping us to discover a little more about my friends cup.
of cups. The pale green set on the left does not have any markings on it. The bright green set is marked Royal Sealy China, Japan on the saucer.Frequently, guests to the tea room ask where I got my collection of tea cups. The original collection, of which these two belong,
was given to me by my mother the year I opened the tea room. She had collected tea cups over the years, amassed about 40 or so, but had since moved on to collecting other gorgeous pieces, so was glad to gift the tea cups to me in order to make additional space in her china cabinet. Many of her tea cups are used for display purposes rather than be put into service. I also inherited a collection of tea cups from an Aunt. My cousin was happy that I would be able to use her mother's tea cup collection. Over the years, friends have also given me tea cups. They just 'know' that they belong here! The collection grows. The one question I can't easily answer? How many tea cups do I have? Not really sure! And it's probably best I don't count them.
In addition to the cut out doll and her two little outfits, there is a short story. Betsy and her friend decided to host a tea party for the friend's four younger cousins, Jennifer (3), Maria (5), Lucy (6), and Amy (8) and their assorted baby dolls. Betsy made cookies and her mommy baked them. But in the end, her dog Nosy ended up eating every single cookie, including the crumbs. 
Dated 1965 by the McCall Corporation, there is an address to send 25 cents in coin (no stamps) for a sturdy cardboard paper doll of Betsy and her cousin Linda plus 18 new costumes.
It also notes that you can purchase the new Betsy McCall Doll for about $3 and the new tea set, under $4 at leading toy and department stores. Such bargains!
Wish I had the tea set!
