What's In My Teapot?

Sharon Mast who commented: "I think my favorite is still good old garden tea, some kind of balsam. How I'd love to chat with Dorcas over a cup!" Congratulations, Sharon!!! You might want to stock up on some of your favorite garden tea, for your very own autographed copy of Footprints on the Ceiling will be on it's way to you directly! I will be contacting you personally in order to get the ball rolling!  Just in case it is confusing to see this post coming up when you thought we already had a winner last week, let me explain that the first winner never came forward to claim the prize, so I did a second drawing! Hopefully a third will not be necessary!!!  In the event that you need a very good excuse to spend a little money on Black Friday, or you would like to do some Christmas shopping for a friend, this is for you:  Footprints on the Ceiling is available for $15 per book, postage included.  You can mail a check to Dorcas Smucker, 31148 Substat...

Seeing as this is the week of Thanksgiving, I thought it would be appropriate to feature a book with pilgrims and turkeys... or at least some sweet, nostalgic story that would ring true to the season. Unfortunately, it was not to be! My own shelves were bare and even a search at the library was relatively fruitless. I found different books that had turkey labels on their spines, signifying that they are Thanksgiving books, but none of them took my fancy or held special meaning to me. For the first time since I began my Tuesday book reviews, I was coming up dry. Not a good feeling on a busy week when I didn't have extra time to search or be creative! So, instead of featuring a book about Thanksgiving, I thought I would ask my family (and myself) a question: What is a book you are thankful for?  And here are the answers: Wesley  had a bit of a decision crisis, but eventually settled on the author, C.S Lewis ! He says he likes his allegories because they help you to think...

As long as we live in this world we will face our own mortality and that of our loved ones. As long as we live in this world we will hear the phone ring occasionally and receive the kind of message across the wires that we didn't really want to hear. This morning we got the call that Wesley's maternal Granddad passed away in the wee hours of the morning while we slept. His death was not unexpected, and therefore did not hold the tragic shock that accompanies the sudden passing of the young and strong, but it still brings an aura of grief as we realize that someone we loved is gone. Gone beyond the reach of phone-calls and birthday cards, Sunday- afternoon visits and the sharing of holiday meals. Hardest of all is the fact that he is gone beyond the reach of opportunities for conversation...for listening to and learning from someone older and wiser. Like anyone who has lived into their nineties and who has seen a lot of changes in our world, Granddad had stories to tell,...

Today I am very excited to share what's brewing in my teapot:  my very first book review with a give-away !!!! Nevermind the wind that's howling and the temperature that's dropping outside! Nevermind how absolutely dreary November can be! I have the perfect solution for warming up from the inside out... Can you possibly guess what it is? Before I introduce you to the book I am reviewing, though, I want to tell you a little about the author, Dorcas Smucker, and how I made her acquaintance in the first place... A little more than a year ago, at my 30th birthday party, my Mom gave me a book called Tea and Trouble Brewing , by Dorcas Smucker. I  had never heard of this author, but I was delighted with a new book...and especially one with a really cute teapot on the cover! I enjoyed the book very much and felt that I had a new kindred spirit out there, albeit one I have never met! After all, Dorcas loves tea and feels that it is the perfect start to her morning...

I must admit that my love for the particular season we're in right now always comes a bit begrudgingly at first. At the offset, I hate to exchange flip-flops for fuzzy socks and watermelon for apples! Then, once the trees are full of color and I have smelled an apple crisp or two, I can no longer resist the lure of Autumn! The colors, the smells, the flavors and the sights are downright beguiling and I am hooked. Who can resist falling in love with ginger and cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves and pumpkin pie spice all over again once they mirror the colors of the outdoors and cause some of the most fragrant aromas on this side of heaven to waft out of the oven? A recent jaunt to the library found me perusing the books labeled "new," which are handily placed on a self by the checkout counter, where I found the perfect book to help celebrate the season with some new recipes! This enticing cookbook, called The Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookbook , by Stephanie Pedersen, boasts ...