I'm BAAAAAACK!!! And Low Carb...

Ah, moving is...lame, stupid, exhausting, and NOT FUN. But we survived. And I finally am getting this house to where I want it. And I love my new kitchen:

The island was originally white but I love contrasts so we had the builders paint it a dark brownish gray. And I finally have my farmhouse sink!

It's kind of taking some getting used to (stainless steel looks amazing but it's a horror to keep clean) because I'm used to a much smaller sink. I could give myself a bath in this thing. 

But I love my new appliances and can't wait to get cooking and baking in here! Speaking of which, I have found a way to cheat on my breakfast sandwiches. You know the ones, the toasted English muffin with bacon, egg and cheese...well, since I am a low carber, I figured out a way to make the entire sandwich ONE carb. Not kidding. 

And it tastes amazing:

Let me just say that I absolutely HATE Keto. Sure, it works, but I cannot eat stuff made with ALMOND FLOUR or COCONUT flour, ugh and yuck. My taste buds just revolt. The texture is all wrong when I try and make breads with these flours. And I end up making a face and throwing it all away. But I do love love love CARBQUIK:

Sorry, the pic is a little blurry. But I use two tablespoons in my "Low Carb English Muffin" recipe and the whole thing is ONE carb.

And yes, of course it's not a real English Muffin. But it tastes close enough that I can stand it. 

So here is what I do: (You make it in the microwave!)

Add an egg, strip of crispy bacon and freshly sliced cheddar and YUM. And the whole thing is ONE CARB. Or, if you're feeling like a scone, add a packet of Truvia to the mix before you cook it. Then slather with sugar free jam (careful, it adds some carbs) and clotted cream and you honestly can't tell it's low carb. 

That's my take--if it's close enough, you can mask the "off" taste with other stuff and it passes for the real thing just fine. 

Now, it happier news, I FOUND A PLATE that I've been looking for, like FOREVER:

 It's that no-name reproduction china that I love so much, and I have the matching Madison Bay Company Tea set and a few other pieces, but I was missing a dinner plate. Finding this plate was as easy as finding...a unicorn. Seriously. NO ONE likes to sell theirs. But I finally found one on Ebay. After a year of searching. And it's all mine. Hooray! Now I have all the pieces I need for a lovely green transferware breakfast! Stay tuned!

Royal Albert Moonlight Rose...and Moving.

So much going on, this will probably be my last post for a while. Alas, I am moving to another state within the month, and I am so crazy busy I won't have time to post. But I will start up again when I land in my new home! (And get unpacked...ugh.)

Here is my entire collection of Royal Albert Moonlight Rose China. Just a few pieces, but I love it so. Discontinued, of course, and rare to find some of the pieces for a good deal. They are generally VERY expensive. My favorite? The Jam Pot:

 This one is a rare find. I got mine from a seller in the Netherlands, and it was about $100 less than the going price on Ebay, so I snatched it up. Look at the beautiful gold detail:

So Pretty. I am allergic to orange and yellow and pink (**cough cough Old Country Roses cough cough**) china, so this is a delight to look at, in my opinion. And blue roses! Not very natural, but very pretty.

I just hope the people packing my house are suuuuuuper careful! Yikes!

Until next time! I'll be blogging from another state! :-)

Breakfast is...Boring.

Well, not usually. However, if you're a low carber, breakfast can get a tad...monotonous. I eat most of my daily carbs at breakfast. The rest of the day, I just don't have them. Because carbs are meant, in my opinion, for breakfast.  Breakfast without carbs is like a day without sunshine.
Okay, that was a bit dramatic, but you hopefully get my meaning. My usual breakfast fare is Eggs&Bacon. It's really not even two words. Eggs&Bacon rule my life. Once in a while I'll shake things up and do sausage, but for the most part, it's Eggs&Bacon, with either toast or an english muffin or a small bowl of cereal. Before I went low carb? I actually had fruit (see above) and LOTS of toast. But now, if I have toast, it's one slice. *sad face*

I am thinking this is why I like to "dress up" my Eggs&Bacon. I mean, look at this breakfast:

Eggs&Bacon, and I actually splurged on an English muffin with sugar free jam. But on a boring plate. Since I've been eating Eggs&Bacon for quite some time, it was after this I got the idea of "snazzing up" my breakfast game. Not the food itself, but the china I used. :-) So...why not have "Fancy" Eggs&Bacon?

Yes, I have bacon under that red dome. Sometimes I like to add cold cereal for my carbs (it was an integral part of my childhood, don't judge), but for some reason it seems...jarring...to have cold cereal on nice china:

 Keepin' it classy with the Lucky Charms and the Blueberry Mini Wheats...LOL

So, breakfast can be boring. I say, spice it up with great dishes! Bacon&Eggs will be INFINITELY more fun to eat. 

Life is short, non?

Roses..in May?

Well, Royal Albert's "Moonlight Rose" pattern, anyway. ;-)

I was having breakfast this morning with it and I was really struck by how pretty it is. I'm still surprised it was discontinued (Why, Royal Albert, WHY?). I just love blue and white, and this is one of the few patterns in my humble opinion, that can pull off such an abundance of gold trim:

Die-hard "Old Country Roses" enthusiasts would disagree with me, and I will admit, the gold does match better with the warmer tones of OCR. But, I think it's a good compliment to the blue and white and cool colors as well. Which normally doesn't look all that great with gold, if we are being honest...

 I think what attracts me to Royal Albert is the aesthetics of the pieces themselves; the "Montrose style" round curves and elegant handles, it's all very pleasing. And very British. (Think "Mrs. Potts" and "Chip" from Beauty And The Beast. I believe they were patterned after the Montrose style. ;-) In the past I would have called this style "stuffy" or "fussy," but now, bring on the stuffy and fussy. I love it. 

And look at that little teapot? It's the rare 1 pt. size. I have a bigger teapot from this pattern, but I am partial to this size. It's adorable. Perfect for a breakfast of one. 

Lighten Up!

That is my plea to Mother Nature, anyway. In my part of the world, it's the end of April and this is what the view out the window looks like:

YUCK. Snow, snow and more snow. I guess the Midwest got the short end of the stick this time. I am seeing all these wonderful posts on social media with blooming flowers and green grass and warm temps...and I'm stuck in SIBERIA.

So, I decided to lighten things up. My breakfast dishes were Grace's Teaware "Rose Garden" by Coastline imports.

Unfortunately you have to own a business since they are strictly wholesale, but I got mine at Homegoods. So bright and cheerful! I have the large water pitcher and covered sugar, too, but this was what I needed for this morning. Look at the cute little egg cup!

So fun and bright and pretty. I can't WAIT to have breakfast out on the deck with this stuff and a pretty tablecloth and flowers. However, that can't happen until THE SNOW MELTS AND I CAN ACTUALLY MOVE MY PATIO FURNITURE OUTSIDE FROM STORAGE. Please, Mother Nature? Can we have spring, now? Pretty Please?

 

I'm a Convert...Of Sorts...

...to Gold Trim, that is. 

I am NOT usually a fan of gold trim on china. I don't know why. I'm more of a silver person. (Which is why my Noritake Greenbrier wedding china was silver trimmed.) But I am starting to like it. Take this Noritake Polonaise, for example. Let's be honest, they went HEAVY on the gold trim:

See? GOLD EVERYWHERE. Ten years ago I would have been like "uh uh. No way." But there's something about the trim, with the blue and white and the scrolling...it really works for me. 

I'm sure you've heard of Royal Albert Old Country Roses. Well, I had a complete Tea service and lots of pieces in the 90's. And they are GOLD GOLD GOLD trimmed:

Photo from Goddess of Eats

After a while I was kind of tired of it. Don't ask me why. O.C.R. is the most popular Royal Albert pattern ever. Like EVER. But it just wasn't working for me. I always thought it was a little "fussy." So, when we fell on hard times early in our marriage and I needed to start selling my china, guess what went first? ;-) 

Now, in my opinion, Royal Albert got it right with "Moonlight Rose." I mean, the stuff is GORGEOUS:

This is a photo from a seller on Etsy. LOOK AT THE COLORS. And of course, Moonlight Rose is discontinued. (What were you thinking, Royal Albert People?) But I scored some--that will be for another post. But the gold and the cool colors of the roses are a perfect match, in my opinion.

So, I'm getting "converted" to the idea of gold trim. I'll just have to get over the fact that it comes off after a lot of uses. ;-)

The Great Cream Tea Debate...

I honestly had no idea that there was such a raging polarization between Cream Tea enthusiasts. The question is, when you have your scones with jam and cream (or cream and jam), which comes first? I saw on Twitter there was an uproar because a popular website  showed the scones with cream first, and people wrote in in HORDES claiming they were offended that the cream came first. 

I've always gone jam first. I tried cream first once, and the jam slip-slided all over and was difficult to spread, and I ended up with a sort of jamcream (or creamjam?) instead of distinct layers of cream and jam. So, I guess you could say I'm the "jam first camp:"

The debate has always been heated. But I found this gem, where the Queen Herself supposedly "settled it."

Can't argue with HRH, right? ;-) 

Winter Luncheon

What do you do when it's cold and snowy outside? Have Luncheon indoors, of course. But at least have it by a window. ;-)

I am a huge fan of the Johnson Brothers Old Britain Castles line. In any color. And I have it in every color, except green. And yes, I am going through a big "pattern on pattern" phase, because I love busy things. Especially with Transferware. I think there shouldn't be any rules at all. Especially with Blue and White.

 Takes my breath away every time I see it. Transferware is art, in my opinion. And what is it about the light when there's snow on the ground? It's so bright and soft and everything looks amazing. Light reflecting off snow makes the winter days...brighter, when there is sun out. It's the days without sun that...suck, for want of a better word. But ah...snow days. When everyone is stuck at home. That's when you stay indoors and binge watch Downton Abbey or Jane Austen films. And have luncheon on really pretty dishes...