Month: January 2010

My favorite issue of Mississippi Magazine each year is the annual wedding issue. It’s here! Some years are ‘better’ than others in terms of how people personalize their wedding…this year is a little bit of an ‘off’ year (maybe the economy? who knows…) but there are still some good ones:

…(the groom’s cake) a large white baseball cake sat on top, complete with red icing stitching and accented with the letters MSU in maroon. White chocolate dipped strawberries with red icing stitching were placed at the corners of the cake, which sat on a table accented with deer antlers and a string of lights made from shotgun shells.

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To represent his outdoor hobbies…another cake designed as a pistol in an open carrying case.

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The late-night “Chicken-on-a-Stick” from McPhail’s Chevron topped off the evening. (this is the second or third year that people have mentioned serving guests c-o-a-s from McPhail’s)

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…their getaway vehicle, a 1987 Chevy Silverado adorned with the proclamations “Honk 4 Love!” and “We in Love, Y’all!”

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The groom’s cake depicted a picnic table with crawfish, potatoes, and corn, which was a tribute to his Louisiana roots…

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…the couple’s first dance, a mix of Journey’s “Faithfully” and “Pop, Lock, and Drop It”

This week Leslie and I decided to have lunch at a tea room. We’ve both been to a few and wanted to try a new one, so we consulted the Tea Map Tearoom Directory. Two of the tearooms in Alabama are in the ‘Top 100’ of this website, so we tried the very top one, the one with 5 stars and 172 reviews – the Spiced Pear Tearoom in Homewood.

I think they’re going for the shabby-chic look here with the discount store furnishings and wallpaper border. Unfortunately the ratio of shabby to chic was shabby: 95, chic: 5.

When we were taken to the room in which we were seated, we passed by their restroom, door swung wide open (and was when we left). The flatware here was the bottom of the bin at the restaurant supply store, and there was a chipped teacup at one of the settings. Even our little teapot had been repaired, poorly.

The next course was a big disappointment. The savories – which I wanted dearly to love because fondness of tiny crustless circles of white bread is written into my DNA – held shredded deli ham, another of tasteless pecan and chicken salad, and another of very dry, flavorless pimento cheese. The fruit was…well, fruit, with the apple cut carelessly (you know…tearoom…the little things are the important things). And the worst part of all was that someone in the kitchen had obviously microwaved the quiche because the eggs had that odd just-nuked texture and the crust was sad and soft and limp. Neither of us enjoyed this course.

Last was the trio of desserts. I asked the waiter to please tell us what the plate was composed of, and he didn’t know. Okay. Well, I’m thinking that top left is a cake with chocolate mousse, top right is frozen salad (think fruit plus syrup plus Cool Whip), and bottom is a roulade with lemon curd. At this point we were just ready to go.

We were looking forward to holding our pinkies up high while sipping sweetly on hot fruity tea, but today they were at half-mast since the experience was a bit disappointing.

But! How on earth do they have all those gushing oh-this-was-great reviews on the Tea Map site when we were so unimpressed? We must have gone on a very bad day. Oh well! Next time we will try the place that the other nice ladies in our dining room suggested, Miss Rosemarie’s on Valleydale. The pinkies will rise again!

The boys are getting so big!

Guitar – Herb Trotman
Mandolin – Jason Bailey
Bass – Kathy Hinkle
Fiddle – Gathel Runnels

The crafts menu:
Pottery with a Native American Flair – Ruth Manasco
Pine Needle Basketry – Jean Kerr
Carpentry – Dick Keydoszius & Mark Johnston
Appalachian Clogging – JoAnna Laney
Felting a “Fantasy Flower” – Jackie Miller

Well, I’ve never been to Tavern on the Green in NYC (remember the Folger’s commercials from the ’80s, where they secretly replaced the fine coffee they usually serve with Folger’s Crystals…can anyone tell the difference?) but noticed when I was looking through the Live Auctioneers website that they will be selling the physical assets of the restaurant on Thursday of this week. The restaurant closed in the early hours of January 1st after a big New Year’s Eve celebration.