Guenella Pass and A Sad Tea House Loss

After our trip up the mountain we stopped in Georgetown to visit some of our favorite places. It is very sad what has happened to small businesses during this USA chaos. My very favorite Dusty Rose Tea Room is permanently closed. This place was fantastic. The owner was one of the nicest people you would ever meet and the tea experience was like none other.  Denver is filled with wannbe tea rooms but they cater to a different clientele. Hipsters wanting to sit around a bar style setting sipping tea. I am just broken hearted that the Dusty Rose Tea Room is a thing of the past. Very sad to learn this. Babes formerly known as the House of Commons is a tea room in Denver. Paper cups and alcoholic beverages? Definitely not a tea room! The Brown Palace experience, pricey but some say worth it..  I found a tea room in Littleton, Colorado but $60 for a high tea experience! Seriously no thanks! The Dusty Rose Tea Room had a high tea for $25 a person and the owner made all the fabulous baked good herself. I suppose I will mark my calendar for the Tea Expo here in Denver during October. Maybe I will hear some good news there.

A winter scene at Georgetown . We loved shopping at Ophelia's. Aside from antiques and other gifts the store carried a wide variety of collectible books. The store was damaged in a brutal fire that destroyed the historic Red Ram Saloon which was a historic establishment as well as housed in a historic building. Ophelia's had a sign at their business stating they have to survey the damages to see if they can reopen. Just very sad, hoping they will survive.

My guess is Jeanette closed the Dusty Rose Tea Room in Georgetown, Colorado due to the damaging economy. Anything to destroy America. by the wickedness we see going on. Makes me terribly sad.

 Jeanette made most everything she served right on the premises. Those carts and cookies and the savory little petite sandwiches were so tasty and wonderful. The tea she offered, divine. She would serve you a cold soda or a hot cuppa joe if that was your thing. She was non judgmental. When I attended a Colorado blogger tea a few years back, a blogger from Loveland brought her Wyoming born and bred mom who requested coffee as she said she only drank "Cowboy Coffee". I have been in tea rooms where they might look down their noses at such a request.

Some mountain splendor. Peaceful and quietude. A wonderful release from the daily hectic city life.

Trees in the forest. As far as the eye can see. If you can go above timberline you can almost touch the stars.  I think I need a spa week at Avalanche Ranch. Hmmm.....

I wanted to make blintzes before Hannah and Jake left but that did not happen. Noelle and Roger are coming over SONday and the son-in-law is the kinda guy who can flip a pancake high into the sky and catch it on a plate. Now we do not want to toss blintzes high in the sky but I sure could use his expertise putting these sweet blintzes together.

Fruit is your choice: strawberries, blueberries, cherries, apples, even lemon custard. I like to make strawberry and blueberry treats with fresh berries. To create a topping just add a few teaspoons of pure maple syrup to a sauce pan and cook those berries into a heavenly topping. Sour cream and whipping cream are optional.  Ricotta cheese, cottage cheese or mascarpone cheese fill these treats with some additional fresh fruit. It depends simply, in my own personal opinion, how you like them!
To create the blintzes here is a simple recipe:
  Total: 40 mins 

Prep: 30 mins Cook: 10 mins

 Rest: 30 mins 

Yield: 24 cheese blintzes (24 servings)

 Ingredients

 4 large eggs (room temperature, beaten) 

1/2 cup water

 1/2 cup milk 

1/2 teaspoon salt

 1 cup all-purpose flour 

1 cup butter (for frying) 

1 pound ricotta (room temperature, or dry curd or farmer's cheese)

 1 tablespoon butter (melted) 

1 large egg yolk (room temperature)

 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 8/7/2020 

Cheese Blintzes

 Recipe https://www.thespruceeats.com/jewish-cheese-blintzes-recipe-1136318 2/2 

Note: while there are multiple steps to this recipe, this blintz dish is broken down into workable categories to help you better plan for preparation and booking.

 Make the Blintzes Gather the ingredients.

 In a medium bowl, beat together 4 eggs, water, milk, salt, and flour until well-mixed.

 Don't over-beat.

 It's okay if small particles of flour remain as they will be absorbed during the resting period.

 Let the batter rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes

. Heat a small skillet (about 7 inches in diameter) and add a pat of butter.

 Whisk the batter until smooth.

 Pour about 1/4 cup batter into the pan and swirl it around, pouring off excess

. Make sure not to let it brown

. Flip and cook the other side for a few seconds. 

Then, turn the blintz out onto a towel. 

Repeat with remaining batter and pats of butter, staggering the crepes one on top of each other.

 Make the Filling and Assemble In a large bowl, mix together cheese, melted butter, 1 egg yolk, vanilla, and sugar until well-incorporated. 

To assemble, place one blintz on a work surface and place 1 to 2 tablespoons of filling in a line close to the edge nearest to you. 

Fold envelope-style. 

Roll up, and continue with remaining blintzes and filling. Fry the filled blintzes in butter until golden brown. 

Serve with optional sour cream and/or fresh or canned fruit toppings. Enjoy!  

I love to find new recipes and the spruce eats had a great one! If you like brunch time this is a recipe for you. I have a great French Crepe Pan so it makes this process easy. My local dairy proudly presents many products that are made and sold locally. They have a brand new Strawberry Lemonade. Although it is a product of Florida is has lemonade, strawberries and cane sugar. It is a good base for a brunch Mimosa too. (wink wink).

A good night's sleep helps one to feel refreshed and revitalized. We still have a heat wave kicking our state so cooler night time temps offer restful sleep. '

I am here: mytatascottage.blogspot.com and here too: annesphamily.blogspot.com
Perhaps blogger will fix the messiness here and there. Thank you for your visit.

Saturday Night

I rarely look at any of the negative news or watch regular T.V. anymore. I can relate to this Daily Kitty post. It was such a sweet photo I Had to share it.

Don't forget to be kind.

Humor and MY D O L L S

Oh Loretta.....

Oh My Goodness - I guess I am really old! Madge was something.

I have a very large doll collection. So many of them are in storage in our shed and garage. But I had purchased a few recycled American Girl Dolls. These dolls can get a full beauty treatment at the local American Girl Store. I just clean them up and some of them are in excellent condition. Josefina needs new boots. But she was reasonably priced and came with the outfit she is wearing. Old Fried Bear is a sweet ole bear I bought 20 years ago when I started to work at the ENT office. A gal who was a patient there sold these cool books for kids and I could not resist Old Friend Bear. He was $8 and he is so soft and plush. He came with his cool patched sweater too.

This is Edward O'Beary a Boyd's Bear. I bought him because my father was Edward and he had lots of nicknames but he loved that he was legally named Edward. That is Cabbage Patch Kid  Ambrose and AG Mia. That little dog barks and flips over on non carpeted areas. He is a hoot. The grands either hate him or love him.

Chloe Bear Harrison Bear (for my great grandson) and Charlotte Bear.

Kit is a 1942 American Girl doll. It is a great way for young kids to learn a little history. All the dolls brand new come with their own story.

Samantha is an American Girl doll too. They are porcelain dolls with  movable legs and arms.  I have all sorts of dolls from Barbie to a few original Fayzah Spanos and Betty Ball. dolls. I even have an old Vanna White doll.   Years ago Walgreens carried the most beautiful porcelain collectible dolls. I would go all over to find different ones at different stores. They were $10. They were incredibly beautiful. I even found a Rapunzel doll that was exquisite and they discounted them. It made me so sad.

My auntie Ang made clothes for Troll dolls just like these from a google image. She had rheumatoid arthritis and she sewed like a dream. Unfortunately before my oldest daughter was born other kids in my siblings  phamily ruined all my wonderful Barbie and Troll dolls and collections. My oldest took very good care of her things and still has a large Smurf collections as well as some Cabbage Patch dolls.  I have an original Goebel Betty Ball Dolly Dingle doll.She has a page boy haircut and is wearing a Chanel suit. I figured it would be the only time I could afford a Chanel suit. She was purchased in 1988 when our second daughter was born. That little doll reminded me of her.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

When we lost my mother-in-law July 23, 2010 it was my hubby's birthday. He was devastated. He adored his mom and she adored him.  But traveling home from Lamar, Colorado from her burial it rained and we saw this in the sky. We figured God let us know all was good with Grandma Rita and she was safely in His loving arms.

This story was shared at social media and I wanted to share it here.  I do not know who wrote this originally.

Please read the story and you will understand why I felt it so important to share. I get grumpy and complain to myself and God because no one else is listening but I think I need to do this as we have a yard filled with fifty plus year old trees.  Cheerfulness certainly outweighs negativity.

I could not resist.

We are better in pairs if we can help it.

What  the heck in the Sam Hill  happened here? I see lots of turtles and frogs at the open spaces, but I have never seen this . It is a three turtle pile up! Stop traveling too fast you hard shelled little critters! Perhaps this is some form of modern dance! Hmmm....

Everything else seems to be on auto pilot why not the hand sanitizer too? If you think about it you need to be extra careful. I carry my own hand sanitizers and we use them when we get in our car.

That is a heavy load to carry.

I think this was around 1938. My dad was an amazing person. I miss him all the time and he has been gone for 35 years. Almost half of my life.

DADS

Sometime I get frustrated when I hear women talk badly about men.  Particularly fathers, dads, whatever you wish to call them. These are men who step up their game every single day for their loved ones.

My friend Sharon has a brother, Teddy, who was married at a very young age. He and his wife had two children, a daughter and a son. The parents divorced as a result of mom's alcohol addiction. Ted stepped up and raised his two children. Today his daughter is an RN with a Master's degree. Ted remarried and he cares for his son Theo who suffers from Schizophrenia. When the phamily searched for help for him, they went to Fort Logan Hospital. At the meeting the doctors and other staff were shocked when in marched 34 members of their phamily all willing to pitch in and do whatever was necessary to help Theo. They were told by the staff that they had never seen such support for a patient. That is just one example.

Mr. Mom is an old movie from the 1980's but I bet if you look arouns, you will see a "Mister Mom" today. There are men who raise their children while their wives earn the bread and butter.  You have to tip your hat to these dads too. They do what they have to do to make their phamily dynamics work.

There are poems written about dad's just like mom's. If you had a good dad, you were blessed. If you were not as fortunate and you became a good parent yourself, you did something incredibly amazing. I had a friend from work, Dee. Her mom was suffering from terrible mental illness. Her dad split the scene. They were raised in the inner city of Chicago. Her mom left for weeks at a time. Dee was the oldest of four children, probably 9 when this change occurred in her life. She said an elderly neighbor bought enough bread and milk and peanut butter to feed them for two weeks. when she grew up she was angry. She said she looked into a mirror one day and realized she wanted to break the cycle she was pulled into. She married and had a wonderful phamily. She'd be the phamily mom you would call in an emergency! I tell you about Dee because we all have a story to write. Her story ended happily ever after because she changed her circumstances and did what she felt was right for her.

My own father would tell me wonderful stories about baseball and it's players. One of his favorite players was Harmon Killebrew. I love this quote I found attributed to Harmon Killebrew.  It says it all in raising boys.

Jim Valvano was an American basketball player, coach and broadcaster.

Good fathers are excellent men. I just like to remind people that sometime people are put into situations that they have to make the best of. I could tell you stories all night long about good men who raised good kids. who loved their wives and did the very best they could. Please remember to honor them along with all the great women who step up every single day to raise kids.

A little dad humor.

HodgePodge

Visit Joyce and come join some fun.

1. Do you think the pandemic has had any kind of  positive impact on your health? Explain:

I might sound grumpy, I'm not really. I have lived a rather quiet life these past 6 years since losing a job I was at for 12 years. I am use to a slower pace. But my hubby has asthma and I do everything I can to make his breathing better for him. We do a daily vitamin regime and other then a few meds he takes, I only take one prescription medication. I am not interested in a bunch of pills if I can remain relatively healthy. In cooler weather we can walk but with this heat wave there is no way to get out and enjoy the day until the heat drops. I have a dance routine exercise plan I like, I do some chair and standing exercises for my balance. The young guy who I follow says they are designed for seniors (ha) but I keep up with him!

2. A hot mess, hot under the collar, in hot water, hot button, hot diggity dog, hot seat... choose one and tell us how it applies to your life currently:

Hot diggity dog, I watched so many episodes of the Mickey Mouse Club House with Harrison as a small toddler. Now my grandboys Brody and Blake watch me dance the Hot Diggity Dog Dance. I am in heaven!

3. Speaking of the hot seat, do you work well under pressure or do you actively avoid high pressure situations?

I like cool, calm, collected but if I feel something is worth my time and effort I will work hard under pressure to get it all done. I don't like pressure from others to take sides, so I will remain cool, calm, collected. 

4. Hot dogs- yay or nay? If you said yay, how do you like yours? Did you know July in National Hot dog month?

Yay! I love a good all American all beef hot dog. I love poppyseed buns so if I can have one I will take it with mustard, onions and relish. I don't indulge often, but the occasionally one still makes me happy.

I read here a list of America's coolest Southern towns. they are Marfa Texas, Greenville South Carolina, Abindgon Virginia, Athens Georgia, Bentonville, Arkansas, Florence Alabama, Oxford Mississippi, Abita Springs Louisana, Wilmington North Carolina Monroeville, Alabama,  McMinnville Tennessee, Natchez, Mississippi.How many on the list have you seen in person?  Which town on the list would you most like to see?

Greenville, South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina and Natchaz, Mississippi have been on my list of places I have been. But I would really love to see Monroeville, Alabama as years ago I knew a blogger from there who sent me a post card when I did a post card giveaway. She gave me the story of Harper Lee and the courthouse where  the courthouse scenes from To Kill A Mockingbird were filmed.  Arkansas in general has been on my list as my late father-in-law was born and raised there in a town called Springfield.

6. Insert your own random thoughts here:

My random photo from Westbound 112th Avenue on the way to Good Times to pick up our breakfast burritos. They use Hatch's green chili, shhh.....do not tell Loretta. She thinks Hatch's green chili is better then the Pueblo green chili where I grew up. She doesn't need to know that I am cool and eat both. 

I will continue my DAD post tomorrow since I did my Hodge Podge post here today.

MOMISMS

They say can not pick your phamily. but you can pick your friends. I hit the jackpot with a wonderful, kind and loving set of parents and grandparents too. This is a photo of my dad's folks and my grandmother is holding my cousin MaryJo. Her brother Sammy is on your rights and cousin Dennis to your left. Good memories.

In honor of   all the mothers who have stepped up and home schooled their kids,  here are some classic "Momisms". I will add to these along the way.

I Have heard my mom and her momisms' coming out of my mouth on more then one occasion. Even with the grands!

In my case these days, it is dogs who get into my space.  Leo, all 95 lbs. of him, often lays directly in front of where I am cooking, washing dishes, exercising, etc. The puppies are often so intrigued I feel like some sort of oddity that they wonder who is she? What is she doing? Where did she come from?

Even as adults, they sure know where to scope me out!

Today is especially hard for young parents trying to keep kids from doing this. But I see young kids in store with parents wearing masks so I suppose as far as licking goes, that is a plus!

The author, who is unknown was pure genius. This is something silly my hubby would give to me. Raising children isn't easy particularly in today's unknown world.  But having raised five to adulthood, I would never change a thing even if someone said I could. Tomorrow I will touch on dad's who give their all raising their kids.