A Merry Christmas Tea!

Merry Christmas, Dear Friends!

May you enjoy the simple pleasures this season, experience too many joy-filled moments to count, and receive the true blessing of being surrounded by family, friends, love and laughter.

I promise this post will be short and sweet since we are in the midst of holiday celebrations and everyone must be so busy, but I thought you might enjoy a little confectionery treat.

Today I am honouring my beloved mother-in-law, Ethel Ryan.  Ethel was a kindred spirit. We both loved the holidays.  I miss her every day and especially at Christmastime.  She loved tea and some of my fondest memories are of sharing tea together around her kitchen table in the quiet hours.

I gave this sweet little figurine to Ethel one Christmas; she just adored sheep. Before she passed in November 2009, she wanted me to love it back into my own collection.  If you love Pinterest, and sheep, here’s a link to my board in her memory, “Beautiful Sheep for Ethel”:https://www.pinterest.com/lindam…/beautiful-sheep-for-ethel/

In addition to sheep, Ethel loved Christmas trees and had a devout faith; hence the gingerbread selection!

Since my last post, my husband and I created some new Christmas memories of our own.  We travelled together on a river cruise down the Danube, visiting European Christmas markets along the way in Hungary, Austria, Germany and Czech Republic.  It had been on my bucket list for decades and  was a dream come true.  I brought home traditional Christmas cookies from each region to share with you.  I hope you enjoy them.

This is the collection of traditional Christmas sweets that made it all the way from Europe just a few weeks ago (cookie plate: gingerbread hearts, sheep and tree from Budapest, Hungary; Bishop gingerbread figure from Vienna, Austria; Springerle biscuits from Nuremberg, Germany; Mozart Chocolates from Salzberg (on the border between Austria and Germany).

The little deer came from a Christmas market in front of Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna.

The Mason’s Pink Vista teapot was a gift from my husband many Christmases ago.

Fresh greenery adds a beautiful touch to any tea table. I like to elevate arrangements on fancy cake plates.

The beautiful two-tiered celebration cherry cake from my sweet friend Pam Picco who lives here in Newfoundland!  She is an extraordinarily talented cake artist.  I just love what she created for me.

The poinsettias are made from sugar!

What a romantic Christmas cake!

This teeny deer seems to appear everywhere around our house!

My pink transferware collection is made up of pieces gathered from yard sales and vintage shops but they all seem to work together.

These gingerbread hearts, like all the confections on my tea table, are truly works of art! I really admire the talent of these bakers.

The picture inside this tiny frame is actually the cover of a pretty Christmas card that my husband received from someone he works with.  I trimmed the image a little and slipped it into a frame for the tea table…

Springerele biscuits  are almost too pretty to eat, don’t you think!  We had a difficult time cutting that beautiful cake that Pam made but we finally managed to bring ourselves to do it…It was delicious and Ethel certainly would have approved!

Thank you to The Charm of Home, Rose Chintz Cottage and Rooted in Tyme for sharing my previous post “A Cuppa Cozy:  Cocoa-and-Cookie Station”.

Well, we have some visiting to do and still some presents to deliver! Thank you so much for coming by and leaving such thoughtful and kind comments.  It makes a difference.  Wishing you the sweetest holiday season,

Cheers,

Linda

 

I’m happy to be joining Pink Saturday, Saturday Show Off, Amaze Me Monday, Creative Mondays, No Place Like Home, Tweak It Tuesday and Inspire Me Tuesday, Wake Up Wednesday, The Scoop, Bernideen’s Tea Time Cottage and Garden Blog Party, What’s It Wednesday, Home and Garden Thursday, Share Your Cup Thursday, Shabbilicious Friday, Feathered Nest Friday, Simple and Sweet Friday and What To Do Weekends.