My New Journey – Ikebana

At the beginning of this year (pre-COVID), I traveled to Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids MI to take a morning class on the subject of Ikebana – the art and study of Japanese Flower Arrangement and Design. Learning to do Ikebana has been on my Bucket List for some time and this was my first opportunity to have a hand’s-on experience.

After the class I asked the instructor about the possibilities of further study. To study the formal coursework of Ikebana, one needs a certified Ikebana teacher. The closest one(s) actively teaching (according to the instructor) are in Chicago…a four-hour one-way drive for me.

Later in the evening the instructor emailed me a list of Ikebana book resources and other information. One was a link to Ilse Beunen, an international Ikebana teacher and artist who lives in Belgium. Ilse has an online e-newsletter (for free) so I signed up to receive it.

When COVID hit, everyone was impacted including Ilse. She lost the income from teaching Ikebana in her studio since everyone was in shut-down mode. And like so many, Zoom became a new tool for Ilse to use to connect with people and help with her income flow.

Through her e-newsletter, Ilse announced she would be offering in July a four-week introductory Ikebana course via Zoom open to only six participants. I immediately registered and got in! During these four weeks via Zoom Ilse demonstrated various Ikebana techniques and each participant worked to replicate her designs/techniques in their own homes.

At the end of this four week summer course, every class member expressed their desire to continue with Ilse in the formal study of Ikebana…via Zoom. Ilse was inspired by the success of the Zoom summer session and decided to teach the formal Ikebana course work to us six students starting on Monday, August 31, 2020.

One of the original six summer students decided she could not commit at this time to the formal study so another person has filled that opening. We are an international group, four here in the US, one in Turkey and the other in Belgium…plus Ilse in Belgium.

Each Monday class via Zoom is structured with Ilse demonstrating the lesson’s design. During the week, we are to do a practice piece of that design and send Ilse a picture so she has an idea of how well, or not, we are comprehending the lesson. At the next class each student then does that design in real time (in front of the computer) for Ilse to help us further with learning how to properly execute the design.

There are a total of 110 lessons to complete the full basic course work of Ikebana and it takes a minimum of two years. From there, once the basics are known, students of Ikebana are able to do more abstract and creative designs. As Ilse says to us, everyone serious about Ikebana must master the basics first.

Ilse has started us with a traditional Ikebana design called “Moribana”. This design focuses on lines created by a combination of branches and flowers. Using a flat, shallow vase container filled with water and a kenzan (a needle studded metal disk), the branches and flowers are placed in the kenzan at exact positions and angles.

Here are my two Moribana Lesson#1 designs…first one is the practice design using six of the dozen fresh roses I bought at Kroger and apple tree branches from my back yard. By the time of the “do-it-live” Zoom session, the remaining roses opened up so much I did not need as many to complete the design properly. I personally like my practice design the best of the two. Ilse liked it too…gave me a “WOW” in her comments to me!

Sweet Shalom Tea Room – September 2020

Last Sunday, David and I, along with Soapy, drove to Sylvania, Ohio for our September visit to the Sweet Shalom Tea Room. This month’s theme is “A Leaf Peeper’s Tea” in celebration of the approaching autumn season. We met up with our dear tea friends, Betty and Ron Hill.

At each place setting was a caramel apple waiting to be decorated. An assortment of little edible decorations were on each table to use for this purpose. We each had fun with this special and seasonal activity…we all agreed David won the prize for most creative!

A delicious tea meal along with a presentation on best scenic road trips in Michigan to see fall color rounded out another wonderful time with the folks at Sweet Shalom. Thank You!

Personalized menu with September’s theme – “A Leaf Peeper’s Tea”

Caramel apple at each place setting waiting to be decorated

Generous assortment of caramel apple decorating treats

David and Ron very thoughtful about decorating their caramel apples!

David’s wins for being the most creative…at our table!

My apple on the left and David’s on the right

September’s tea meal starts with a delicious Harvest Vegetable Soup

Cheddar Chive Scone accompanies the soup

Tea server of savories and sweets – Cucumber Tea Sandwiches, Turkey Tetrazzini, Veggie Confetti Tumble,
Beefy Cheesy French Bread, and Pumpkin Run Cake with Rum Butter Sauce

Finial Dessert – Apple Dumpling with Whipped Cream

Our 43rd Anniversary!

On Sunday, September 11, 1977 at 5:00pm, David and I were married on the campus of Michigan State University in the Rose Garden behind the Student Services Building. Beaumont Tower was chiming the hour. The weather was perfect…clear sunny skies and mid-70’s temperature. Our immediate families were present to support us and celebrate the occasion. A retired reverend officiated the ceremony. Afterwards we all gathered, including the reverend and his wife, at the Grate Steak Restaurant in East Lansing for our wedding supper.

The Grate Steak Restaurant was part of the Win Schuler’s line of restaurants at that time. Sadly the Grate Steak has been gone for years. Out of all the Schuler restaurants that were once around in Michigan, the only one left is Schuler’s in Marshall MI.

Over the years many of our birthdays, holidays and anniversaries have been celebrated at Schuler’s in Marshall. And this year’s anniversary was enjoyed there as well. David and I have one favorite entree that we order…London Broil. Unfortunately over the last couple years we weren’t seeing it on their menu…and stopped going.

At some point I had a conversation with a manager about this. He explained that yes the London Broil entree is hit and miss on their menu now, sometimes only showing up during the Christmas holiday season. He also said when we make our reservations to specifically ask for the London Broil and the chef will prepare it for us if he has the ingredients on hand.

So last Friday, September 11, 2020, on our 43rd wedding anniversary, and with a 5:00pm reservation …Schuler’s came through for us with a delicious meal that included all our favorites…Schuler’s Cheese and Crackers, Schuler’s Salad, London Broil, and Creme Brulee (with a Raspberry Swirl) for dessert! Thank You Schuler’s!

Mom’s Birthday Tea Party

On July 10 (2020) our Mom had her 88th birthday! Happy Blessed Birthday!

David and I celebrated with Mom on Sunday, July 12 when we were looking after her while my sister and her husband were away for the day. I decided to do something fun by having a Birthday Tea Party supper for the three of us.

Since we were going to be with Mom at my sister’s home, I brought over the white lace table linens, china and glass tableware, gold flatware, teaware and tea food needed for our special meal. It was a pleasant day so I set things up on their back screened-in porch.

I made my version of Gazpacho Soup which I served in glass cups and placed on our Haviland china plates. I used my grand-mother’s Haviland china for the same reason as at our May Porch Party…to include her in spirit in our festivities.

We had five savories, a fruit, and four tea desserts that were plated and presented on a three-tier server. Earl Grey Black Tea was poured from a tea-cozy covered tea pot into the Haviland china teacups. I prepared the savories and fruit. All the tea desserts were purchased pre-made from Kroger.

Table set and ready to enjoy a Birthday Tea Party Supper

Top tier plate: Cucumber-Dill Blossoms on White Bread, Egg Salad on White Bread Tea Sandwiches,
Roasted Grape Tomatoes & Pesto Crostini (French bread)

Middle tier plate: Chicken Salad with Dried Cranberries & Pecans on Croissants, Green Olive & Walnuts with Cream Cheese on Whole Wheat Tea Sandwiches, Fresh Watermelon Slices

Bottom tier plate: Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Square, Madelines,
Raspberry-Lemonade Tea Cakes, Lemon Bars

Plate filled with cup of Gazpacho Soup cup, savory tea sandwiches and watermelon slice,
and a teacup of Earl Grey Black Tea

Plate of tea desserts for Mom’s birthday celebration

Knitted tea cozy over teapot of Earl Grey Black Tea, sitting on a tea warmer

Dahlias

One of the things I really wanted in my garden this year were Dahlias…a late summer blooming plant that are suppose to produce large gorgeous flowers in an assortment of colors. I planted a total of 15 dahlia tuber-bulbs in early summer, each in their own pot around the back yard. There were some duds which I replaced, and all 15 dahlias did manage to sprout and grow during the summer. But as we are now into September I admit I am not over-whelmed with their production of flowers as I hoped. Only about half the plants produced any flowers.

The ones that produced lovely large flowers were bent over by the heavy rains which finally showed up after such a hot and dry summer. I walked around and cut some of the better blooms and arranged them in a glass to enjoy and share with you.

Pumpkin Pans and Bread

In a recent catalog I saw Nordic Ware bread pans that have a 3-D pumpkin design. I decided to look for them on Amazon, found them and ordered two pans.

My sister recently shared some of their garden tomatoes and zucchini…Thank You! The tomatoes we enjoyed sliced for dinner…yum! I have a recipe for Pumpkin-Zucchini Bread that makes enough for two 9″x5″ loaf pans so I made a batch using the garden zucchini in the new Nordic Ware pumpkin pans. Another yum!

After thoroughly washing and drying the new pans, I lightly coated the interior of the pans with a flour-oil baking spray then added the prepared pumpkin-zucchini bread batter. After baking the bread and cooling a bit in the pans, the baked bread literally dropped out of the pans…so no problem with sticking especially with all the intricate 3-D detail! The two loaves are perfect in detail!

I have a folder of quick (batter) loaf bread recipes and there are quite a few with pumpkin bread variations. While I like my Pumpkin-Zucchini Bread recipe, I plan to try some others during this fall season with my new 3-D pumpkin pans to see which one wins out in taste, texture and presentation!

Sara’s Sampler

Sara Velasquez, co-owner of the Sweet Shalom Tea Room, has been working on a needlework sampler in her words “for over 40 years” and finally finished it this past year.

Sara came to my Themed Teas while I was doing them. Like David and I making the trip to Ohio to enjoy tea at their tea room, Sara would make the trip here to enjoy tea with us.

It was while Sara attended my Themed Teas that she saw my love of samplers…that I too stitched, also collected antique samplers…and had done my own conservation mounting and framing of all my stitched and antique samplers.

When Sara finished stitching her sampler, she asked if I would prepare it for framing. I said yes and she then entrusted her beautiful sampler to me.

The process of preparation for conservation mounting involves using conservation materials and techniques which I have been trained to use through my graduate program at MSU, and museum studies at Winterthur Decorative Arts Museum and Colonial Williamsburg.

Since Sara had been handling her sampler for so many years, we both agreed washing it should be attempted. I felt confident it would wash well by hand using a mild soap (not detergent). I tested some of the colored threads to see if they might run once exposed to water but I did not find any problem with running dyes.

There were stains to deal with but I decided just to let the gentle washing be enough. The stains faded some with washing, didn’t entirely disappear but were improved.

After carefully rolling the washed sampler in a towel to bring out the excess moisture, I laid it flat to dry. Then with a towel padded ironing board, steam iron and pressing cloth, I gently pressed the sampler flat with it face down in the towel so the embroidery surface would not be smashed from the iron.

Next step was to stitch pre-washed muslin fabric strips along the long sides of the sampler. These would be used to stretch the sampler around the acid-free form core backing board. As I stretched the muslin around the board, I pinned the edges to the board to hold. When all was straight and aligned, I folded under the muslin edges in back and finished securing with tiny hand stitches. This method of conservation mounting allows for the even tension of stretching the sampler around the backing board and the whole process is reversible.

I took a picture of the sampler while it was still in a pinned mode and emailed it to Sara to make sure she was happy with the position of the sampler on its backing board. She was so all was good-to-go to finish. Sara will find her own framer to add the frame and glass of her choice.

I finished her sampler in time for our Sweet Shalom visit in May.

Sara’s beautiful sampler is one of the most impressive works of stitching I have seen and I am sure will be a cherished heirloom in her family for a long time to come.

Sweet Shalom Tea Room – May 2020

After such a delightful “take-out” tea experience at Sweet Shalom in April, David and I were truly looking forward to doing it again in May! We made our reservations with Sweet Shalom, and plans to meet up with Betty and Ron Hill in the back parking area as before. When we arrived though, David and I were invited inside. Not sure what was going on, but once inside we were escorted to the big table by the front bay window where in the middle of the table was this GORGEOUS “Cara Cara Orange Cake”!

Such a surprise…Sweet Shalom co-owners Chris Kruse and Sara Velasquez, along with our tea friends Betty and Ron, organized to celebrate David and my May birthdays! Chris baked and decorated this beautiful cake for us! The tea food still was “served” take-out style to the table (except for the soup)…and it was all great fun! Besides the staff, the four of us were the only ones inside.

As I write this post, I am still in awe, humbled by the love and thoughtfulness of our dear Sweet Shalom and tea friends! It was so special and lovely! Thank You All!!

Our dear tea friends Betty and Ron Hill, along with Sweet Shalom Co-Owner Sara Velasquez

Our take-out tea food packaged and served at the table!

Our assortment of tea treats in the take-out tray…love the fresh flowers!

And for dessert…a slice of the delicious Cara Cara Orange Cake!

Happy Hibiscus

We had a good soaking from Mother Nature this past week and my potted hibiscus by the front porch were very appreciative! I have been hand watering them nearly every day during this hot and dry summer to keep them going. They flowered but the flowers dropped quickly, I think due to the heat. It was after this past week’s rain and a bit cooler temperatures that they blossomed more profusely and in colors I hadn’t seen previously…in particular this orange-peach blossom. Gorgeous!

May Porch Party

In honor of Mother’s Day and to celebrate my birthday (they were two days apart), my sister Liz and our mom Lila, came over to the house for a “porch party”. I set up a couple table trays to hold tea-ware and the dessert which my sister was bringing. Liz baked delicious Blueberry Crumble Bars and also brought vanilla ice cream for a-la-mode. She decorated the dessert pan with a sweet birthday banner. I have my grandmother’s Haviland china and I thought it would be a lovely gesture to use it…a way to include her in our family celebration too.