9 posts tagged “collections”
It's August 1st! Another month, another birthday (Happy Birthday, Mom!) and that means another teacup to feature! YAY!
This baby is bi-coastal as my BFF, brought this beauty to me while vacationing in California!
Not only do I absolutely adore the detailing on this lovely cup, but I am in love with the fall colors it displays! It's very rare to find a teacup with fall decor, let alone with wildflowers on it!
These flowers are what I used to refer to as "wish flowers" when I was little. They are actually dandelions in the last stage of maturation and the brisk winds carry the feathery seedlings off onto other peoples' lawns to grow future dandelions.
When I was younger I would make a wish on these feathery flowers and blow on them and if all the seeds came off in one blow, my wish would come true...or so I thought. I love that memory. And I really believed that the little seeds were carrying along my wish.
It's interesting that I picked this dandelion cup to be the teacup of the month as it's also the day of my mother's birthday and whenever I saw dandelions I would pick them and make them into a bouquet to give to her. Well, dandelions are out of season right now, so this teacup is dedicated to her! Happy Birthday Mom!
July 1st. A whole new beginning. A whole new teacup of the month!
July 1st, to me, means the end of our state's fiscal year, my best friend's birthday (Happy Birthday Kathryn E. Dzwonar!) and I hear it's also Canada Day which is my favorite country. Ok, ok...second favorite. Whatever.
So what better teacup to show off this month than my cute little Canadian Pride teacup. I believe it's either a Royal Albert or Royal Derby and it was given to me by my very good good friend, Ashlee. Ashlee and I have been nestie friends for quite some time now after stalking each other's food blogs (this girl has some seroiusly yummy eats on her blog!) and also happen to both have the exact same wedding anniversary.
Ashlee was kind enough to send me this lovely little teacup for my birthday, obviously keeping in mind all the times I raved about how much I loved vacationing in Canada with my husband and how I can't wait to get back there. Again, I know...I dream big.
This lovely little teacup has a ton of super cute details with flowers representing each territory and a Canadian flag in teh center. The sweet pink ribbon floats throughout, swirling and connecting each of the flowers.
I just love it! And the handle is so pretty too!
Hope you enjoy this Teacup of the Month as much as I do!
I finished my first Wilton course and got a certificate in fabulousity to prove it!! Here are some pics of my final cake and as foreshadowed, I designed my cake based on my favorite teacup! It's just a basic vanilla cake (box mix) with a fresh raspberry filling (recipe courtesy of WC Sis, Katie) and it turned out to truly taste as great as it looks (well, I think it looks great anyway!). I'm so proud of myself for sticking to this. Roses are freaking hard to make...and I'll never ever claim otherwise. But the pay-off was worth it in the end. Thanks to my instructor, Corinne for making the class a truly great experience and to my fellow classmates for the laughs. Can't wait to see you all in Wilton 2!!
p.s. Making black icing is INTENSE. That's all I gotta say.
This month's teacup just so happens to also be my most favorite. I've been waiting until my birth month to show off this beauty. She's a Royal Albert and her name is "Senorita". I think "fabulous" just about sums this precious teacup up.
I found this teacup at my dealer's shop in lovely downtown Medford, NJ. That's right, I've got a dealer. I'm totally hooked up and it's totally legal. Don't you wish you were me? Hmm...I feel as though those last few sentences might be lyrics to a song. ::shrugs::
I can't decide what to gush over more. I am in love with the hot pink single diva rose in the center of the cup and the saucer, love the shape and of course I can't get over the beautiful tactile quality of the lace border. But I think what excites me most about this set is that this isn't your normal, proper floral teacup and saucer. Nope, this set is definitely the rebel one, the passionate one...very much living up to its saucy title "Senorita". I may have to make a cake that mimics this pattern in the very near future so stayed tuned!
Well, teacups that is. And I know it's not "officially" spring yet, but I'm getting up an hour earlier and the sun's out 'til 7:30, so that's good enough for me!
Here are some featured teacups to celebrate the season:
This cup is a newbie to my collection. I just bought it today in celebration of the mild weather and because I just couldn't resist! My favorite store in Smithville is The British Connection. They have alll kinds of teas and English foods as well as some novelty items like soccer jerseys, teapots and, you guessed it, glorious teacups.
Their teacups are so precious and I just love them. They're all new ones though and while I prefer the antique version, these cups hold me over just fine! In fact, I kind of regard them as the shining beauties of my collection and bring them out to serve company (ok, it's also kinda because I told want anyone sipping out of my older and more fragile cups!). These cups I get because I won't go into *immediate* cardiac arrest if someone should break one. I would, however, suffer from some serious heart break though!
I love the detailing on this cup. It almost looks hand-painted and the thorns are what sold me. So often in fine china, they neglect to point out a rose's only protection...this was especially precious to me. And you know it's a good buy when even the owner of the store is a bit disheartened that you bought the one item she was secretly wanting to covet for herself! Eh, she can get more! Haha.
Today we (The Nesties and I) had quite a rousing discussion about our fine china addiction. It's nice to know I'm not alone with this affliction. As one of my friends said it's the harshest addiction since we have no dealer. It's sad but true. Actually, my supplier is in Medford, NJ. She gives me the good stuff, oh yes.
This baby is a Royal Grafton. I'm sure sure of the year or model yet (as they are not as precise as my Royal Albert is) but it's beautiful nonetheless and made a perfect addition to my collection this month.
I adore the lovely gold detail on the cup and plate, giving it that extra touch of elegance and majesty that separate this floral motif from the usual pale flower scapes. I also LOVE the big fluffy peonies with their colorful counterparts. Great usage and blending of color!
And I do tend to favor the "ballerina" cup shape. The wide open mouth with it's sleek body is classic and elegant and I absolutely adore it. This is one of the few teacups I actually wouldn't mind letting guests use without me glaring at them the whole time. People feel more comfortable holding a cup like this, thus disabling the likelihood of any fumblings and mishaps. Insecurity and fear of the fragile are the two biggest killers of fine china...you heard it here first, people.
I collect teacups. I know; I'm a hop, skip and a hip break away from being an 85-year-old.
Anywho, I decided to treat myself on my recent day off to a lovely breakfast of scones and tea; fit for an English princess. Well, except that Pricess Di was bulimic and I'm not...so I had an even better breakfast than an English princess. Yay!
I used a basic mix to whip up these lovely cranberry orange scones, which you can see here on my wedding china.
The china was a gift from my husband's uncle who shares a passion for china collecting as I do. He gave me his whole set as a bridal shower gift. It's called "Enchantment" and it's circa 1976 from England. Yeah, I screamed a little when he gave it to me.
Oh, and by the way...I will NEVER eat a scone without lemon curd ever again. This lemon curd was absolutely delicious. As my English boss explained "it's like you can inject this stuff into your veins and you'll feel all better". Brits take curd pretty seriously, I suppose.
So here is the collection. I love Royal Albert. I love the history behind it and the fact that they name each of their collections something different. This one is called "Enchantment". It's also nice because, as a collector, Royal Albert is pretty popular and easy to find. Nearly everyone's grandmother or great Aunt has owned something Royal Albert, making it easy for us scavangers to get a hold of!
A quick note about tea cups: it's my opinion that tea just is better when sipped from a lovely little tea cup. I don't want to sound like a snob, but it's true. Don't get me wrong; I glug down my tea most of the time from a Penn State mug, but in my liesurely time or when I have guests, it's always nicer to sip from a cup. There's just something about it. The shape, the china, the delicate way in which your hand must contort itself forcing you into propriety...I don't know. All I know is that it makes sense when you compare sipping tea from a tea cup to sipping wine from a glass or champagne from a flute. The glasses are shaped for a reason: to bring out the flavor of the wine or to compliement the effervescence of the champagne. So is true for the tea cup. It is designed for the purpose of taking one's time, savoring the flavors and, of course, aiding in propriety. :)
Another concoction thanks to Trader Joe's. This is actually more of a product rave entry rather than a recipe, because all I did was pour and serve.
Ok, well, I DID add some of my own "isms". Gotta give myself SOME credit here. ;)
I made this Red Shrimp Curry dish with Lemon Scented Basmati Rice because my husband and I rarely get to go to our favorite Indian restuarant anymore, now that we live so far from it and the economy is in quite a sad state right now. So we went out for a day of free to cheap fun!
We visited a local colonial village and perused through our favorite British goods store, shopped at antique stores, did some wine tasting and ate some yummy fruit, cheese, and crackers for lunch (very yummy and fulfilling indeed!).
After a full day of snoogling, hot cocoas drinking and duck watching, we came home with an antique pie bird (for me! YAY!) and an appetite.
I served up this dish in about 20 minutes flat and it was AMAZING! It tasted JUST like what we normally get at our favorite restaurant!
Red Shrimp Curry with Lemon Scented Basmati Rice
Ingredients
16 oz. frozen shrimp (thawed)
1 bottle Trader Joe's Red Curry Sauce
1 cup of basmati rice (prepared according to manufacturer's directions)
zest of 1 lemon, grated
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
Directions
Sautee thawed shrimp in olive oil (about 2 Tbl sp., just so it doesn't stick to the pan) until curled and opaque.
Add sauce until bubbling. Turn off heat and cover until rice is ready.
Prepare rice according to manufacturer's directions. Add the zest. When ready to serve, add roughly chopped cilantro to rice and pour the shrimp curry over it.
Enjoy!
I finally got my cute little pie bird a.k.a. pie funnel the other day! It's a little ceramic gadget (very popular in the U.K. apparently) that you stick in your pie before putting on the top layer of the pie crust in order to let the steam out and thus preventing a soggy pie. 'Cause there's nothing cute about a soggy pie.
I just think they're too cute for words!
And, of course, you know that this most likely means that I will begin a collection of pie funnels and that this little guy will be the first of many more to come!
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