GONE WITH A HANDSOMER MAN

It's Here!

GONE WITH A HANDSOMER MAN

By Michael Lee West

Available here on Amazon.

I've been eager to read Michael Lee West's latest book,

so I was tickled pink when Michael Lee sent a copy of

GONE WITH A HANDSOMER MAN

to arrive on my doorstep April 12.

Any character who turns to

Easter Peeps to calm her nerves has to be interesting.

I've read all of Michael Lee's books, and her characters jump off the pages of her novels right into my heart. Michael Lee said, "A few summers ago, I began searching for the perfect recipe for Red Velvet Cake. I measured, baked, and consumed until I couldn't fit into my clothes and my fingers were permanently stained by food coloring. But the recipe eluded me.....I was just about to start a novel about wacky Tennessee sisters, and normally I like to stay home and eat Twizzlers while thinking about my characters-to-be. But off we went to Charleston."

"That night , tucked into my rented bed by the sea, a character named Teeny Templeton wandered into my dreams. She was a sassy, brown-eyed blonde with a penchant for throwing fruit at wayward boyfriends.......I thought Teeny would tell me a story about her quirky aunts or offer a Red Velvet recipe that somehow incorporated peaches, but she had other plans. Her boyfriend had turned up dead and all fingers pointed at Teeny. Plus, the body count was rising."

"I brought Teeny home, then I made her aunt's Red Velvet cake. I cut a huge slice, then opened a notebook and wrote Gone With a Handsomer Man on the first page. I held on for dear life while she whirled through adventures and unusual recipes."

RED VELVET CAKE

If you haven't heard by now, Teeny Templeton

cooks her way through "love, death, and Red Velvet cakes."

You are going to want to read this book, and you just

might find yourself cooking a Red Velvet Cake of your own.

I'm a child of the 50s.

Red Velvet Cake was a favorite in my youth.

The recipe I'm sharing is from my mother.

Red Velvet Cake

Cream 1/2 cup Crisco, 1 1/2 cup sugar; add 2 eggs.

sift 3 times: 2 cups flour, 1 T. cocoa, 1/2 t. salt.

Add alternately with 1 cup buttermilk, 2 oz. red food coloring.

Beat well. Fold in 1 t. soda dissolved in 1 T. vinegar.

Bake in two layers at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Frosting

1 cup milk, 1/4 cup flour, dash of salt --- cook over low

flame to a pudding stage. Set off to cool. Cream 1/2 cup Crisco,

1 stick Oleo, 1 cup sugar, and 1 t. vanilla. Add to the pudding

mixture; beat well until smooth. Spread on cake.

Sprinkle fresh coconut over cake.

Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.

All direct quotes are from the author, Michael Lee West. You can find a copy of her complete statement on her web site here.

"Celebrating Fictional Food in

Gone With A Handsomer Man"

April 22 & April 29

Click the link below to join others

celebrating the release of Michael Lee's newest novel.

Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum

Michael Lee is offering Special Give Aways

to Celebrate at the following blogs.

Don't miss out on the fun!

Between Naps on the Porch

Stone Gable

Cuisine Kathleen

Also linking to

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound

Springtime On The Terrace

Spring has arrived and here at HFTS that means bringing out the MacKenzie-Childs dishes in the Taylor Series and dining alfresco out on the terrace. MacKenzie-Childs' web site notes that these dishes "mix and match in playful harmony." It was exactly that characteristic which drew me to these fanciful dishes in the 1980s.

Stack of Salad Plates in Wallcourt Collection Await Dessert

Pastel colors, fanciful patterns, ruffled edges, flat edges, polka dots, checks ~ The Taylor Series and the Wallcourt Collection mix it all up for delightful springtime dining.

A recent Heritage Society Home Tour brought a group of friends together here at HFTS. We enjoyed a light brunch of fresh fruit, spinach quiche, and mini sweet rolls out on the terrace before visiting the historical properties on tour. I had planned to share the brunch setting last week for Tablescape Thursday, but when I attempted to upload the photos, there was an error message. No photos uploaded, and all the photos had been erased on my camera card. The above photo, taken by a friend, is all I have to share from the brunch.

This week offered more perfect spring weather for alfresco dining, so a group of girlfriends came over Monday to enjoy a light meal and evening of conversation outdoors.

The ruffled dinner plates from MacKenzie-Childs' Taylor Series are each so full of pattern and color, that I kept added details to a minimum.

Pastel plaid tablecloth, Ambiance Vintage Garden white chargers, and vintage flatware were all that was needed to set the stage for the mix of patterns on the table.

Bearded Iris pattern "remembers the bright yellow

beards in botanical drawings of Richard's iris garden."

Richard and Victoria MacKenzie-Childs founded the company in 1983. MacKenzie-Childs was purchased by Pleasant Rowland in 2001, and has since been sold to Twin Lakes Capital.

Aalsmeer pattern is named for the place "where

Victoria's sister and family lived in the Netherlands."

It represents the Dutch colors and boxes of tulips.

The Taylor Series was the original dinnerware collection of MacKenzie-Childs. It was "designed to be mixed at random like a happy ceramic bouquet."

King Ferry pattern "is a grid of fields and flowers

and sky and homestead to the MacKenzie-Childs family life."

These contemporary Majolica plates come in this ruffled edge or with a flat rim. Each is hand formed from red clay and painted by artisans in fanciful designs of the same color palette.

Myrtle pattern is named for a "Belfast lass who

wears a floral apron just like Milly Molly Mandy's aunt."

I liked the idea of mixing it up with different patterns, so when I first saw them in a local store in the 1980s, I decided to purchase a plate or two at a time, each in a different pattern.

Madison pattern for the "Indiana, smokestack,

riverboat, 4H, farmtown on the Mason-Dixon line where Victoria

finished growing up with Southern belles and pet pigs."

Some of the patterns are now retired, but MacKenzie-Childs continues to add new patterns and on occasion will bring a pattern out of retirement.

Monet pattern "honors Giverny's dining room dressed

in delphinium blue and yellow beyond the trellised gardens."

Over the years I've limited my selections to dinner plates and special serving pieces. I appreciate that they are each hand crafted and made by artisans in Aurora, NY. There is no doubt that I will ever tire of the charming designs and beautiful colors of these ceramics.

For a simple centerpiece I used potted spring annuals popped in a whimsical tin vase encircled with carrots.

Hand painted napkins in pinks and greens

are tucked into the handles of petite bunny creamers.

My friend Mary @ Home is Where the Boat Is was the inspiration for this idea. I had planned to use the bunny creamers filled with flowers at each place setting, but when I saw Mary's idea of using a mug filled with flowers as a napkin ring, I knew these would serve the same purpose.

If you missed seeing Mary's 

gorgeous Tulip d'Or table click here.

Each little creamer went home 

with a guest for the evening's party favor.

A yellow Kalanchoe plant offered the

perfect little bouquets with which to fill each creamer.

A simple light salad of fresh cucumbers and tomatoes was served in an Odd Fellows footed compote. The Odd Fellows pattern is "a medley of patterns patched together."

Parmesan crisp in a Keukenhof pattern

fluted bowl offered a little crunch to the meal.

Napa Rolls offered a rabbit friendly light entree for the spring evening. The large platter in the Bearded Iris pattern was a lucky thrift shop find a few years ago.

Filled with Napa cabbage, chicken, julienned carrots, and a blend of mint, basil, cilantro, and scallions, the Napa rolls were a big hit.

Sauces of spicy peanut and hot sriracha, here on a small oval platter in the Odd Fellows pattern, gave the Napa rolls an added tasty kick.

For dessert ~ carrot cake cupcakes, of course!

The cute carrot cupcake toppers

were purchased from World Market.

Iced pretzels offered 

a sweet/salty taste.

A special thank you to Jenn @ MacKenzie-Childs

direct service for help with 

specific descriptions for the pattern names.

Current patterns can be viewed here @ MacKenzie-Childs

Please help yourself to a scoop of citrus jelly beans

before heading off to visit others at the following parties this week.

Tablescape Thursday @ BNOTP

Open House Party @ No Minimalist Here

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

A Few of My Favorite Things @ Bargain Hunting & Chatting w/ Laurie

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound

Friendship Is Golden

Understand that friends come and go,

but with a precious few you should hold on.

The older you get, the more you need

the people who knew you when you were young.

Mary Schmich

One of the pages in my Mary Engelbreit's Hold On Tight 2011 Engagement Calendar features a group of happy ladies with the above quote by Mary Schmich.

M. E. Monday Contribution

Mary's illustrations and collection of quotes always start my days off with a smile. I have both her desk calendar and her engagement calendar. I wouldn't be without them! Wanted to share this page from the engagement calendar today because I spent Friday and Saturday with a group of girls that I've known since elementary school. It's been 40+ years since many of us have been together. Only eight of us could make it for this reunion, but we are already planning future get togethers. What fun to be with friends who share a history of one's youth.

It's not too late to purchase your own copy of Mary Engelbreit's Hold On Tight 2011 Engagement Calendar here at the Mary Engelbreit online store. It's even on sale!

Click the links below to join these weekly parties.

M. E. Monday @ The Cherry Chick

Mosaic Monday @ Little Red House

Blue Monday @ Smiling Sally

Egg~Stravaganza

Not egg-zactly your typical Easter egg!

My mother started me off on the

journey of these exquisite works of art.

I display my group of

eggs~traordinary treasures every Easter.

At first when there were just a few,

they nestled in miniature baskets or nests.

Mother gave me my first hand painted egg from her friend, Peggy, in 1980. China painting was a popular hobby at the time, and her friend painted on china eggs.

Each spring, Mother would send me one of Peggy's exquisite eggs. Eventually my basket expanded to include other eggs created by local artists and a few that were mass produced.

I've not added any new eggs in many years, but every Easter, without fail, the exquisite hand-painted eggs from years past take center stage here at HFTS.

The two eggs in front were painted by Peggy. Delicate pink roses, a pair of sweet blue birds ~ each of Peggy's paintings reflected her love of nature.

You can see the little bunny among the Texas bluebonnets is dated 1980. It was the first of these eggs that Mother gave to me. The egg to the right with the big eyed owl was painted by the grandmother of one of my students. It dates from the late 1970s.

These tiny quail eggs were for sale at a local florist in 1984 and were painted by Joni, a local artist. Joni later had a line of greeting cards that featured her art.

In the 1990s, a friend here in town began painting eggs and sold them at local boutiques. Nancy's eggs are the ones featured in the mosaic at the opening of this post. Her bundle of radishes that encircles the egg above was one of her early designs.

Nancy painted on wooden eggs, and you can see how her designs changed over time.

Nancy painted these eggs until 2000,

but unfortunately has since given up this hobby.

This trio of blue and white eggs are

from China and were also from the 1980s.

Spring 2001 you'll find the eggs have found a soft spot on a burlap covered tray. Come back next week to meet the bunnies that keep them company.

I recently discovered a very talented blogger who has painted many eggs through the years. Click here to meet Priscilla @ Letters From the Northwest.

Priscilla has several posts showcasing the different designs she has painted on eggs. The mosaic above is just a tiny sampling of Priscilla's talent and the assortment of designs that she has painted through the years. Visit Letters From the Northwest and scroll down through her archives. You'll be amazed!

Click the links below to join others

sharing this week at the following parties.

Open House Party @ No Minimalist Here

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

A Few of My Favorite Things

@ Bargain Hunting & Chatting w/ Laurie

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound

Seasonal Sunday @ The Tablescaper

Three or More Tuesday @ The Gypsy's Corner

Garden Pals

A couple of garden pals stopped by

this weekend to help me in the garden.

Anne Estelle paper doll, HOME COMPANION, April/May 1997

Gracie paper doll, HOME COMPANION, April/May 2000

Sweet little Ann Estelle and her friend, Gracie,

came over to dig in the dirt and water the plants.

Ann Estelle reminded me that I had this cute "Pals" frame that one of my students gave me long ago. It's dated 1995. I've had it stored in a box that holds the things that sat on my desk when I taught. Now this cute frame sits on my computer desk. Thanks for the reminder, Ann Estelle.

Look what's blooming in the garden!

Click on the following links to join others who have something to share.

M. E. Monday @ The Cherry Chick

Mosaic Monday @ Little Red House

Masterpiece Monday @ Boogieboard Cottage

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer