Father's Day Pie

I made a Chocolate Meringue Pie for Father's Day.

 The recipe is HERE.

To all the Fathers we know and

all the Father's we miss,

Happy Father's Day!

Sammeltassen

 Sammeltassen  means collection cups in German.

There is a wonderful history behind it.

An old German tradition was to give Sammeltassen
to young girls as gifts on their birthdays.

 These six Sammeltassen sets are from my 9th birthday party.

Sammeltassen are  three-piece sets
 that included cup, saucer and dessert plate.

 They were very ornamental. 

Each set had a different pattern.

Most had gold edging.

Markings on bottom.

 I had six little girlfriends come to my 9th birthday party in Germany.

 I was spending the summer in Germany.

 I was told about the tradition then.

  marking

 Each party guest brought me a set.

 Each pattern was different.

 marking

 So much better than toys!

 The more patterns in your collection the better.

 marking

 When the young girls become adults and get married 

they'll have enough dishes to host Cafe und Kuchen.

  Guests can keep track of their dishes this way.

 marking

 They were made from fine German porcelain.

 Come for Cafe! 

Being invited for cafe was another German tradition
 for entertaining family and friends.
It always meant a delicious home-baked kuchen (cake)

and lots of cafe (coffee or tea).

  Most Sunday afternoons you would visit friends/family
 or have them stop by to enjoy conversation and laughter. 

Gemutlichkeit  (friendliness)
It's the similar to English Tea Time. 

I was born in  Germany and we left when I was 4.

Lamperthiem, Germany

I flew to Germany by myself from Miami to Idelwild (now Kennedy) Airport in New York, 

with one more stop and onto Frankfurt. This was before jets! I was 8 in the passport photo

My passport, yellow vaccination report,
National Airlines ticket to New York.
Pan American over the ocean to Frankfurt.

I left on June 8th and returned October 16th.

 I was spending my 9th summer visiting
my grandparents and other family.

I'm remembering this today because it's my birthday.
I think I'll have my coffee and birthday cake in my
Sammeltasse!

Sending Good Wishes Your Way!

Links: Under The Table And Dreaming, 
A Stroll Thru Life, Between Naps On The Porch,
My Romantic Home

June Mug Shots and Muffins

Good Morning Sunshine!

Yellow and white mugs for June.

A basket filled with warm cinnamon pecan muffins.

It's a jar mix. For my recipe go to; 

Rita's Recipes

Have A Great Day!
Rita

Answers to questions:
Longaberger mugs, pie dish, wrought iron pie stand, 
basket, braided trivet and basket fabric liners in
 Rose Trellis.

Links: French Country Cottage, The Charm of Home,
My Romantic Home, At The Picket Fence

Wake Up And Smell The Coffee

I love the smell of freshly brewed coffee
first thing in the morning. 

I can't live without my milk frother.

I add warmed milk to the coffee pot and give it a good whirrrrrr!

We both drink it that way. 

That makes serving easy.

Good Morning!

A little coffee art.

I framed the coffee love picture and hung it in the area where I usually have my painted signs.

That's a very talented barista! I'd love to be able to put a design in my coffee like that.

Thanks for stopping by for coffee!

Rita

Links: Facebook, 

No Minimalist Here

Breakfast at Kim's

I used the photo place cards I made on the  

breakfast table at Kim's for graduation weekend.

 I used high school graduation pictures of
 parents and grandparents.

I put a picture in both sides of the frames.

That way everyone can see them.

 I found this large brass plate rack for $4 at the
Canton, TX First Monday Market.
I added some of her colorful Longaberger pottery.

Larry hung it in the breakfast area.

I also found this big K monogram and hung that.
There are two K's here;
Kim and Kristina.

Whoa!
This is one of the pancakes that came out of the oven.
Ready for the finishing touches of powdered sugar,
 lemon and fresh strawberries.
Who wants to share?

Thanks for stopping by!
Rita


Links: A Stroll Thru Life, Somewhat Simple,
Savvy Southern Style, Between Naps On The Porch

Bedroom Makeover at Kim's

Kristina's bedroom makeover. 

While we were visiting our daughter Kim last Christmas, we did a little decorating, here, here, here, here and here. Our biggest project was painting a set of bedroom furniture that we brought with us in our van. It was for our teenage granddaughter, Kristina. She had already chosen the bedding and drapery panels, so I decided to paint the furniture black. Black Suede by Behr. This set has seen many family bedrooms; first it was my in-laws guest bedroom set,

then my guest bedroom set, then my mother's guest bedroom set,

and now it's in Texas. 

before: The end table went from this above.

after: to this.

before: The pink lamps went from this.

after: to this.

 I painted the lamp bases black. I used a wide black Sharpie pen to paint over

 the pink velvet ribbon trim that's at the top and bottom of the shade.

before: The large dresser and mirror. 

It's a solid wood furniture with clean classic lines that was worth painting.

This gave her lots of drawer space.

 We removed the drawers to paint. It took three coats of black paint.

The mirror attaches to the back of the dresser.

11 drawers. 

She now has tons of space for her tons of stuff.

 We found a matching zebra shaded lamp at Marshalls.

 It matches her bedding and drapery panels.

 There are two big drawers in each of the end tables.

 We made the headboard with a large piece of MDF, added molding, painted it black and 

attached it the the wall using a French cleat method.

after! This is some of what we did on our Christmas vacation !

*No before pictures of the actual teenagers bedroom are available.

All images of said before bedroom are classified.

Links: Dittle Dattle, Between Naps On The Porch,

Type A, Coastal Charm, Miss Mustard Seed,

Perfectly Imperfect, Funky Junk