Mother's Day features favorite teas: will Father's Day bring "T's" and carrots?

Traditional Mother's Day tea with my family at Goldfish Tea

On the eve of Father's Day, I'm reminded of last month when my family gathered for our traditional tea at Goldfish Tea for Mother's Day. This year, along with my favorite Mother's Day custom, my children added more "t's" to that special day:  a toile teapot and a gift certificate to Torino's, a gourmet restaurant in Ferndale (about fifteen minutes from our home).

Toile Teapot, Torino's gift card and candy top the treasure bath

The toile teapot, some may recall, was featured in my updated "Wish List, Too". My daughter, Rachel and I were shopping at Somerset Mall in March and saw what I can only describe as the greatest combination since chocolate and peanut butter - tea and toile. (If you doubt the former, check out my pinterest page which is filled with endless recipes on the variation of a Reese's peanut butter cup.)

Rachel prepares the tea as Matt looks on

Toile tea towel from Fun Stuff

At the time of our shopping excursion, a  charming ceramic black and white toile teapot/kettle was on display with other coordinating tea accessories. My mind quickly converted this porcelain beauty from a "want" to a  "need".  Rachel took note.

Sharing some a cup of Keemun and a smoothie with Rob

As we sat down to a few pots of my favorite Keemun Black tea with variety of small pastries, Rob and Rachel surprised me with a the toile teapot from Bella. I absolutely love it and am inspired to create a toile tea tablescape soon. I recently snatched up a matching toile tea towel from Fun Stuff in Birmingham (see "Fun Stuff for your next tea party" Detroit Tea Examiner), so I'm well on my way!

Celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary at Torino's

Another addition to the Mother's Day treasure bath was a gift certificate to Torino's from Matt. My husband and I took advantage of that later in the month when we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. This amazing restaurant offers a five course meal with the option of a drink pairing with each plate served. A foodies' delight, in-season vegetables are  served with exotic offerings such as quail, crab and morel mushrooms. As crazy as it sounds, we also had, in my husband's words, "the best damn carrot" we ever ate.

Best damn carrot we ever ate!

But, I digress. Back to Mother's Day. It was a wonderful time spent with the kids and my husband. Treated like a queen with lots of "t's" and teas. Can't get much better that.

It's hard to top, but I hope we make Father's Day as good - maybe with some more "T's" and (damn good) carrots!