Tea and Toast


What is the connection between women and their families and their friends. Why do we enjoy retreats so much? What is a retreat? What are we "retreating" from?

I recently went to a "women's retreat" with my daughter, my sister, and my niece.
There I found peace, healing, comfort, sadness, forgiveness. We found fun in our imperfections. We learned what our favorite things are and what is important to us. We received and gave grace one with another. We longed for the past and despised it at the same time. We learned to have faith in ourselves and each other. We shared the bitterness of the truth. We learned about what our play was. That it is not the outcome but the process of the road we travel. We learned that tears, regrets, and forgiveness is the road that got us here.

We learned how to be comfortable with ourselves, comfortable with who others are, and how to allow them to be comfortable with who they are.

Are we filled with false expectations of ourselves and others? Are all expectations good or bad? Or are they just expectations?

This season, learn to love, allow, forgive. Begin again with your self and others.

If we hadn't tread the road thus far, we wouldn't be where we are today or who we are.

There is pain, sorrow, joys, regrets, rewards, happiness, sadness, and new goals. But, no failures.

Find someone close and dear to you and begin to share these experiences and begin again.

Here is a menu you might want to use and have them in for a nice fall tea.

Squash Bisgue (recipe taken from New Seasons Market
Wild Rice (fill the empty squash shells)
Pumpkin Muffins (baking Mix available on Ladysfortea Website)
Cranberry Relish
Pot of your favorite tea (Market Spice tea is perfect to go with this menu-also available at Ladysfortea.com
Dessert-a berry cobler would be nice
Chocolates or truffles always a must

Recipe for Squash Bisque
1 lg butternut squash
(cut in half with seeds scooped out)
Water for baking dish
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After washing and cutting squash, place it cut-side down in a large glass baking dish. Add a bit of water to the pan (about 1/2 inch). Bake for 60 minutes, depending on the size of the squash. To test it, poke with a fork through the skin. If the fork is easy to remove and the squash is soft, it is done. Scoop the squash out of the skin and blend or puree with broth, cider, nutmeg, and salt.

Serve the wild rice in the empty shells.

I pray you enjoy this Holiday season. But most of all love and forgive yourself first, then others.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Lady Caroline

Tea and Toast
As we lead into the fall, we begin to think of the comfort foods from our past and the ones we have handed down from generation to generation. I would like to share a piece of my past with you.

I grew up during the time that we had recipes with the phrase "Impossible" in the title. This referred to the idea that you could just dump all the ingredients together and throw it in the oven and it became a dish all by itself. These recipes were developed for the new generation of women that were entering the work place for the first time and time budgeting was an issue balancing career and family and home responsibilities.

Since pie is one of my favorite foods during the fall and holiday season, and I confess anytime of year, I have continued using a recipe inherited from my mother for the "Impossible Pie."The spices are traditional for this time of year and the custard filling is comforting as well. I love the fact that is makes it's own crust. This recipe lives up to it's name and is especially good paired with your favorite cup of tea.

I trust you will try this recipe as our weather gets cooler and we start having guests and friends into our homes.

"Impossible Pie"

4 eggs
1/4 cup marg
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups milk
1 cup coconut
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Blend together and pour into a buttered 10" pie tin-I prefer glass
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour
Allow to cool before cutting and serving with your favorite pot of tea.

I hope you enjoy this Impossible Pie and share it with a friend.

Tea and Toast
When I was in my early twenties, my mother had a habit of making a pot of tea and a stack of toast for her and Daddy at any given moment. It could be breakfast, mid morning, afternoon, or the evening meal. I remember thinking that he was so deprived and she should be making him full balanced meals, not feeding a full grown man of 6'2" and weighing nearly 200 pounds just toast and tea(never dawned on me something had to contribute to his size other than starvation). Oh my heart ached for him and I thought my mother was just awful for treating him in such a way. After all, that's not how a wife should treat her husband! So of coarse, being the full rounded good daughter and wife that I was(and medler), I would make meals and drop them off, invite them over for dinner, invite myself over so Momma would cook, any excuse to get a "good " meal down the two of them. I have to admit, my father was very thankful and delighted in the treatment and filled his plate again and again. I in the end felt myself justified that they at least had gotten one good meal in them that day. My mother remained unempressed and returned to her toast and tea. I could never figure out what was "wrong" with her. Why did she not love to cook and wait on my loving father?

Now, in my late 50's, while driving home from a full day's work, I dread the thought of going home and facing my other "job" for the evening, knowing full well when I get home, the thought of a home cooked meal will be on my husband and son's mind, wondering what delicious dish I would come up with tonight. Well, last night my son was gone for the evening (lucky me), so my husband got a bowl of soup from a can heated in the microwave along with a ham and cheese sandwich toasted in the toaster oven and I felt like I did pretty good. I myself had a pot of tea and didn't even manage to get a piece of buttered toast made. Hmmm. Maybe my momma's tea and toast wasn't so bad after all. Wonder what my daughter would have thought if she had stopped by last night? Ya, know, I could go for some tea and toast as we speak. There is nothing that will keep me from my tea and a buttered piece of toast when I awake of a morning. Doesn't matter if it's hot. Doesn't matter if it's cold. Doesn't matter if I'm sick or well, just give me my Tea and Toast.