Antiques And Teacups: June 2013

Hello and welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea!

It is definitely early summer here in the Pacific Northwest...proven by the opening of the strawberry fields in town. That was the inspiration of my teacup post today. This is one of my favorite teacups in a pattern called Strawberry Hill that was made by Wedgwood, England between 1957 and 1978. I love the shape...and I love strawberries!

Strawberries are an early spring harbinger and essential around here. We drove the 2 miles to the coast last week to a U-Pick organic farm called Graymarsh Farm here in Sequim...

You can see the Olympic Mountains of Olympic National Park, still with some snow field. The other photo looks to the water of the Strait of Juan De Fuca. It was mid week, and early in the day, but we weren't the only pickers....

A little later...next moth in fact, the Graymarsh U-Pick lavender opens up, the week before our annual Sequim Lavender Farm Faire, but the crop is turning purple nicely...

Then it was time to slice, sugar just a bit and serve with a homemade non dairy angel food cake...

Sometimes we serve it with the non dairy coconut ice cream I get at our organic market. Yummm! Or...sift a bit of powdered sugar over them. Sugar shakers, sugar casters or muffineers have been used for several hundreds of years for that. Here is a tin one from England in the 1970s...

or maybe you would prefer a ceramic sugar shaker by S. Radford's, England from the 1930s? All are little bits of culinary history. For more sugar shakers at Antiques And Teacups, click on the photos.

I hope you can get fresh strawberries where you are...they are truly red gems of early summer!

Below, you'll find the linky for Tuesday Cuppa Tea. And a list of some of the blogs I am looking forward to visiting. Also, I am also joining Terri for her My Garden Tea at Artful Affirmations...although my garden is the strawberry fields!

Have a wonderful week!

Terri~ http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/
Teacup Tuesday

Trisha~ http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/
Tea Party Tuesday

Sandi ~ http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

Teatime Tuesday

Kathy~ http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness

Martha~ http://www.marthasfavorites.com/

Tea On Tuesday
Miss Kathy ~http://thewritersreverie.blogspot.com/

Tuesday Tea

Michelle ~ http://www.finchrest.com/

Tea On Tuesday

Betty ~ http://teacoziecottage.blogspot.ca/

Tea Tuesday

Phyllis ~ http://www.relevanttealeaf.blogspot.com/

Tea On Tuesday

Bernideen’s ~ http://blog.bernideens.com/

Tea In The Garden Tuesday

Judith ~ http://lavendercottagegardening.blogspot.ca/

Lavender Cottage Tea Time

Pamela ~ http://playingwithmycamera.blogspot.ca/

Playing With My Camera Teatime

Beverley ~ http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Tuesday Blog Shop

Shawn ~ http://poetryinapotoftea.blogspot.com/

Poetry In A Pot Of Tea

Ivy And Elephants ~http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

What’s It Wednesday

Sandi ~ http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

Home On Wednesday

Coloradolady ~ http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/

Vintage Thingie Thursday

Mrs. Olson ~ http://jannolson.blogspot.com/

Share Your Cup Thursday

Hello my dear tea friends! It seems like a huge battle is finally concluded, and I am back with Tuesday Cuppa Tea.

A short synopsis...after being a victim of blog piracy that took WEEKS of hard work for some of us to prevail, the blog was my own again. But when, on techie advise, I changed to my own URL, something went wrong in the code and the blog suffered all dead links and all sidebar info had disappeared. It was not until 2 days ago that that finally got fixed!!! So I am holding my breath to see if the linky for Tuesday Cuppa Tea will again work. I apologize again for so many of you that had problems leaving comments or linking. I also want to say how much I appreciated the help, kind comments, emails, feedback and patience I have received from so many of you! It took the tech quite a long time to locate the "rogue code" that caused the problem.
So....

The teacup I have today is in honor of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, celebrated Saturday June 15th, although her birthday is actually in April. The queen was 87! That woman is a wonder!!! The official birthday was celebrated as usual with the Trooping Of The Colour, by all her 5 Queen's Guard regiments. Until the late 1980s, Queen Elizabeth rode sidesaddle in the procession back from the ceremony.

This is a cup and saucer made for the coronation in 1953 by Samuel Radford's, England with their choice of graphic Queen Elizabeth II in her Trooping The Colour uniform. It was an unusual choice for a coronation design, and I like it because of that. It is also special because of the crown incorporated into the handle. That is so wonderful!

Radford's is another of the Stoke-On-Trent Potteries area manufacturers that filled the are of Staffordshire in the late Victorian era, beginning in 1897. The company made lovely china and tea wares and finally closed in 1957, another pottery victim of the lack of new designers in tune with the new desires of post World War II Britons. For more info on the cup and saucer at Antiques And Teacups, click on the photos.

This photo is from 1982 of Queen Elizabeth at the Trooping of the Colours on her horse Burmese. I have never ridden sidesaddle....looks too uncomfortable and precarious to me!

This year saw other members of the Royal family mounted behind the Queen's carriage. They are, left to right, Prince William, Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Michael of Kent.

Prince Harry, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge shared a carriage and a laugh at something. This is Kate's last public duty before the birth of her child, expected in July.

Later, Queen Elizabeth shared a laugh on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with members of the family as they waited for the military fly by. All the photos here, except the photo of the Queen on Burmese are from the Daily Mail Online. Click on the name for more photos of the event.

I wanted to share a great recipe I found this week in the Cottage Journal for Pina Colada Cupcakes that looks and sounds scrumptious!

Piña Colada Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Frosting

Makes 2 dozen

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice
¹⁄³ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon coconut extract
Coconut Cream Frosting (recipe follows)
Garnish: dried pineapple, toasted flaked coconut
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with paper liners; set aside.
2.In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pineapple, oil, eggs, and coconut extract. Beat at low speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Increase mixer speed to high, and beat for 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.
3.Place Coconut Cream Frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip; pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Garnish with dried pineapple and coconut, if desired. Store cupcakes, covered, in refrigerator up to 3 days.

Coconut Cream Frosting
Makes 3 cups

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
¹⁄³ cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup cream of coconut
½ teaspoon coconut extract
1 (16-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese at high speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sugar, beating until combined. Add cream of coconut and coconut extract, beating until smooth. Reduce mixer speed to medium. Add whipped topping, and beat until combined. Chill for at least 20 minutes before using.

Thanks so much for joining me, and I certainly hope everything works!!!! Below, please find the linky to link your tea related posts, and a list of just a few of the blogs I am joining today. Have a wonderful day, and have a cuppa with a friend...and a goodie!!!

Common Ground ~ http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com

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