Recently we were blessed to take care of our grandsweeties for a few days while our son and daughter-in-law had a weekend away attending a wedding in New York City. Granddaughter and I made blueberry muffins one afternoon for an after nap teatime. Fun!
While in New York City, our daughter-in-law had tea at Alice’s Tea Cup, a very special tea house. (Visit Alice’s Tea Cup.) Knowing our mutual love of tea celebrations, she thoughtfully returned with a gift for me of Alice’s Tea, a delightful floral blend. Then she baked Ginger Scones (as pictured above), so the whole family could enjoy a lovely afternoon tea together. ( Basic scone recipe from All Recipes. Add 1/2 cup chopped candied ginger to dough. )
Tea from Alice’s Tea Cup, NYC. Thank you, DIL!
BOOKS
One of the many books we read to the grandsweeties while we were visiting was My Very First Tea Party by Michal Sparks. This book is published by Christian book publisher, Harvest House Publishers. I especially liked the thoughtful blessing included as part of teatime.
What a sweet book! This is a cute gift for a toddler (the board book) or preschool child (the hardback version). Adding a tea set would be a perfect combination. My granddaughter and I love to have teatime together, and this rhyming book details all the elements of a tea celebration, complete with invitation, blessing and thank you note. Charming!
ART
Not only are the grandsweeties lovers of books, but art is also a favorite activity. Here is a picture painted by Grandson. He knows what Grammy likes!
“MOOSE” by a favorite artist!
We are thankful for the treasured blessing of our family and the sparkling times we spend together.
Please join me for a #TUESDAYTEA review of Snowflake Tiara, a two-novella collection of inspirational romance by Angela Breidenbach and Valerie Comer. Since Valerie’s book features farm-fresh foods, I’m serving Christmas mini-quiches made with organic sun-dried tomatoes and locally sourced Animas River green chilies. (My recipe is below.) I’ll pour you a cup of Ginger-Cinnamon tea while we discuss SnowflakeTiara, with its two stories-The Debutante Queen by Angela and More Than a Tiara by Valerie.
Christmas mini-quiches (green chile and dried tomato)
About Snowflake Tiara
The Debutante Queen by Angela Breidenbach–1889 (Helena, MT)
Calista Blythe enters the first Miss Snowflake Pageant celebrating Montana statehood to expose the plight of street urchins. But if her hidden indentured orphan is discovered, Calista’s reputation and her budding romance with pageant organizer, Albert Shanahan, could both unravel. Will love or law prevail?
More Than a Tiara by Valerie Comer–2014 (Helena, MT)
Marisa Hiller’s interest in competing in Miss Snowflake Pageant for the city of Helen’s 150th anniversary is at zip zero zilch when she discovers the official photographer is Jase Mackie. Can Jase make amends for past mistakes and offer her, not only a tiara, but a partner in her crusade to help needy children and families?
A glittering duet of holiday romance—set 125 years apart!
Angela Breidenbach and Valerie Comer have paired together to create two different Christmas stories. Both share the setting of Helena, Montana, but Debutante Queen is historical and More Than a Tiara is contemporary. Both involve competing in pageants and providing for needy children. I enjoyed the description of life in historical Helena and the charming first Miss Snowflake Pageant details, as Calista and Albert fall in love. In the contemporary, I liked the way the relationship between Marisa and Jase was repaired and then strengthened.
The caring spirit and warm love shining from both stories, makes the sparkle of Snowflake Tiara glow! 🙂 I recommend this book to those who want to read two delightful Christmas romances.
Using premade pie crust, cut circles of pastry to place in tart pans or the bottom of muffin tins.
In each tart, put in a tablespoon of grated cheese (Swiss or other white cheese).
Sprinkle chopped sun-dried tomatoes and chopped green chiles in each tart.
Mix 1 cup of whipping cream with 4 egg yolks. Season with salt and pepper.
Slowly pour spoonfuls of this mixture into the tarts until filled.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes until lightly browned.
Since Angela’s TheDebutante Queen features a gingerbread village, I’ll share you with these sweet gingerbread houses.
Gingerbread house
Thank you for joining me for #TUESDAYTEA! I wish you a sparkling Christmas season filled with God’s treasured blessings of hope, peace, and forgiveness!
And the Angel said unto them, “Fear not : For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Luke 2:10 KJ
For this Veterans Day TUESDAY TEA post, I’d like to salute our veterans and all our military members (and their families) with a cup of gratefulness! We are thankful for their sacrifices which have preserved our freedoms. As a country, we have the freedom to hear and accept these words:
“For everyone who asks receives;
he who seeks finds;
and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:8 NIV
Veterans Day is a perfect time to review Holiday Defenders, a collection of three inspirational romance suspense stories featuring military heroes and touched with Christmas warmth.
What a Christmas treat-a trio of novellas filled with surprises and holiday romance!
The three stories in Holiday Defenders are exciting suspense-filled romances with touches of Christmas warmth.
Mission: Christmas Rescue, by Debby Giusti, has plenty of page-turning action as an intriguing mystery must be solved in order for soldier Nick Fontaine to protect his former girlfriend, teacher Liz Tate. Criminals who have abducted her brother are also after Liz and the children she is charged to keep safe. Filled with continuous excitement, the story ends with a charming Christmas tradition. A heart-touching romance by one of my favorite authors!
Special Ops Christmas, by Susan Sleeman, is set in Florida where there are harrowing attempts on scientist Claire Reed’s life. Green Beret Travis Chapman must keep her safe, even though this is difficult because of their past relationship. I was kept guessing about the attacker’s identity. Touches of holiday spirit are sprinkled throughout the story.
Homefront Holiday Hero, by Jodie Bailey, finds Kelly Walters busy with Christmas preparations for military families. Soldier Tyler Rainey is determined to find out who is behind the attacks on Kelly. There are unforeseen twists in his investigation as he finds himself attracted to Kelly.
Thank you Debby Giusti, Susan Sleeman, and Jodie Bailey, for your faith-touched stories, each a gift of exciting suspense with touches of Christmas warmth and holiday love. I read these with deepening appreciation for the holiday and year-round sacrifices of our military families. Holiday Defenders would be a perfect Christmas present to give this year!
I just finished reading Stranded with the Rancher by Tina Radcliffe and wanted to share my review with you. Yes, a perfect inspirational romance! While reading this book you can feel the Colorado snow and the warmth of the small town community of Paradise, Colorado!
Be sure to take a few oatmeal cinnamon raisin cookies from Patti Jo’s Café and Bakery! Mmmmm! I’m serving Colorado-based Celestial Seasonings’ Country Peach Passion Tea. Appropriate! 🙂
Here is a picture I took of the Colorado mountains covered with SNOW!
Colorado snow
The cover blurb from Stranded with the Rancher:
THE DOCTOR AND THE COWBOY
Stranded at single father Dan Gallagher’s ranch during a Colorado Blizzard, Dr. Beth Rogers is counting the days till the roads are clear. She can’t wait to leave for her new life in New York. But suddenly the big-city doctor is delivering babies in log cabins, helping to fee newborn calves and teaching Dan’s little girl to play hymns on the piano. No-nonsense Beth even throws a snowball or two at the handsome, love-sky cowboy. She thought she had her heart set on leaving, so why does she dream of Dan asking her to stay forever?
A perfect inspirational romance story!
Paradise, Colorado, is a place I like to visit….a charming little community filled with heart-warming folks I like getting acquainted with through their stories of faith and love. Hero Dan and heroine Beth are both strong, self-sacrificing people who each have trust issues. The development of their attraction felt so real as they learned how to trust their feelings, trust God, and make second chances possible. All the entertaining secondary characters touch the book with humor and smiles. Author Radcliffe infuses her writing with just the right amount of detail so that you feel like you are stranded in a Colorado blizzard or sitting in the popular town café munching on an oatmeal cinnamon raisin cookie. My favorite quote: “This has all the earmarks of being a God thing.” Yes, perfect!
Tina Radcliffe is a finalist for the 2014 ACFW Carol award for her romance Mending the Doctor’s Heart. Your can reach her at www.TinaRadcilffe.com or www.Seekerville.net.
Thank you for joining me for TUESDAY TEA. Please have another cup of tea before you go. And maybe a couple of salted caramels…Dan’s favorite candy!
We’re having tea today the with the author of LOVE’S MIRACLES—Sandra Leesmith. We’re at the Wildflower Gazebo Tea Garden, serving Lavender Scones with wildflower honey and an exquisite blend of English tea, The Queen’s Earl Grey Jubilee, from the Queen Mary Tea Shop in Seattle. The tea includes delicate lavender blossoms. Please pull up a white wicker chair and sit with us while we talk about Love’s Miracles, where wildflowers bloom, hence the flower-flavored scones and tea I’m serving today.
Lavender Scones and tea served in the spring garden with blooming columbines.
About Love’s Miracles
Dr. Margo Devaull came to Dominic Zanelli’s mountain retreat confident that she could help this Vietnam veteran overcome the torment that kept him apart from the world. But her training as a psychologist had not prepared her for the tragic, explosive contradictions brewing inside him. For here was a sensitive artist who could be gentle – and a man whose eyes flashed with violence and pain when he told her to leave and never come back. Yet Margo did come back, slowly gain his trust, and awaken the sleeping needs of his heart. Only by reliving her own wounded past and helping Zane confront a terrible memory from the war could she set them both free – and save their last chance for love.
My thoughts on Love’s Miracles
Reading Love’s Miracles helps us remember the sacrifices our military members and their families make to secure our nation’s freedom and the freedom of others who are not able to defend themselves. Love’s Miracles is a story of the post-Vietnam era, but is still relevant to current times. Sandra Leesmith writes of the emotions involved with post-traumatic stress disorder. Her words are written with the care and the consideration deserved by those who suffer from this condition. As I read this story, I was concerned about Zane and Margo as they worked through the issues they must face, their love blooming over time and through difficulties. The detail of both scenery and action is vivid. The ending left me in tears and with a profound appreciation for the sacrifices made during wartime.
As I read Love’s Miracles, my thoughts went back to 1971 when my husband headed to Fort Lewis, Washington, for Basic Training. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve Corp of Engineers. During this stressful time, he was prepared to go to Vietnam. I dreaded my husband being affected by the war, because I knew the possibilities. My father is a World War II veteran, having been in a German POW hospital after having a leg amputated, an injury which was caused by “friendly fire.” My father handles his disability with grace, helping others through amputee support groups. In my husband’s situation, the United States forces were withdrawn before he was called to go to Vietnam, though he continued to serve in the Reserves for many years.
Soldiers face extreme hardships and each person handles these situations differently. Love’s Miracles is a powerful story offering hope and understanding….and a reminder of those we owe thanks.
With thankfulness, my prayers go out to soldiers past, present and future.
Talking with Sandra Leesmith
SHERIDA: Sandra, I’m so happy to welcome you to Tuesday Tea as my first guest. After “meeting” you and your editor, Amber Stokes, in Seekerville, I am delighted to review the re-release of your book, Love’s Miracles.
SANDRA: Good morning, Sherida! Thank you so much for inviting me to join you for tea. I love tea. My dad’s family was from England so I always enjoyed tea time with them. Dad’s wife was British and she gave me quite a few lessons about the difference between a tea pot and a tea kettle. Makes me smile thinking of her.
SHERIDA: Readers like to know how an author gets started with a story. How did you get the glimmer of the idea for your book, Love’s Miracles?
SANDRA: Ideas rumble around in my head all the time. Characters talk to me and demand their story be told. I have always been a daydreamer so I figure my imagination is overactive. I like to think the stories come from the Holy Spirit.
This particular story was written in the eighties when there were so many after-effects of the Vietnam War. Veterans had a tough time when they returned home. They not only had to deal with public anger and hatred, but had to process the horror they had seen in battle. My brother was a Vietnam vet and my heart ached for the trauma I saw in him and so many others. The story emerged from those emotions.
SHERIDA: You wrote about this difficult situation with compassion. I’m learning that writing is demanding work. What do you do to keep your sparkle while you are writing?
SANDRA: What keeps me “sparkling” when I write is plenty of rest, exercise and healthy snacks. I start out my day with a morning walk and let the ideas swirl in my mind. I also walk when I’m stuck. Somehow the process of walking keeps my left brain busy enough to let my creative right brain have a say.
SHERIDA: Interesting. Many of my story ideas are formed when I’m hiking. I like your thoughts on keeping the left brain busy. Sandra, beyond family, friends and your writing career, what jewel of a moment has God placed in your path during your life’s journey that you would share with us?
SANDRA: This was a tough question because I have been so blessed with so many jewel moments. One that sticks out to me is the time right after I retired from teaching and started writing again, and I hit a wall. I had written Cody the Coyote, my children’s picture book, but I couldn’t write much more because of an intense set of family crises. I took a hike and sat down in this field thinking, “I guess I just wasn’t meant to write.” All of a sudden a coyote showed up about forty feet away and started singing and yipping. He stood there and pranced his front paws and sang to me for about fifteen minutes. I’ve never seen anything like it. But I knew that he was telling me that my writing was okay and that I would be fine.
Cody the Coyote finally did get published last winter. All of this simply showed me that even though we may have a glimmer of what we are supposed to do, we need to trust and have faith in the timing. 🙂
SHERIDA: I love your special moment! God’s perfect timing! Cody the Coyote sounds like a great book for my two grandchildren. FYI-Sandra’s children’s books are written as Sandy Wardman.
SANDRA: Thank you, Sherida. It has been a pleasure. And the tea hit the spot.
About the Author
Sandra loves to hike, read, bicycle, and write. She lives in Arizona with her husband and two dogs, a Labrador retriever and a toy poodle. During the hot summer, she and her husband travel throughout the United States in their motorhome, where she enjoys the outdoors and finds wonderful ideas for her next writing project.
My Very First Tea Party by Michal Sparks
Sherida Stewart 