Stormy Night, Sunny Morning

This Monday night was eerily similar to last Monday. The storm & tornado warning sirens started to blare their warning at around 10:30pm, the wind picked up and rumbling of thunder could be heard. This was going to be another interesting evening. I was glad we were getting some rain for the garden but not looking forward to the gusty winds and possible tornado. As the storm rolled in, I went to check on the cats and discovered to my surprise that the back door was open. The wind was so strong, it blew the door open and the cats decided to go for an evening stroll. I called out for them as the rain began to get heavier. Filbert returned immediately but Socrates was nowhere to be found. The storm continued to get more intense and we continued to get more worried about Socrates. Raleigh kept calling out to Socrates and he finally came in after 20 minutes of heavy rain.

This is what a cat looks like after walking about in a storm

Drying off after a "shower"

Crisis averted, I decided we needed to have some hot chocolate to calm us down during this crazy storm.

I start with some dark chocolate.

whisk that together with some hot milk and sugar

cups of comfort

After a night of howling wind and rain tapping on the windows, I was happy to be greeted with a sunny morning. I surveyed the garden first thing in the morning and looked like the plants survived nicely.

 

 

Lily of the Valley looking fresh after a stormy night

Thursday Teatime!!

Today, we celebrated Joyce's birthday with a special tea! With Willy Wonka the Musical successfully behind me, I was in a celebratory mood. I finally got around to trying out the dark chocolate madeleine recipe from one of my new cookbooks.

Madeleine pans prepared almost as instructed, brushed with butter and dusted with cocoa(my experiment)

dark chocolate is melted with butter

whole eggs are beaten with sugar till pale and foamy

chocolate mixture is stirred in to finish the batter

Always a good sign when the recipe makes the stated specified amount.

 

 

success!!, and boy they are delicious!!

Next up , some scones. I decided to try something different and made cherry scones instead of the usual currants. I received some wonderful Dried Michigan pie cherries for Christmas from Kathy.

 

 

 

 

Tea is not complete without some savory foods. I decided to make turkey & watercress sandwiches and also made a wonderful shrimp salad with the wild shrimp from Publix.

peeled , deveined and tossed with olive oil, just the perfect song for a sing a long

 

 

dressing for shrimp

For the 2nd savory snack, Cajun turkey and watercress!

 For the tea service, I selected the more sparkly dish patterns since it was such a gloomy day.

Our tea selection for the afternoon

madeleines are finished with a quick dusting of confectioners sugar

 

 

 

After tea, we took a quick stroll in the garden to see what was blooming. The sun came out briefly and is was nice.

 

 

 

 

Thalia Daffodils

It has been a cold and wet spring so far, which is good for plants but I am eagerly awaiting warmer days ahead. Joyce shared a few tomato plants she started with us yesterday. I will spend the next few days "hardening off" the plants and plan to plant them in 2 or 3 weeks. We also received an invitation to a wedding in Charleston S.C. and I have till April 18th to decide weather to go or not.. decisions, decisions......