Cottage Tea: Late Spring

I will squeeze one more late spring tea in here at Victory Cottage. I am using my Royal Doulton Brambly Hedge spring china. Also a lovely little teapot with a bird perched on top.

In late spring, I have an abundance of flowers all blooming at once, so I decided to put them all on the table together. Shown are tulips, peonies, salvia, nepta, roses, and dusty miller. 
 

The spring china from Brambly Hedge by Royal Doulton. 

I am serving strawberries and chantilly cream with this tea, of course, for they are also in abundance in late spring.

In Victory,

Sherry

The Cottage Garden

I have always wanted a cottage garden. In the last four years, we have created one, and it is a pleasure to be in it. 

I really started this quest with the desire to have an herb garden. I was very fond of this book, and it remains one of my favorite books. It is full of illustrations by a famous children's book author and illustrator, Tasha Tudor.  

I began buying herbs from a local retailer, and then I tried to grow the plants that were in this book that weren't for sale locally. This is lovage. I always thought it would be so handy because of how the book describes it as a substitute for celery. I tried growing it a few times. It isn't hard to grow; it just didn't always overwinter. It is a perennial and will come back each year. I now have a successful lovage plant that came back this year and is very robust. 

 I have found the most success with flowers. Most are really easy to grow from seed. 

It helps everything in the garden when you grow a large variety of flowers because it brings in beneficial insects. 

So join me as I blog some photos of the cottage garden each week in the spring, summer, and fall. You never know who might pop up in the photos. 

In Victory,

Sherry

Cottage Tea & Strawberry Crumble

A steaming cup of mint tea and a strawberry crumble. It is really simple, to pause and have a drink. 

A strawberry crumble makes every break better. 

So I went to the garden and picked a bunch of lilacs and the smell was amazing! I took some strawberries I was gifted and made a crumble. Have you ever made a crumble with a bottom crumb layer as well as the top? I discovered this recipe a few months ago. It is delicious. I found the recipe here: Ultimate Berry Crumble.  A simple cottage tea can bring peace of mind. Where do you find your tranquility?

 Strawberry Crumble

Crumble:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup cold butter

2 large egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Fruit filling:

3 cups of strawberries, washed, stemmed, and cut up (could be frozen)

1/3 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons of lemon juice (used bottled)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Make crumble: Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Stir until combined. Cut up cold butter and incorporate with a pastry cutter. Mix until a coarse texture. Stir in egg yolks, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar and mix briefly. The mixture will have some coarse crumbs and some small dry crumbs. Set the crumble aside. 

Make filling: Combine all strawberries in a large bowl. Add sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Mix until cornstarch is dissolved. 

Assembly:

Put half of the crumble in the bottom of baking dish (I used a 9-inch deep dish pie plate.)  Can use a 2 quart baking dish. Press the mixture down with the bottom of a cup until well compacted. Spread the berry filling on top of this. Sprinkle the remaining crumble over the top of the berries and squeeze some of the crumble into clumps. 

Bake in a preheated oven until the top is browned. 40-45 minutes. Let set for 30 minutes after baked and then serve.  

(Recipe adapted from: The Ultimate Berry Crumble at allrecipes.com)

In Victory,

Sherry

The Cottage Kitchen: Victoria Sponge Cake

It occurred to me that I could cook on my cottage table where the light was good and start bringing you cottage kitchen posts. So today I debut the "Cottage Kitchen", from "Victory Cottage." The name Victory Cottage is a spinoff of the Victory Gardens of the WWII era but with a twist. I'll let you read and discover the twist. So, where do you find the Victory Cottage? It is the name of my new Instagram account. You can find it here: @victory_cottage_.  The Charm of Home will remain the main blog, and I will post all the same things at both places. 

So let's chat. Where have I been for four years? I was homeschooling one of my children. A lot has happened in the last four years. I have been most excited to tell you that I have also expanded the cottage garden a lot, which I will be sharing. I plan to post each week on the cottage garden, the cottage kitchen, and a cottage tea. 

What am I making today in the kitchen today? It is a Victoria sponge cake. I made it in a 6-inch pan. I will be making a lot of sweets in smaller sizes. A full-size dessert is just too much for us now, so the smaller sweets will be perfect.

I am going to embellish this cake with edible pansies. Photographing myself cooking is a new thing. I am still getting used to it.

Pansies are one of my favorite flowers for spring. They look good on the front porch or on the food! 

The peonies and a lovely coral pink tulip have bloomed, and I put them together and really liked the color combination. 

The Victoria sponge cake, adorned with pansies. I love pretty food, but I will admit I have a really hard time with the Victoria sponge cake. Do any of you have a full-proof recipe? The recipes I have tried have always said it was the easiest cake, yet every time I make it, I don't find it so easy. I got this recipe from "Naked Cakes: Simply Beautiful Handmade Creations" by Lyndel Miller. The filling and frosting are her Chantilly Cream recipe.  

Welcome back, and I can't wait to create more cottage content for you! Cottage has always been my style, and it has resurfaced! 

In Victory, 

Sherry

The Holy One of Israel

source

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.
4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
7 everyone who is called by my name,
    whom I created for my glory,
    whom I formed and made.”

8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
    who have ears but are deaf.
9 All the nations gather together
    and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold this
    and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
    so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
    “and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
    nor will there be one after me.
11 I, even I, am the Lord,
    and apart from me there is no savior.
12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
    I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.
13     Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
    When I act, who can reverse it?”

God’s Mercy and Israel’s Unfaithfulness

14 This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I will send to Babylon
    and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians,[b]
    in the ships in which they took pride.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    Israel’s Creator, your King.”

16 This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses,
    the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.
20 The wild animals honor me,
    the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21     the people I formed for myself
    that they may proclaim my praise.

22 “Yet you have not called on me, Jacob,
    you have not wearied yourselves for[c] me, Israel.
23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,
    nor honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with grain offerings
    nor wearied you with demands for incense.
24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me,
    or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins
    and wearied me with your offenses.

25 “I, even I, am he who blots out
    your transgressions, for my own sake,
    and remembers your sins no more.
26 Review the past for me,
    let us argue the matter together;
    state the case for your innocence.
27 Your first father sinned;
    those I sent to teach you rebelled against me.
28 So I disgraced the dignitaries of your temple;
    I consigned Jacob to destruction[d]
    and Israel to scorn.

Isaiah 43

All glory and honor to my Lord Jesus Christ,
Sherry

He Will Come Again

Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate[a] with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar[b]of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said,5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages.[c] It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6 Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

John 12:1-8

Believe as Mary did in the Word of God. When He said He would go He did. When He says He will come back He will. Have faith like Mary.

9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:9

In honor of my Lord Jesus Christ,
Sherry