Tuesday Cuppa Tea, October Arrives

Hello and welcome to another Teusday Cuppa Tea...for the first week in October...amazing!

I think that is so sweet!
Today I am sharing an autumn colors Royal Ascot, England bone china teacup. 

I thought the leaf design perfect for a nice cup of tea and perhaps a Pumpkin Muffin...see the recipe below...while I sit in the sunroom looking at the falling leaves making colored patterns on the lawn...our first ones fell this week when overnight temperatures hit the mid forties for the first sustained period...

The cup and saucer was made in the 1980s. Such a pretty shape. Although I know this is from the 1980s, very little is known about the pottery. It appeared in the Stoke-on-Trent area, sharing with another small pottery in the early 1970s, but was gone again by 1992, leaving almost no information.

That was a difficult period for even the larger, better established potteries.

So...another victim of the hard times Staffordshire went through.

For more info on the Royal Ascot fall teacup at Antiques And Teacups, click on the photos.

I wanted to share some of my favorite fall photos from the September/October 2008 issue of Victoria Magazine, my most favorite subscription.

Speaking of fall...we were, weren't we? I found a slightly battered tea related book in the bookshelf. The book is called Tea - Delectables For All Seasons by Maryjo Koch. Click the title to go the Amazon.com listing.

The hardback book is small, tied closed with a green ribbon and features drawings of botanicals and teapots, tea lore, tea terms and just delightful tea realted drawings by the author.

For her Autumn page, she has drawn a teapot shape made of twigs and mushrooms with the comment 
"Mushroom tea? Perhaps. Beautiful on a pot, not in it."  
The book was published in 1995 by Collins Publishing, San Francisco.

I wanted to share a pumpkin muffin recipe that I found and will be trying today from MyRecipes.com. When you see the recipe you can see why I can't wait to try them! The recipe is from Southern Living Magazine October 2011

Sticky-Bun Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups pecan halves and pieces
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 (15-oz.) can pumpkin
• 1 cup canola oil
• 4 large eggs

• Preparation

  • 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.
  • 2. Stir together melted butter and next 2 ingredients. Spoon 1 rounded teaspoonful butter mixture into each cup of 2 lightly greased 12-cup muffin pans, and top each with 1 rounded tablespoonful pecans.
  • 3. Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and make a well in center of mixture. Whisk together pumpkin, next 2 ingredients, and 2/3 cup water; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.
  • 4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans, filling three-fourths full.
  • 5. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert pan immediately to remove muffins, and arrange muffins on a wire rack. Spoon any topping remaining in muffin cups over muffins. Let cool 5 minutes.
  • TRY THIS TWIST!
  • Pecan-Pumpkin Bread: Omit butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Substitute 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans for 2 cups pecan halves and pieces; toast as directed in Step 1. Omit Step 2. Prepare batter as directed in Step 3; stir in pecans. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 9- x 5-inch loafpans. Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour). Makes: 2 loaves. Hands-on time: 20 min.; Total time 2 hr., 40 min.

I wanted to let you see a photo entitled Autumn In The Scottish Highlands I found unattributed on Pinterest with no links and posted about a week ago on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/antiquesandteacups/

It is the first thing I have ever posted that truly "went viral". 
It has been seen by over 8 million people, shared 85,000+ times and has had 4,000+ comments! Good grief!  See what you think???!

I hope you enjoyed having tea with me today, and am so glad you visited!
I will be joining:

 Tea Cup Tuesday 
 Bernideen’s Teatime, Cottage and Garden
Home Sweet Home

Share Your Cup

Here is the Tuesday Cuppa Tea linky for your tea related posts...please remember that it is SSSLLLOOOOOOWWWW but if you are patient...it's there!  I am so looking forward to visiting you!

An InLinkz Link-up