BlueTeaful Tea Cup and Saucer Find

Anyone who knows me knows I very much prefer a cold and drizzly day over bright sunshine.  For the most part, I'm not looking forward to spring or summer.  One of the few redeeming things about the warm weather, though, is the abundance of yard sales and estate sales that take place!

I've hit our Salvation Army twice this week and yesterday I stopped in at an antique store that was going out of business.  I'll show off my Salvation Army finds over the next few weeks as they're mostly some really cute Easter decorations (I've been inspired lately by Debbie at Debbie-Dabble and her amazing holiday decorating).  Today I want to show you what I found at the antique shop.

This pretty blue cup and saucer was made by Norcrest and features neat opalescent paint and this unique 3-D beaded design on the flowers.  I just had to grab it as I'd not seen anything like it and really fell in love.

I've been sick all weekend and have not felt like baking, so I went the easy route and grabbed these mini scones from Albertsons.  I love these and they always make me think of Princess Catherine since I munched on them through the night while I was watching the Royal Wedding a couple years ago.

I couldn't find much info about the Norcrest brand or age of this set but I did find some interesting info on the guy who owned Norcrest.  Bill Naito was born in Portland, Oregon to Japanese immigrants.  His family owned an import business, incorporated as Norcrest China Company in 1958.  Naito did a lot of good for the community of Portland.  You can read more about him in this Wikipedia article.

What I thought was especially neat about him, though, was that he founded the Made In Oregon company.  For years, one of the identifying landmarks of downtown Portland was the Made In Oregon sign.

In 2010, ownership of the sign transferred to the city of Portland and now it looks like this:

I snapped that picture while we were driving through Portland last weekend on our way to Michael's piano recital in Corvallis.  At the time, I knew nothing of this history.  Neat, huh?

Happy Monday!

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Tea Time Tuesday @ Rose Chintz Cottage
Tea Cup Tuesday @ Artful Affirmations  
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Thoughtful Thursday @ Found the Marbles
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Or So She Says...
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Secrets Over Sweet Tea by Denise Hildreth Jones Book Review

From the Publisher: "Secrets over Sweet Tea follows the lives of a boisterous pastor’s wife, a polished news anchor, and a beleaguered divorce attorney as they intersect on the tree-lined streets of Franklin, Tennessee, when scandal threatens to topple their carefully constructed worlds. Jones touches on delicate social issues, such as infidelity, gossip, rape, and divorce, yet keeps her novel light with the Southern humor and charm she is known for to balance the novel’s message."

I stopped reading the book very early into it.  I am uncomfortable reading about other people’s sex lives and the first bedroom scene in this book made me feel uncomfortable.  

One of the reasons why I avoid secular fiction, in favor of Christian fiction, is that I don’t want to read about the sexual encounters of others.  This book actually contained a couple of sexual references regarding the preacher’s wife right from the get-go and that turned me off.  Some things should be left sacred and, in my opinion, writing about the sacred act of making love somehow demeans it.  I understand that this is one of the new “big things” in Christian literature---to take what secular authors have smeared and try to make it holy.  However, I wonder if Christian authors consider that they’re not just writing for happily married people.  

What about the single woman who reads this scene and inserts the face of someone she knows into the imagined scene?  That’s commiting adultery in one’s heart.  What about the unhappily married woman who uses this scene to draw comparisons to her own husband and lacking sex life?  

I understand that it is very likely the author used these scenes and descriptions to set the stage for the bigger story her book was trying to tell.  It's very possible that I am just not meant to be ministered to by this book at this time.

I am disappointed that I was not able to read the book as the description was attractive.  However, I’m not willing to let someone else’s lovemaking scene, even if it contains fictional characters, run through my mind and distort what is going on in my real life marriage.

Visit Denise Hildreth Jones at Reclaiming Hearts.

I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers to review.  All opinions are honest and are my own.

When Irish (Buck) Eyes are Smilin' {Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls}

It's almost time for my favorite holiday, St. Patrick's Day!  A couple weeks ago, I showed you how to make my yummy Chocolate Vanilla-Mint Fudge. Today I'm showing off Irish Buckeyes!

Like the fudge, this one is super easy too!  See this pretty green sherbet cup?  My mom used to serve my brother and I Jell-O and pudding in these.  I love green and pink Depression glass!

Feel free to pin it so you'll have the recipe handy when you're ready to try it out.

Irish Buckeyes

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 bag white chocolate chips

green food coloring

(mini chocolate chips are optional)

Mix the peanut butter and butter until creamy, then mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla. You can also add mini chocolate chips here too, if you've got to have that chocolate fix!  Roll into balls and place on a sheet covered with wax paper.  Melt white chips and stir in desired amount of food coloring.  Using a toothpick, dip balls in melted mixture and let harden on wax paper.  You can use almond bark for this too, if you'd like, but something funky always happens to my almond bark when I add food coloring and they just don't turn out as nice. 

Thanks to Lisa Lynn at The Self-Sufficient HomeAcre for featuring this recipe!

Thanks, also, to Renea at Cupcake-n-Bake for the feature!