I learned the difference between having money and being rich when I was a little girl.

My mother had sent my little sister, Robin and I  with our older siblings to the Ohio State Fair.

She had given them the money to pay for our admission.  She had given us $2 each for spending

money.  Two dollars didn’t seem like much to spend at the fair even back then.

There was so much to look at- so much to consider- and Robin had been talking about the

food at the fair all the way to Columbus.  Many years later they made a movie out of “Charlotte’s

Web”, and Robin had sounded a lot like Templeton the rat in his rhapsody over fair food.

‘>Here it is on youtube!

But when we got to the fair- not far from the entrance was a wagon- a dainty Victorian wagon,

painted in lavender and white stripes and with lavender awnings- filled- absolutely FILLED with

lavender.  The fragrance was so potent that the air seemed to shimmer about the wagon-

and the sign on front said Lavender-$1.00 a cup.  I spent both of my dollars within the first ten

minutes as the fair.  I had two cups of lavender in my bag and I was rich beyond compare.

And – aside from the fact that it was unbearably hot and humid- that is all I remember about the

fair.  I’m sure someone took pity on me and got me a drink and maybe something to eat.  But I had that

bag- 2 whole cups of lavender for years afterward- and I knew that I had spent my money wisely.

I was RICH in lavender!

Richness for me means having plenty- enough to use and share.

So, when Allyson brought me a basket FULL of strawberries I became a rich woman!

I washed them, cleaned them and graded them.

Strawberries for pie.

Strawberries for jelly.

And strawberries for snacking.

Firm, ripe juicy, sweet Ohio strawberries- ready for whatever I wanted to do with them!

I made jelly- Freezer jam, actually.

and pie- enough to enjoy- and share!

I love being rich in strawberries, and family and friends and love- and lavender!

is finger food- especially tea time finger food.

I love preparing food for tea- love garnishing and presenting it-

and most of all I LOVE eating it.

We had an afternoon tea for my niece and her family today.

I used an ice cream scoop and made watermelon balls that I served in a water pitcher.

Then cleaned a pineapple and cut it into spears which I placed in the empty

melon – with the pineapple crown on top with coconut slices and mint leaves

to garnish.

Chocolate meringues,using Celia’s recipe!

Cranberry and almond Welsh scones-you can find the basic recipe here- just substitute craisins and sliced almonds for the lavender.

Apple spice babycakes (I was kind of in a French state of mind, hence the flags!)

Bacon and sundried tomato mini quiches- yum!

Basmati rice and pine nut and mint meatballs with Hawaiian barbeque sauce!

Served with hot Darjeeling tea and ginger and lemon iced tea- it was a great

menu- a wonderful visit- and we had a great time visiting and snacking.

I really wish I could sit down with all my blog friends and share a cup of tea

and a plateful of goodies.  My niece, Martha, blogs at The Weinhardts , and I

haven’t seen her in over a year, so it was like sitting down with a blogger

friend and sharing recipes (she brought me a pretzel roll that she promises

to put up the recipe for on her blog soon!)

So – I was thinking about all of you, my internet friends, as I was preparing this

food- and if we could I’d love to have you all over to tea!

(Although we actually met at my sister Cynthia’s house! LOL!  I was so tired and

my house is cluttered with all the stuff we brought back from Chincoteague last

week that I couldn’t clean my house and cook for the same event.  Cynthia did the

cleaning and I did the cooking/baking.  We make a good team!

I’m passing on a tip that I think I got from Martha Stewart.

Note this- because it will probably never happen again.

I don’t like Martha, much. 

I think she does share some good things-

but I think she got them from someone else and doesn’t

give them credit for their ideas.

This one, however, I have been using for years, so Martha

is actually ancient history.

So here it is.

When you buy a whole pineapple-imagine picture here-

(I have picture but I just spent 40 minutes looking for it)

Clean off the rind, cut out the spots and slice the pineapple in half

Then cut out the center of the pineapple- the hard core- and put them

into a pitcher of water.

Leave for several hours – and the core will flavor the water with a very

light pineapple flavor and aroma.

The water is very refreshing on ice or will work well in making a punch for

the base flavor.