Pukka and Galaktoboureko Afternoon

Welcome to Over a Cup of Tea with Celia M. - #9



The weather has been surprisingly pleasant these past few days ... the sun has made an appearance and the crispness in the air bearable without being over dressed in winter clothes. The perfect kind of weather to enjoy a High Heeled Life afternoon tea in the city.

Today I'm steeping a tea by Pukka - Harmonise (balancing for women)
 it's a blend of organic rose, sweet vanilla and chamomile. Today's teacup is by Brivogue.

With everything so close by it is so easy to pop into a local bakery for a little treat to go with tea. Serano bakery is a gallery of Greek delights that will satisfy the sweetest and unsweetened tooth. 

This is my absolute favourite Greek dessert. If you can get past the tongue twister name- Galaktoboureko (pronounced:  gal-lahk-toh-Boo-reh-koh) it will become your favourite Greek pastry too!

It's a delightful combination of creamy custard and flaky phyllo dough that is baked to golden perfection then drenched with a lemon and orange infused syrup.

I use to bake this often and will look for my recipe and share it with in a future tea.

Do you have a favourite Greek dessert?

Stay in Step with High Heeled Life ...

sharing this post with:  ~  Inspire Me Tuesday ~  A Return to Loveliness ~  Antiques and Teacups for Tuesday Cuppa Tea ~ Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea time Tuesday ~ Artful Affirmations and Martha's favorites for Teacup Tuesday ~ 

Autumn to Winter and The Other Side of Thin Update

Welcome to Over a Cup of Tea with Celia M. - #8

Autumn is starting to give way to the gloomy days and reminding us that winter and it's really cold days are not far behind. This day certainly felt more like winter than mid November. Looking out the kitchen window the trees are now bare and the gardens are looking grayish.

Inside the Christmas Cactus is blooming its bright red colour ... 

To help ward off the chill this green ginger tea from TAZO was beckoning to be enjoyed.

To enjoy our tea I'm using a teacup and plate duo. It's stamped J.E. Caldwell & Co. Philadelphia and above that is a stamp that reads La Cloche - with the words French on one ribbon tip and China on the other. above that is a bell with T.V. and above that Limoges.

The teacup sits perfectly on the plate's indent leaving plenty of room for some goodies.

With Today's tea some mini croissants ...

I recently received an email with a question about how I was doing with my weight. The reader had read a post from my The Other Side of Thin Series - part One which I wrote in April - 2012. At that time I was weighing in at 145 lbs. and by June 2012 I was weighing in at 153 lbs. - I managed to get my weight down to 140 lbs by September 2012 and wrote about it here - Moving the Scale -The Other Side of Thin Series - where I shared tips on maintaining a healthy eating lifestyle. I'm happy to report that I did go on to loose an additional 10 lbs. - and have been maintaining my weight between 130 - 133 lbs. for almost 10 months. 

I'm currently working on the next 10 lbs. hoping to get down to 120 lbs. 

You can read Part Two and Part Three .

What tips can you share that have worked 

for you in loosing the last 10 lbs. ?

Stay warm...

Stay in Step with High Heeled Life ...

sharing this post with:  Mosaic Monday ~Le chateau des fleurs  ~  Inspire Me Tuesday ~  A Return to Loveliness ~  Antiques and Teacups for Tuesday Cuppa Tea ~ Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea time Tuesday ~ Artful Affirmations and Martha's favorites for Teacup Tuesday ~ 

Blog Friend Visit - and a cup of tea

Welcome to Over a Cup of Tea with Celia M. - #7

The week-end started early around the HHL home. Dolce and Gabbana eagerly awaited the arrival of a special guest to our home ...

Miss Ava from Ava Grace's Closet came by for a visit with her mama ... while the little ones played we enjoyed a cup of black tea (Casablanca) from Mariage Freres and some scrumptious, sinfully delicious cannoli - which Ava and her mama picked up before setting on their drive to our country home.    

The morning went by so quickly ...and with so much entertainment from the little ones ... I forgot all about capturing our tea in photos. The next day I did enjoy some Early Grey black tea from Harney & Sons with a a cannoli (or two) from the previous day. These were still as yummy the next day!

I used the same teacup ... the Lady Carlyle by Royal Albert. 

Thank you Susan ... these were still heavenly the next day. And the fresh bakery bread - gone that same day!!!

With all the excitement of company ... Dolce and Gabbana were ready to head out for a drive.

So, off to Yorkdale Shopping Centre ... where furbabies are welcomed.

Everything is starting to look a lot like Christmas ... The Swarovski Crystal tree is breathe taking!

Even Dolce and Gabbana thought so....

Thank you for visiting today,


Stay in Step with High Heeled Life ...

sharing this post with:  Mosaic Monday ~Le chateau des fleurs  ~  Inspire Me Tuesday ~  A Return to Loveliness ~  Antiques and Teacups for Tuesday Cuppa Tea ~ Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea time Tuesday ~ Artful Affirmations and Martha's favorites for Teacup Tuesday ~ 

A Little Versace with Afternoon Tea ...

Welcome to Over a Cup of Tea with Celia M. - #6

In the country the days are not only getting colder but looking outside the vibrant autumn colours of the gardens have turned to a dismal grey. Harvest season is almost behind us and soon we'll be changing out the Thanksgiving (in Canada we celebrated on October 14th) and autumn decor for Christmas (my favourite holiday time) decor, so it seemed fitting to take a cup of tea in the kitchen surrounded by three walls of windows - enjoying the autumn decor on the island.

I'll be steeping some wonderful Moroccan mint green tea in a cast iron teapot.

This little gadget is amazing for ensuring the tea is steeped in a timely manner...

This lovely was a gift from Mr. G a couple years ago and the blue, orange and yellow colours with leaf like scroll and petite little flowers, I thought was a good choice for saying good-bye to the gardens. This is made by Versace and is one of my favs. made it Italy. Don't you just love the gold winged handle?

To hold our treat for this tea - is a plate with a finger holster for easy holding. I am told it's a lemon plate - but I think it's wonderful for serving these amaretti cookies from the bakery.

I hope you enjoyed today's tea with a little Italian flare ...

Hugs and Blessings,


Stay in Step with High Heeled Life ...

sharing this post with:  Antiques and Teacups for Tuesday Cuppa Tea ~ Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea time Tuesday ~ Artful Affirmations and Martha's favorites for Teacup Tuesday ~