Playhouse Tea Party - Toasted Marshmallow Cheese Crackers

There's been a lot of talk of Tea Party in the news in the last year or so. But when I hear the words Tea Party I am transported back to the Lattimore Playhouse. Actually we had what Mama always called a Tea Party most every afternoon. Usually we didn't actually have Tea. Sometimes it was a Tab and a peanut butter cracker. Sometimes it was Toasted Marshmallow Cheese Crackers. But always it was a time to sit down, refuel and rest. Quite the opposite of today's Tea Partiers.

A few days ago, I took a picture of Mama standing on the Lattimore Playhouse porch. The Playhouse is in pretty good shape for being about as old as I am. Mama and Daddy were talking about how the playhouse came to be. They said that when Dr. Sarazen's Children's Clinic on Grover and Lafayette was to be expanded, there was a house on the Lafayette side that needed to be moved. Daddy bought the house and had it taken down piece by piece. He had two houses built from the materials and then Mama and Daddy planned a big playhouse for the five of us to enjoy. Mama and Daddy told Slick Henderson how high they wanted the ceilings and what the general dimensions should be. They included 2 windows and a little kitchen area. The ceilings and walls are bead board. It has a treated front porch and shingled roof that have been replaced a couple of times.

Mama made pretty gingham curtains for the windows, outfitted the kitchen and had Slick build a few shelves for books in another corner.

We played all kinds of games inside the playhouse.

But we didn't always want to stay inside and we played a lot of games outside the playhouse. Mama was laughing about how we used to throw a ball over the house and and yell AAAAuntieeee then the unseen person on the other side of the house would catch the ball and yell OOOVVERRR! I have no idea where that game originated, but I remember that it seemed like a lot of fun at the time.

We played Red Light Green Light and Red Rover Red Rover and Crack the Whip. Daddy thought crack the whip was pretty dangerous because it involved everybody, biggest to smallest, holding hands, running and then slinging the whip around. The smallest ones on the end generally took flight and then everybody fell down laughing.

Another game we played was a guessing game about work. One team were The Bums and they would think of an occupation to pantomime. When the game was ready to start, The Bums would walk up yelling "Bum Bum Bum Here We Come!" The other team would yell "What's your occupation!?" The work team would answer "Most any old thing!" and the guessing team would yell "Get to WORK!" The Bums would start acting out their occupation and keep working until the guessing team yelled out the right answer. Then the other team would become The Bums.

I think sometimes the guessing team knew the answer but just wanted to watch the The Bums keep on working. The guessing team would be lazing around on the grass chewing on wild onions and acting like they had no idea what the occupation was and the Bum team would be working up a sweat trying to get them to guess it right.

After all that activity, we needed to settle down a little so Mama would fix a Tea Party. And then some of us would take a nap. Some of us really needed a nap. As a matter of fact, we are all still champion nappers.

When I took the picture of the playhouse the other day, Mama pointed out where they had repainted the walls several years back but had left some graffiti on the wall. Seems Cousin Betsy had written on the wall in black crayon "Dickie's Not Welcome!" Nobody can remember what brought this sentiment on, but the graffiti made Mama laugh and she wouldn't let them paint over it.

The Playhouse has survived 50 years or more and has been fun for several generations of children. It was originally at the Hewitt house in Lattimore, but Daddy moved it to the current house in the 70s and settled it beside a huge tree with two big tire swings.

The playhouse continued to be a respite. Once a baby calf named Becky needed special care. She was moved into the playhouse and Carol Ann, Ruby, Philip and Gary helped take care of her there.

A picture of one of our Playhouse Tea Parties from the 50s is included on this post. Judy is serving the snack, Penny, Libby and Cindy are patiently waiting and it looks like somebody needed that nap.

When you need to rest and settle down, fix yourself a little Tea Party of Toasted Marshmallow Cheese Crackers. It is sweet, salty, crispy, and gooey with just the right amount of protein and carbs. Maybe take a nap.

Calm, relaxing, quiet - that's a real Tea Party.

Toasted Marshmallow Cheese Crackers

Saltine crackers
Thin slices of Cheddar Cheese
Miniature Marshmallows (if you use a large marshmallow you need to cut it in half)

Layer 1 cracker, 1 slice of cheese and 3 small marshmallows. Make as many as you need. Toast until the marshmallow is slightly brown and the cheese is melted.