Spending the Day with Eve Hill (Tea Lady Extraordinaire!)

Several months ago when I signed up for the traveling teapot, I received an email from Eve Hill inviting me to her home to see her teapot collection.  This isn't just any teapot collection.  Some of Eve's teapots have been featured in the Collectible Teapot Calendar, a Collectible Teapot Puzzle, the Novelty Teapots Collector book by Edward Bramah, and the Eccentric Teapot book by Garth Clark.  (Not just a teapot like hers, but her actual teapot!)  I had to make this happen.  December came and went in a blur and thanks to a couple extra weeks with the teapot, I was able to visit Eve.

Eve and her husband Bob had outdone themselves preparing for our visit.  Water was quickly heated for Harney and Sons Queen Catherine tea.  Soon her Shamrock Belleek teapot was filled and on the table.

 She quickly heated soup, put sandwiches on a platter and said tea grace.  We sat down and began our chinwag.  At some point, she added some sweets to the table, brewed a couple more pots of tea (one was Harney's Tropical Green in a Shelley teapot), and we were right back to our visit.

Eve is a fabulous cook and I was thoroughly stuffed when I left her home.  There was no need to stop for dinner in route home.  She was even kind enough to send some leftovers for my dear husband.

Starter for a cold day: Choirmaster's Sausage Tortellini Soup









Sandwich course:

Turkey roll-ups with Olive tapenade topping on cheese bread

Roast beef on marble rye with horseradish cream

Marinated cucumber and cream cheese on French baguette slices

Lady Mary's warm Crab puffs on focaccia crackers

Minced ham with artichoke Parmesan spread and Swiss cheese



Scone course:

Smucker's cherry preserves

Smucker's Apricot preserves




Devon cream

Downton sour cream scones a la Eve






Desserts: 

Shortbread rounds. 

Clothespin cookies with pastry cream filling

Lemon Pizzelles

Irish Cream brownies

Tarte au citron with home raised lemon



(We dined next to her fruit laden lemon plants.  Are there more tartes in the future?)



Teas 

Queen Catherine

Tropical Green



Our place settings

Before I knew it, the sun was setting and I needed to head back home.  We quickly cleared the table, and the teapot tour began.  Tune in tomorrow to see some of Eve's teapot collection.

Sips and Smiles,

Teresa and the Teapot

Eve was kind enough to share her soup recipe and tips.  She likes to cook with Ohio ingredients.

 Church cookbook recipes 

Choirmaster’s Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini 

1 lb. Italian sausage                                    2 cups tomatoes, seeded, chopped

1 cup onions, coarsely chopped                   or 2 large cans diced tomatoes                                                                  

2 cloves garlic, chopped                              1 cup sliced carrots       

4 cups beef broth  or stock                           ½  teasp. basil leaves (dried)              

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley           ½ teasp. oregano  (dried)   

1 medium green pepper (½ inch dice)           3 cloves garlic, chopped, crushed     

½ cup dry red wine                                        1 cup sliced zucchini

Grated Parmesan cheese                              8 oz frozen or fresh cheese filled

                                                                          Tortellini

If cased sausage, remove from casings. Cut sausage into small pieces and brown in heavy skillet, set aside. Put 1 or 2 tablespoons sausage drippings into a heavy 5 quart Dutch oven pan, sauté onions and garlic until unions are tender but not brown. Add beef broth,  wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil oregano, diced green peppers and browned sausage. Bring to a boil, immediately reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about 30 minutes. Skim fat from soup. Stir in zucchini, tortellini, parsley, garlic. Simmer, covered, additional 15-35 minutes or until tortellini are tender.  Sprinkle grated Parmesan on top each serving. Serves 8 to 10.     Recipe from DON SHEARER, Choirmaster at Strongsville United Maethodist cCurch

I use Bob Evans sausage most of the time for this. Dei Fratelli tomatoes, diced Italian in the big cans, are best unless you have fresh summer ones. For the wine, I have used everything from Chianti to Sangiovese and Sangiovese is not a dry wine, but they all work. Any and all of the ingredients can be played with as to amount and I always put some of the Parmesan in the soup before finishing, because it tastes better that way. There was some in yesterday’s soup.

Enjoy,

Eve