This Modern Love

Maybe it's this dreary weather or the fact that John landed in London this morning (without me), but this morning I felt quite English. With my favorite English dress, ankle boots and bowler hat (which are actually the accessories Dahlia recommends with this dress) I headed off to bake the scones.

The dress has lovely little velvet hearts on it which  I thought would  be a great compliment to this Wedding Knot Quilt apron (and for a little dash of American flare).

I should also mention that I'm getting married in less than a month, so I can't help but feel a bit romantic...and stressed "don't be offended if  I seem absent minded..."

Mary Queen of...Pickles?

Pickles????

Yup. I brought a jar of pickles I made to my niece's end of year preschool BBQ, and they were a huge hit. Pickles! They were gone in like 2 seconds and I found myself collecting play date cards so I could email the recipe! 

I love pickles! When I was a kid, all the other kids walked around the grocery store with cookies. I sat quietly in our cart with a pickle wrapped in wax paper. Our old neighbor, Big John, he made THE BEST pickles.  He grew up on an Onion Farm in Pine Island. When my parents moved in across the street (from the BRONX) Big John had a turtle hanging on the line to make soup.  He had the most amazing garden and he and his wife canned and jarred everything. So all the country things I know (the difference btwn poisonous plants and plants you can eat, and how to hook a worm) I owe to Big John. And every time I make his pickle recipe, I think of him, and the stalks of dill by the front door that grew over my head, and the brown paper bag of green peppers and kirby cukes he'd leave at our door early on summer mornings. 

I thought for a while before I emailed out the recipe. I thought about NOT giving it out. Then I thought... How many people even can and jar things from their garden anymore? Or make turtle soup? Isn't this the self-sufficient life yuppie parents dream of? Well, for Big John and Babci, it just was, it was what they did, not because it was cool, green, trendy, or making a political statement about the conspiracy of corn syrup... And I honestly think it would be an injustice if I kept this recipe to myself...So here it is. Just do me a favor, while you're making them, give Big John a nod. 

You will need:

24 oz. jar sterilized in boiling water

4 kirby cucumbers

Small stalk of fresh dill

2 garlic cloves

A few black pepper corns

3/4 c. white vinegar

4c.hot water

2 tablespoons Uniodized Salt

Cut cucumbers and garlic cloves into slices. 

Combine warm water and vinegar and stir in salt until dissolved. 

Layer cucumbers, dill, garlic cloves and pepper corns, tightly packed 

and pour salt/water/ vinegar mixture until cukes are fully covered. 

Close jar tightly and store in a cool dark place for 3 days. 

And then come back and tell me that these are not the best pickles you've ever had. 

You're welcome! 

Just Another Saturday...

Don't be fooled, I was hard at work right before we took this picture! Warwick held its Bridal Event today and Charlotte's Tea Room donated tea sands and sweets for a mock reception at Lewis Park. The weather was perfect, aside from doilie blowing wind. This dress I'm wearing, well besides completely restoring my faith that there really is genuine kindness out there, was the perfect thing to wear for the event (even if I was working it, well I was  WORKING it). This stunning Battenburg Lace dress was a gift from a customer of ours. She knows I have a love for vintage fashion and she knew it would fit me perfectly. It also came with a matching jacket and...a parasol!!! Well, the Summer's just begun, so you'll be seeing the full outfit again I'm sure. 

Oh, and this head piece I'm wearing is my new favorite thing. I didn't wear the whole event, but I have been wearing it all week, even though I got it to wear (only) to the pool. My hair has been insane lately while I'm growing out for the wedding and my bangs are so long! I'm not really used to having long hair, so I've been slipping this baby on my head and tucking all my hair into it. I've been inclined to wear this turban with my big black sunglasses and red lipstick...NBD, just hanging out! 

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Well  Manchester lost to Barcelona today. I'm not a huge football fan, pretentious enough to call it
 "football" though. John's a Utd fan, and I'm a fan of England in general, so we're just a mess over here!!
But the lucky charm scones I made for the big game were definitely winners.

The Manchester Mashed Potato Scone. Yes, Sir Alex Ferguson loves potato scones. Although he's a Scotsman, Scottish scones are a bit more like crumpets, but nobody has to know that. Our patrons at the shop didn't really get the connection but they were enjoyed none the less. I explained it to one man (a long time scone fan) and he appreciated it. He even took one home to have for breakfast with some eggs...and some blood pudding? Haggis? 

So lesson learned: Good Scones do not mean great Football victories. But they were really yummy. I added chives and sour cream and the mashed potatoes maintained their fluffiness but it was still crumbly like a scone. 

So here's some more ideas for sports related scones...

Chicago Cubs Deep Dish Scone?  Bronx Bomber Pizza Scone? Savory Sabre Buffalo and Blue Cheese Scone? Dallas Cowboys Chipotle Scones? 

I think I'm on to something...gimme a box to wear around my neck and some singles so I can quickly make change. 

Scones here! Gettcher scones here! Fresh baked scones here! 

Long Weekend...

Well, for most, for me it's just another busy work weekend. But Monday is my favorite holiday.  Memorial Day! I love it! Kick off to summer with beer and bbq, and MY favorite part...a parade of old men! I never miss the parade! (Although it's sadly getting shorter and shorter, if you blink you MIGHT miss it!! ) Oh, I can't wait!
Since it is also Fleet Week, I'm sharing my very own fleet of cute sailor inspired dresses for the weekend, and the rest of the summer...

Everyone, enjoy the long weekend!!

Cinco de Oh My!

My little niece is making me so proud this week with her love of "outfits for every occasion." I'm sure it's driving my sister nuts, but sometimes you need a safari outfit, a tea party dress, a play outside dress, etc. Well, in case you were wondering where she got this notion from (I think it stems from my mom actually) here is more proof that I do, indeed, have an outfit for every occasion. 

Yup, that's a vintage skirt and a vintage apron (both gifts from Joanne) with a very Mexican theme.  And in case you really can't make it out, it's a chicken. One is being held upside down and the other is running in the opposite direction. 

Well, sadly no one complimented me on this. I like to think it was because it was so OBVIOUS there was no need to mention it. Although I did tell my friend Arturo about it the day before and he liked the idea, that counts for something, right? 

April Awareness

Did you know April is Parkinsons Disease Awareness Month? I just found out myself. Actually, I thought it was Autism Awareness Month, but with more illnesses than there are months in a year, I guess we have to double up.
My dad was diagnosed with Parkinsons when I was young (er, some form of it) and passed away when  I was 17. This has certainly raised  my threshold for emotional stress and definitely increased my compassion and adoration  for elderly/sick people (still trying to figure out why I love Mexican babies so much). There was this one time when I was kid he asked me to make him a cup of coffee (the instant kind) and I woke up in the middle of the night realizing I had totally forgotten to make it for him. You can only imagine the guilt I felt, years later, when it came out that drinking coffee reduces the risks for Parkinsons. As if that one cup would've made all the difference!
But this is a blog about SCONES, not dead dads. Bare with me.
In my years working at the tea room, we've had a few customers battling cancer and can only stomach scones during chemo treatments. The few times I've made scones specifically for these people, I've made sure to add an extra helping of love and good vibes.
Enter Wilbur. He and his wife love my scones. Wilbur was recently diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and it really struck me. What do you do when love and good vibes aren't enough?
Here comes the SUPER SCONE!
I've designed a scone with all super food ingredients. Cherries, dark chocolate, matcha powder, and cinnamon. Protein counter acts a medication used to treat Parkinsons, (thank you pharm tech sister)  so instead of using eggs, I used some of that magic greek yogurt Dr. Oz keeps talking about. They were pretty dense. The cherries and chocolate taste great together and you could hardly notice the green tea and cinnamon, but I knew it was there, with all it's free radical fighting power!
Ok, so  I had this fantasy that my little Super Scone would cure Parkinsons Disease and Michael J. Fox would be my new best friend and I'd make my rounds on the morning show circuit...but in reality, it's just a scone. No, it's a Super Scone. And Wilbur liked it. To me, that's all that matters.
But, seriously,  how cool would it be to be BFF with MJFox?

Soul Mates

We all have one right? It's no secret I met my Soul Mate at the Beer Store (I think we met way before that, but "we met at the beer store" has a nice ring to it, so that's the story we'll stick to). A soul mate, the one person, once you meet them, you can't imagine your life without them, the one person who brings out your best qualities and laughs at your worst qualities, your perfect match.  Well, since the blog is about aprons, I'm not going to talk about me and mine.
I bought this dress last spring online at urban outfitters. From the pictures I couldn't tell the pin dots were purple, but I loved the shape, the drop waist, the color and the adorable bows....

About a year before a customer of ours was cleaning out her mother's house. And what did she find? A bunch of aprons! And what did she do with them? She, so kindly, washed and starched each one, wrapped them in tissue paper, put them in a paper bag, wrapped ribbon AROUND the paper bag...and gave them to me! It was like Christmas! There was a lot of gingham and flowers and cross stitch...and this baby...

Purple checks and salmon cross stitch...so by some cosmo intervention these two met on my laundry line one day, and it's been one of my favorite work outfits ever since. 

Soul Mates. Perfect Match. Let my bold lines bring out your tiny pin dots! 

The woman who gave me these is so sweet! She had lunch at the tea shop with a girl friend once when I was wearing one of her mother's aprons (you'll see the rest soon I promise) and was so pleased, almost teary eyed to see me wear it. "I can remember my mother wearing that apron," she said. And, I often bump into her Saturday mornings at the coffee shop when  I am wearing one of her aprons...we both get a laugh! Mostly because I'm wearing an apron...at a coffee shop...drinking coffee...in a cafe...next to the beer store...where I met my future husband. Our lives are full of circles, mine is careful cross stitches. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ah, St. Paddy's Day. It's the time I realize I know every word to every Irish song. It's the day everyone else in town makes Scones and Soda Bread. I saw some sorry scones at Price Chopper and sneered. I can't help my snobbery. It's occurred to me that I started this blog without explaining or defending my title as "Mary Queen of Scones," but I'll save that for another day. But  I will say today, the day when everyone is Irish, is does have to do with being Irish and being proud of that.
I think everyone was at the bar today, because  I had plenty of raisin scones left over. I shared them with my neighbor and the ladies that work at the library (I went to return the first season of True Blood), I think I made their day. Actually... I think I caused a riot because I only had a few! But everyone loved my very special St. Paddy's Day apron...

It's so sweet! It's all hand crocheted. I try to wear this number more than once a year, it deserves that. Joanne picked this up at the antique store, she couldn't leave it there! I like to think about the cute little old lady that crocheted it! But that's me...I create stories and scenarios and fall in love with people and I'm not gonna stop now! Besides, isn't being Irish about being kind and compassionate and telling great stories? 

I'm listening to the Cranberries greatest hits...

Life is but a Stage

It's hard to find a full apron that doesn't make me look like Lassie's mom, or a lunch lady, or a total frumparella. But this is one of my faves:

Aw, look it me, hard at work! This vintage find was a gift from my friends the Mahalicks. Since I am marrying a Rock Star, they thought it was appropriate for me. Although all I want to do is wear my spring dresses, I'm always scrambling this time of year to hurry up and wear all my sweater dresses, tweed, and woolies. This apron is a great compliment to my green sweater dress and jeggings. (I haven't worn "real" jeans in over a year, so all you jegging haters, don't knock it till you try it!) Here's a close up of my apron...

Music notes! The juggler is my personal favorite. Amanda's fond of Romeo and Juliet. But, they're all pretty special! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's some of our sweetest, most festive aprons we wore yesterday. Mine (on the left) is Samantha's grandma's, and Samantha's is Cath Kidston. It was a great weekend at the Tea Shop filled with husband's bringing their wives, grandmas and grandkids, dads and daughters...all kinds of good stuff.

And here's my favorite love song, for everyone I love...(you know who you are!!)

Everyday is Like Sunday

Although we were not "trudging slowly over wet sand," with Samantha and I holding down the tea shop on Sundays, it goes like this...

This little gem is from glitterlimes.com 

Here we are discussing our day...

And  I was all like "No, Orange Pekoe does not taste like oranges," 

Here's a closer look at our super coordinated  looks...

I've been all about shades of grey lately. And I've been doing this apron over cardigan thing because I don't want to have a lumpy back. Samantha is my pink polka dot girl. Her apron is from Carolyn's Kitchen. It's getting closer to Valentine's Day, but all year long we do enjoy pink, and polka dots, and of course L-O-V-E!

Winter Sailor

Who says it has to be Summer to rock the sailor look?  I bought this dress with Summer in mind, but if you know me you know I can't let a new dress hang in my closet for too long. There's something I LOVE about red and black and white. 

Another great necklace from TopShop to complete my Sailor look...

No, it's not Ed Hardy. I just love swallow birds. I completed this look with a favorite apron...

Swiss Dots! This beauty was dropped off at the tea shop by a very thoughtful lady, her grandmother made it! And she knew we would LOVE it, and of course we do! 

This lace border is amazing. I'm sure this isn't the last you'll be seeing of this apron, like I said, it's in my top 10. Not because it's beautiful and goes with everything, but it reminds me of the kindness of strangers...and that's nice. 

Polka Dots and Tea Pots

It's sad to say I'm sick of Winter when it's just begun. But mostly I'm getting sick of wearing black, and wearing layers, and clunky boots. Since I'll have to deal with this for at least a couple of more months, I try to liven it up as best I can. 

Red and white polka dots and tea pots! It's no secret that red with white polka dots is my favorite color. I do love this tweed jumper, but nothing compliments as well as this  collared shirt, necklace, and apron...

This necklace is from Top Shop. Of course only an English company would make a necklace with a teapot, a cupcake, and a heart! And only a girl that works at a Tea Shop could wear it so proudly. This teapot-polka dot combo of course is carried onto my apron...

This is a new apron I got at Home Goods. I had to modify it a bit (it was a whole apron, but way too big). But when I saw it at the store...

I couldn't leave this lady behind. She's adorable. This is one of my favorite winter outfits.  I only have a couple of favorite winter outfits, but looking at the forecast...I better come up with some more!  

My Day Off

 I have this vintage maids dress my lovely sister gave to me for my birthday. Although I think  she meant as a joke, the joke is that it has become the LBD of my wardrobe. My GMD (grey, or great, maids dress). It is so cute and comfortable, I wear it all the time. 

look at this lace collar! And of course it has a matching apron and a matching headpiece (which is maybe a bit too much!) Much like you're ready to party in your LBD, I in my GMD am ready to do some serious errands. Banking, grocery shopping, laundry...no problem! I even was inspired to polish the silver I've been finding around the house. I've been collecting odd pieces of silver to maybe sell, but it's

all so pretty I think I'll keep it. 

And when you can find great uses for such odd pieces of silver...

If only all household chores were this rewarding!!!

Snow Day

Well it was a snow day/slow day at ye old tea shop. We showed up but didn't even bother opening when we realized how snowy it actually was. But I used my couple hours there wisely. I vacuumed all the deep corners and I did my favorite chore...Organize the Apron Closet! Although it's a fun  task, it is the most time consuming. And with dozens and dozens of aprons, organizing them can be a bit tricky. In the past, we've grouped them according to length, color, decade, patterns, seasons, we've even had  a "novelty" and a "tex/mex" pile. Once we even did the video store thing and had "Mary's Top Picks," "Sam's faves," "Kelsey Likes These," but that didn't last too long. So the best way to start is to take ALL the aprons off the hangers and put them in a pile:

Then put them in smaller piles. I did full aprons in one category and the rest  I did by color:

Red, orange/yellow, green, blue/purple, pink, black and white. But they're all multicolored! And two of the white aprons are Christmas themed! And the red and pink owl, is that "red" or "pink" ?  And we only have one brown apron, but it has a pink cupcake on it. I could seriously drive myself crazy with this one, but have to remember it's really in the grand scheme of things not a big deal...plus Joanne said she'd take me to LaPetit when I was done, so I sort of hurried through it! When do we ever get to have lunch together???
Here's to starting off a busy weekend with an organized apron closet!

You can't talk about Aprons without talking about Grandmas

My Nana passed away when I was six. Although I didn't get to spend much time with her, I think about her a lot. Sure, I have been wearing her engagement ring for the past five months, but long before that I've found my thoughts with her. In 2003 I had a meeting with a medium and she was the first person to show up to the party (much like me),  and boy did she have a lot to say (much like me). She snuck up on me again last week...

I found this picture in an album in a box in the way back of the closet. I never saw it before.  I think it's at her house in Florida. What really struck me about this picture was her dress and (perfectly) matching apron. She looks so charming! I thought I was the only one who really mastered the "cute dress, matching apron" game and pulled off so well. I guess I was wrong and I guess I had to be reminded. The funny thing is we always quote her as saying (something along the lines of) "they say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but I don't give a damn." Oh Nana, you've got quite the sense of humor. 

I may not have any of her aprons, but I do have her butter cream recipe! 

My First Blog

Hello Cyberspace!
Starting a blog is one thing I've been wanting to do...so here we go. I work at a Tea Room and get to wear some great aprons everyday. I coordinate aprons with dresses, holidays, seasons, the mood I'm in, I even wore a Mexican apron when Mexico played their first game of the World Cup. I started my apron collection with two vintage aprons I got at the Salvation Army in Dunkirk, NY. Last time I counted the apron collection, I stopped at 54 and wasn't even half way through. The more I wore aprons, the more people gave us (the tea room staff) aprons from yard sales, antique stores, even their own mother's  and grandmother's closets.
So, to me the apron collection has become much more than a work uniform. It's a patchwork of family histories, grease stains, silk and terry cloth, gingham and paisley, and of course  endless potential for really great outfits!
So I'm sharing it with you.