Tea Room Tour 2011

Well we did it!  Mom and I set a goal to visit six Tea Rooms in Tampa in six days and we did it!

"You gotta have a dream to have a dream come true"

That's how it  started during one of Moms visits with me last summer.  I was looking through a "Tea Room" magazine and noticed that Tampa FL has several Tea Rooms in or close by Tampa. 

So, this November we flew to Tampa, stayed at a lovely condo at Sailport, rented a black Crown Victoria, turned on the Garmin and began a terrific adventure!

The first to visit was "The Royal Tea Room"

What a great way to start.  Each Tea Room had it's own style and their own specialty tea sandwiches and finger pastries.  Even the scones were different at each Tea Room. 

Prices ranged from $16.95/guest to $20.95

Each room had a variety of hats to use, because of course you have to wear a fancy hate while taking tea.




A List of the Tea Rooms we visited:
The Royal Tea Room & Gift Shoppe, Tampa, FL
Tea Rose Cottage, Ybor, FL
Camellia Rose Tea Room and boutique, Plant City, FL
Simply Country Gifts & Southern Belles Tea Room, Plant City, FL
Milk N Honey Tea room, Tampa, FL
The Empress Tea Room & Bistro, Tampa, FL

Each Tea Room was unique.  They had their special finger sandwiches, scones and pastries.  We love the presentation. When they set the 3 tier tray on the table they get to go over all their specialties.  It's great.

Most served a variety of teas, some served the "tea of the day" which was fine as well.  I mean, after all, that is how they do it in England...right?!

This was a lovely tea room.  Can you see the swan cream puffs on the top tier of the tray?  Simply beautiful.

Of course we couldn't resist the cabana on the beach after all that hard work.  Lucky for me they were selling soft pretzels.  Love those soft pretzels!

Plan a Tea Room visit with someone you love!  You will love it.  Bring a hat!

Being Domestic

Wow! It has been some time since I've posted. We have been so busy getting the harvest in, canning, freezing, spinning, crafting for the various Fall Festivals and craft shows, is it any wonder we have not had time to sit and write?
I recently dyed and spun some Llama. I decided to go with a three-ply so purchased an extra Lazy Kate to ply from - it worked like a dream! Then, I dyed it the colors my sister wanted since I was planning to crochet her a scarf. I used Rit dye and placed the dye in three deep bowls and put a section of the yarn skene in each so there were three colors, with some color bleeding up into the edges of the new color - sage green, light purple and blue. Then, I paired the Llama with a creamy silk yarn I had spun some time ago, to give a sheen to it. It turned out so well. I'll try to get that picture, too.
With Thanksgiving around the corner, I've been getting recipes together - some traditional, some new. A friend has a recipe for stuffing a small pumpkin with a variety of fruits - I think that will be yummy. Lots of family coming this year! Trying to decide what game to play at the end of the day - always a fun time with lots of laughter and good natured competition while we eat our pie - pumpkin, sweet potato and pecan.
We have so much to thank God for, it is hard to know where to begin but I think having an amazing family is at the top of the list, with good friends a close second! Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Fall Colors have Started!

The Color is Coming, The Color is Coming!

It's not often that we have time enough to go for a walk this time of the year.  But I did and I enjoyed it greatly. 

First I stopped by the civil war encampment going on at the bottom of our hill.  I just love the smell of a campfire.

I continued on my way to Grant's park and saw this beautiful tree.

I stopped in the park and knitted for a while and in the meantime I had the joy of seeing a train go by, bikers, walkers and canoers!  What fun. There was also a busload of screaming kid sin the park on some kind of day trip.  They were cute but they sure yell a lot!

I continued on my merry way to the Farmers Market.  The market house there had quilts on display so that was an extra plus I did not expect.

I AM IN SEARCH OF PINK LADY APPLES.  If you know where I can get one, please tell me.   They sound so yummy.  I'm planning on canning some Apple pie filling this year.  It's been fun canning.  My favorite book in that arena is "You Can Can".  Love it. 

Then back to the park to knit another couple of rows. 

What a glorious day it was!

Fall 2011 - The Final Harvest???

The cool air as arrived.  The Zinnias are still fabulous. Note to self: Plant more next year. 

Cara and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Lady Jane swing this summer and Mom has been going crazy with the leaf blower keeping the courtyards clear of debris. 

The new Cabana was a huge hit with guests and locals as it seemed everyone I talked to in town mentioned it.  "Bernadine, what took you so long?" 

Mom was here for a week and we made our first homemade spaghetti sauce using tomatoes from her garden and mine.  An assortment of herbs were added that a friend in town gave to me.  Delicious!  We also made truffles together for the first time.  Mom enjoyed that and was a huge help.  And let's not forget the batch of Strawberry Jam.  What would I do without her?  She is like my best friend!  I love you Mom! We also bought our "first" pasta from the new Pasta store downtown.  They have pasta shaped like all kinds of things.  The ribbon pasta is the prettiest.  Trying the spinach basil garlic fettuccine!

Guests will be enjoying Strawberry Pie and Brownies this weekend.

In November we go to Tampa for a vacation.  Can't wait.  Just me and Mom and my sister will come down for the weekend.  Our goal is to visit all of the Tea Rooms in Tampa.  Gotta have a dream.  I believe there are 8.  We are targeting 6 of the Tea Rooms.

I've been working on the "Master Knitters Program".  I have to do a report on blocking.  I was nervous about this because I've always avoided blocking unless it was lace.  In any case the first item went so well I started blocking all of my knitting projects that I was always too afraid to.  I guess I worried about shrinkage, damaging the fiber, colors running, etc.  All of these items look much better now.

The Teddy Bear Sunflowers were fantastic but only lasted a few weeks.  It was fun watching the Yellow Finches eating from them.

I will definitely do them again next year just for the Finches. 

God bless and have a Blessed Fall!

"Bernadine the Garden Queen"

Quilting Shop and Hop

My friend Susan and I recently took on the daunting task of the largest Quilt Shop and Hop either of us has ever been on.  Twenty-two stores took us 3 days which we combined into 2 trips as we stayed overnight once.  It was a blast and you know, it actually had it's exhausting moments.  We traveled from Galena all the way East to Arlington Heights together, stopping along the way....Gotta Have A Dream To Make A Dream Come True!

What treasures we found!  And so many quilt stores we never would have known of.  They were so excellent I am going to share the list here!  It's a three month shop and hop ending September 30, 2011.  You can still do it!

http://www.northernillinoisqiltfest.com/

We are both hoping we win a prize from one of the stores.  What a moment when we realized that IF we do win something we have to drive back to the store to pick it up.  Yikes!

No problem though.  Susan told me about a fiber store in St. Charles called "A Fine Line".  They were closed when we were in town but it sounds fascinating.  Check out http://www.afineline.org/.  Sounds like they have a very interesting Holiday program.

Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop - Fox River Grove
Quilt in Joy, Huntley
Sewing concepts, Woodstock
Hopscotch Square, Woodstock
Material Girl Fabric Shop, Crystal Lake
Sunshine & Shadow Quilt Shoppe, McHenry
Acorn Quilts, Rockford
Lucky 2B Quilting, Rockford
It's for Quilting, Rockford
Quilter's General Store, Rockford
Quilter's Haven, Rockford
Phat Quarters, Galena
Quilter's Destination, Arlington Heights
Prairie Shop Quilts, Batavia
Sewwing Concepts, Carpentersville
Basketcases Unlimited, Clare
Judy's Quilt N Sew, Hampshire
Leaf River Quilt Company, Leaf River
Thimbles, Lockport
Prairie Stitches Quilt Shoppe, Oswego
Harvest House Quilting, Plainfield
Sew Generously, St. Charles
Sawdust & Stitches, Elkhorn, WI

Just received dresses for my granddaughters from my friend Tanya.  Want to check out more?  Google "Palmo Originals".  Great fabrics and reversible!!!!!!

 20 Months old now!  What a charmer.
Standing in front of the Zinnia Garden that is beautiful this year.

Fiber Day With Liliana

Look what we did at Fiber Day.  Poor little Liliana, my new granddaughter.  I just couldn't wait to get there and set her inside Sherryl's basket of yarns.  I'm thrilled that my grandkids will know what a spinning wheel is.  Wonder if they'll ever be interested in knitting, spinning, crocheting....

We'll see!

And I have to enter an updated pic of Cara!  She is just as sweet as pie.  They are both very calm and happy children...so far.

We recently had 15" of rain in less than 12 hours in Galena.  I've included some flood pics as well. We just had a little water in the restaurant and about 2" in the movie room.  Nothing compared to the rest of Galena.  Desoto Hotel had over 4' of water in their kitchen.

Made a lemon cake from scratch for the guests.  I think the box mixes are better than a scratch cake.  Or I'm doing something wrong. 

By the way...those online hotel finder sites - everyone that has used it to book at the Stillman inn has paid more than what we charge.  Think twice before using them. 

Mom and Me Corn Relish

I am so blessed with the time I've been able to spend with my Mom this summer.  What a pleasure she is to have around!

I always like trying new things and getting Mom involved makes it even better!  This visit we made Corn Relish.  Not only did we make it but we did a little research on what "relish" really means.  Is it a dip, a spread, a condiment?  Of course we are most familiar with hot dog relish but surely it must be more than that. The best description we found was that it is something between a sauce and syrup that adds flavor to a dish. It usually has vegetables chopped up but could include fruit as well so it's usually chunky. 

Did you know "relish" is the French word for "salsa".  This relish/salsa was an absolute perfect match with the honey-lime chicken we made together.  Oh my gosh!  Glad we made 7 pints of it! 

I think it's not fair to the publisher to just post the recipe here.  You'll have to either buy the book or call me up! There you go, a good reason to call Bernadine!  Oh, the flowers came from our gardens.  Zinnias and a Teddy Bear Sunflower.  What a summer!

That's my nephew Ben.  He was here too!  He wants to be a meteorologist.  He is great help around the inn especially serving breakfast. 

Master Knitter Wannabe

So of course now that I've heard about the Master Knitters program on my favorite podcast, Knit Misadventures, Ihave to give it a try.


My Spinning Wheel


I ordered the level one course and it showed up in the mail just three days afterwards.  I thought I'd have a month to warm up to the idea more!

So, it feels pretty intimidating but I'm gonna give it my best shot!  So, some accountability would be nice! 
 

Some inspiration

This course is offered by "The Kniters Guild Assocation" (TKGA) if you would like to reserach it for yourself.  I think this progam will help me to fine tune my knitting skills.  I've been knitting, crocheting, tatting, macrameing, rug hooking, etc. since I can remember.  I don't even remember the moment I actually learned to knit but I do enjoy it.  It wasn't fashionable to knit when I started and certainly not in my teens.  There were very few patterns or books at the time.  Most patterns were for babies.  Now, oh my goodness, the variety of books and supplies never ends and it is considered way cool if you knit. 

So, off we go.  I'll get my little notebook together and look through my stash for some yarn that qualifies for the projects and BAM!

Liliana

Ladies and Gentlemen
Drum roll please
Grandma Fabulous proudly presents - Granddaughter #2
Princess Liliana!


Born 7/14/11 - 7'14oz  20" Lots of hair!



Aint She Somethin!  As beautiful as my daughter Becca for sure! 
Becca did a great job delivering her without an epidural.  A strong and mighty and powerful woman she is.  I've never seen her look more beautiful than when she was delivering Liliana. 

Becca, you are my inspiration! I love you so much. You are going to be a fabulous Mom!

Love, Mom

The Dark Side

Oh yes, she has finally gone over to the dark side. Her friends kept insisting that she needed to learn to knit. Crocheting since she was ten is fine but she needs to broaden her horizons, be more creative. She needs to be able to "speak" in knitting terms so she can understand her friends when they talk about knitting two together or passing over a slip stitch or using the million different ways to cast on.

So, she started on a pretty scarf pattern. She cast on, stitched till she was blue in the face and still had to tear it out several times! Did she persevere - yes, because her friends love her and would not steer her wrong - but not with that pattern! She looked over a variety of repeat knit patterns and decided to just do a scarf out of that - a simple lace to make a small scarf. It worked!!! She is actually knitting, the stitches are coming out evenly, she has not had to tear it out and the scarf is looking pretty good!

Does she still favor crochet - of-course! It is easy, fast and has so many options for a variety of fabrics that it will continue to be her top choice. But, now that she can knit a little, she can indeed broaden her horizons and be more creative and enter into knitting conversations with her friends:-) The dark side is not as dim as she thought it would be!

Todays Jam

I found a recipe for Peach Lavender Jam.  Since I'm into Lavender right now I thought this would be perfect AND the peaches looked great.

I had a few problems so if you have any ideas please share!


The recipe came from "The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving" by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard..  In a canning magazine I have it suggested boiling the peaches until the skin broke (approx 30-60 seconds).  I boiled for several minutes and the skin never "broke".  Then I was to dump them in a bowl of ice water for 1-2 minutes.  The did not peel easily at all.  I know I tried this once before and it worked, don't know what went wrong this time.





Peach Lavender Jam
2 tbsp dried lavender flowers
1/2 cup boiling water
4 cups finely chopped peaches (5-6 medium)
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 cups granulated sugar
1 pouch liquid fruit pectin

Place Lavender flowers in a small bowl. Pour boiling water over flowers and steep for 20 minutes. Strain and discard flowers.  (Later I added Lavender extract)

Combine lavender liquid, peaches, lemon juice and sugar in a very large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a full boil over high heat and boil hard for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in pectin. (I did this and it never thickened. I re/boiled the finished jam the next day until it geled so the liquid pectin was in it while I boiled this time)

Ladle into hot jars and process for 10 minutes.

Makes 6 cups

So, it sounded easy but as you see in the red it didn't work for me until I reboiled the fruit with the pectin in it. 

Now it looks and acts like it should!!!!:)

Comments?

Well, I have been baking bread for a long time - over 35 years - and have never come close to baking the beautiful loaves that came out of the oven recently. That's because I recently got a copy of "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day" and used their awesome recipe. Bernadine mentioned it to me and gave me a copy of an article about the bread. However, when I used the recipe in the magazine, it did not work. I found out after reading the book that the article was flawed. Oh, well, you gotta try stuff to learn. Anyway, the book has an amazing process for rising and baking that does not require kneading!!! Be sure to check it out - not only is the basic loaf delicious but the alternative recipes are yummy as well and it is the easiest raised bread I've ever made.

By the way, I made lamb chops the other day so had to make more hollandaise sauce, which then left me with two egg whites. Of-course, I made more Angel Food cupcakes, only this time, I replaced one tablespoon of flour with cocoa powder and added banana extract - they were so good! They were a little more dense since the cocoa powder has fat in it but who the heck cares - a little fat in an Angel Food cupcake never hurt anybody!! I dipped the tops in chocolate ganache - scrumptious!

Does anyone have any good recipes that include gnats? Maybe we could catch them and put them in cake - they would just look like poppy seeds! I've sprayed vanilla scent on myself and that seemed to ward them off!

Fun, Fun, Fun

This has been the best summer here at the Stillman Inn so far! 

Creativity is flowing everywhere you look!

I bought this at the local Wild Bird Feed Store downtown.  It is filled with nesting material and you can see the birds love it.  You can also fill it with peanuts for the squirrels.  It's a great place to stuff my extra wool after spinning!



Here is the lovely "Fairy Garden" I splurged on this  year.  Purchased at Valley Perennials in Galena.  You can just sit and dream all day long looking at this beautiful mix.








 


And what can beat watching my sweet Grandbaby out in the cement mixing tray?  Yes, a turtle swimming pool is on the list to buy but she really loves playing around in our small ponds.  So for now, it works.









Currently working on "romantisizing" our little well in the back yard.  We have a turtle spitter in it, some plastic "chandeleir" mini lights with rose garland around the roof and we're growing a potatoe vine plant and parsley in front of the little pond.  There were marigolds too but my baby squirrels ate them up.  There are also morning glories sprouting.  That should be terrific.





Ahhh, the square foot gardens.  Love, love, love talking to the guests about them.  Many of the guests know right away the type of garden it is!  What fun to hear their gardening stories!

I've had my struggles with it, baby squirrels, hot weather, but mostly it is going just great.  Glad to be gardening again!  Already had sandwiches with homegrown lettuce.  Toooooo coooool!  Hope you are also enjoying this summer!

Strawberry Anyone?!

Okay, a hit of cognac to chase away the doubt and a big attempt to finally, actually "can" something! The Strawberries were big and beautiful at Hyvee (my favorite grocery store) and I couldn't resist. I've had all of the supplies needed for canning for several years now and most importantly the book by Better Homes and Gardens 'You Can Can'. I just love that name! But of course I first consulted Youtube and searched "canning strawberries". How did I ever survive without Youtube? It really helps me to watch someone doing something to learn.

My first canning experiment created 3 - 1/2 pints which really got me going. I followed the no sugar recipe on Youtube.

That's it, I got the bug and I was so proud! Back to the store for more strawberries. This time I used the pectin, sugar, etc. It produced 8 - 1/2 pints of terrific jam (I HAD to use the 1/2 pint jars cause they are just too cute. Leftovers were used to make a strawberry pie for the guests! With a sprig of mint from my garden!!!

Last weekend the guests enjoyed gourmet Chocolate Chip cookies with a soft frosting - Ghiradelli chocolates only! Oh my word. Recipe from Martha Stewart's book 'Cupcakes'. Not sorry I bought that one! And the guests are in for a real treat this season!

Yes, Jeff, I am baking for the guests.

Farmer Girlfriends - last fiber day I mentioned how "muddy" my beautiful roving turned out to be after spinning.  This is what I was talking about. 

The roving is absolutely breathtaking but when I spun and plied it it looks a little mucky, but somehow better in this photo.  Sherryl had some multi colored roving which spun up very clear and beautiful.  Maybe this had too much brown in it?  Lesson learned:  Not sure...maybe let Sherryl pick my roving from now on!  What fun!

Angel Food Cupcakes

Wow, where does the time fly? I have been busy making things for the Mt Carroll Commons Market. I've got some pretty lacy shawl scarves, other natural fiber scarves, Solid Body Butter and lacy votive holder baskets at the shop. Wish I could download pix but have been having trouble with that - could it be because I still have dial-up?

Anyway, I went out Sunday and picked Wild Asparagus for dinner. If you have never had it wild, you don't know what you're missing - it is tender and sweet and great with Hollandaise sauce! So, of-course, after making the sauce,I had two egg whites left over. I decided to adapt an Angel Food cake recipe and made some delicious cupcakes. The two egg whites make exactly enough batter for six cupcakes.

2 egg whites (large eggs, room temp)
1/4 C flour
1/3 C sugar
dash salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon extract (almond, cherry, etc)

Sift flour and half the sugar several times. Beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar till soft peaks form. Gradually beat in rest of sugar, till stiff peaks form. Gently fold in extract with whites till combined. Carefully fold flour mix into whites with an under/over motion of spatula or wooden spoon till well blended. Place six cupcake paper cups in muffin/cupcake pan. Pour batter into each of the six cups. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. Cool and serve. Paper peals right off cake after cooled. Yum!!

Yay!  We get to play outside in the dirt!!!! (I mean soil, sorry Professor)

Here are the beginnings of a fruitful summer!  Or should I say a "vegetable" summer.  I've set up my workshop right outside my back door complete with all the tools you could possibly think of to grow a successful garden.  I probably really only need three of the collection I have.  Funny thing, once you put everything in one place you see how many clippers you actually have! 

Got my bird seed, watering can, fertilizer, a place to mix soil., a sun hat...hey, where's the all important sunscreen?  Not to self: Buy Sunscreen.

Garden Loom

Saw a cool magazine "Backyard Crafts" and it featured a Garden Loom.  It was much larger than mine but I decided to use what I had instead of building one.  We've had this framed, I don't know exactly what it was, thing in our restaurant just because it was cute.  It had wire mesh in the middle.  So I got to thinking, let's remove the wire mesh and run the war threads along the back of it for weaving...or is that weft.  I always forget.  So I took the wire off and replaced it with a bunch of tiny nails along the back top and bottom and used yarn I had won at a fiber show to string it.  Went on a walk, picked up a bunch of odds and ends and started weaving!  What fun.  Hope the guests have fun with it as well.

Mom helped and here she is, next to our beautiful creation!

Now for the Square Foot Garden.  I can't believe how hard it was to find vermiculite. There are so many confused ideas out there about this great material.  When I was taking horticulture classes I was warned to keep it moistened down because the airborne dust can get into your lungs. That was it.  I searched the internet high and low to make sure it was okay to use and like everything else it is questionable.  I figure it couldn't hurt me any more than airborne peat moss and compost so I went ahead with it.  Don't like the white perlite that everyone was telling me to use instead.

So we will mix one part peat with one part vermiculite and a one part mixture of five to six different composts!  How fun.  Will load pics when we are done!  Oh yes, the other questionable issue was using pressurized treated wood for the frame.  Again, after much research, we went for it.  Mel Bartholomew, creator of SFG, has used treated lumber for, I don't know, 60 years?!!  And he looks great!

 

More Fun Garden Art we've got goin on at the Stillman Inn!

 Enjoy! And Come See!

Lavender Cookies

You can just smell them can't you!

Mom's in town so I had to make her some of my favorite lavendar cookies!  I warned her that these go fast so she better stash some away if she wants more!!!!

I found "Cooking Lavender" on the web.  My farmer girlfriend tells me you can use any lavender.  I'm planning on growing lots of lavender this summer.  Can't tell you how many lavender plants I've had and did absolutely nothing with them.  When we know better...we do better!

Lavender Cookies
5/8 cup butter (room temp)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg (room temp)
1 TBS Lavender flowers
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flower
Optional Frosting: Powdered sugar mixed with a bit of water and Lavender extract, sprinkle with sprinkles or extra lavender!!!
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.  I use my cooking stone!  No burned bottoms that way.  Warm it up in the oven while it is preheating.  Pull out to quickly put formed cookie dough on it to bake
2. Cream together the butter and sugar. Beath the egg, and blend into the butter and sugar. Mix in the lavender flowers and the flour. Shape a chunk of dough into a ball and slightly flatten it. Set all prepared cookie dough forms to the side.  Once all are done, place on hot cooking stone or cookie sheet.
3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until goden brown. Remove cookies to cooling racks and drizzle frosting and sprinkle with sugar and/or lavender flowers if desired.

Tada!  Have a great day!