Como Conservatory Christmas Tea

Stepping inside the conservatory it's easy to forget about the Minnesota winter outside. Sitting among tropical foliage and water features it's as if you just landed in a tropical escape complete with humidity. Once a year, tables line the walkway of the north garden for a holiday tea fundraiser.

Our table was nestled under a beautiful Italian fig tree.

Emma among the lush rainforest with sun beams streaming through as we settle in for the first course.

I gave Emma a hedgehog ornament (her favorite garden creature) for Christmas and she said it was hungry, ha ha :). The hedgehog enjoyed goat cheese & watercress with pecans, tomato tea, putting on the Ritz egg salad and smoked turkey with arugula aioli tea sandwiches.

Enjoying our Earl Gray tea.

Chocolate and blueberry scones with honey butter.

We knew the lovely ladies at the table next to us - Emma's mom, Sue, and her godmother, Eileen.

Look straight across the water - how fun would it have been to sit at the table on the bridge?

The third and final course - dessert of course!

Fresh fruit bands, upside-down marble cake and creme brulee mini tart.

The sunken garden was decorated with hundreds of beautiful poinsettias for the holidays.

Happy Holidays!

Stillwater's Historic Homes Tour & Progressive High tea

For December tea, Andrea led us on an adventure - Stillwater's annual historic homes tour and progressive high tea. I'm so glad she did! With a fresh coat of snow it was a crisp, but beautiful afternoon to tour five historic mansions decorated for the holidays and enjoy delectable's at each! On the drive from White Bear Lake near Dellwood we even saw a white horse drawn carriage - we felt like we were in the 1800s before we even entered Stillwater!

Our first stop was the Aurora Staples Inn, an 1892 Queen Anne Victorian, just a few blocks from downtown Stillwater and the St. Croix River. Lumber baron Issac Staples built this home for his daughter Aurora and her husband, Adolphus Hospes. We were told that Mr. Staples did not like who one of his other daughter's married and they had a much smaller home nearby. I wish I would have taken a picture of all of the dining rooms. Oh to have a 12-15 foot table and dining area with 15 foot ceilings - can you imagine the tea parties? This home served six different tea breads.

We visited the William Sauntry mansion next. This was Andrea's favorite from the outside. In 1881, William and Eunice Sauntry built the original part of the mansion with a property value of $1,750 - how crazy is that? They continued to add on over the next several years totaling 7,000 square feet. In 1902 they built "the Sauntry Gymnasium" with a ballroom, indoor swimming pool, and bowling alley and a passageway to connect the buildings. William was a rags to riches Irish immigrant who became a millionaire lumber baron, but somehow lost his fortune and shot himself at the Ryan Hotel in St. Paul at the age of 69. Sad. The gymnasium today is a private home. All of the homes had musicians playing holiday music in the music room. This one had a harpist. It was amazing how they maintained the original oil painted ceilings.

Next up the 1878 Ann Bean Mansion - another lumberman's gift to his daughter. Doesn't this look like a Harry Potter house? It had four floors and we even explored the little tower room.

The girls - Andrea, me, Kim and Jackie.

The entryway





The 1895 Lady Goodwood Queen Anne mansion. Loved the big wreath around the second story window. All of the homes were decorated for the holidays with lots of poinsettias, Christmas trees, and garland.



Each Inn served a different course - here it was salad. They also served a really good raspberry punch. The owner, the gentleman on the left dressed in tails, said that his mother made more than 1,000 butter mints - they were so good.



The last stop was the 1883 Elephant Walk mansion built for Stillwater's first jeweler. The inside did not match the Victorian outside. The owner was a diplomat who travelled. Their theme is "Tour the World One Room at a Time" and they aren't exaggerating. Stepping into each room is like stepping into another country - Spain, Thailand, etc. This home served cookies and punch with champagne- heck ya!



Wonderland Ballet

Last night Kim and I attended the U.S. premiere of Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet's production of Wonderland at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. It was a really unique contemporary interpretation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Here are some of the highlights:

• Alice was brunette - and definitely the lead ballerina
• The use of video technology and projection art - made Alice big and small
• Adventurous costumes - my favorite was four ballerinas dressed as flamingos flitting about in toe shoes
• It was dark - literally and figuratively - I think some children would be a little freaked out
• The queen was a bizarre character - we actually weren't sure if it was played by a man or a woman, but I just looked in the program - it was a woman!
• The tea party! Complete with a long white table and mismatched chairs - the dancers performed on and around the table including smashing dishes!
• As the ballerina that played the queen stated "It's not your grandmother's Alice in Wonderland."

Want a Wonderland phone ringtone? The RWB has one for free on their site: http://www.rwb.org/wonderland/ringtone

Here are some pictures that I found online because it was not the kind of show where one would take pictures but this will give you a flavor for it.

                                   
 
                     

Tea in the Woods

October was Kim's turn to host and she chose an elegant and intimate new place for English high tea - Maudie MacBride's in St. Paul. Set back in the woods, yet not far from busy areas, you wouldn't believe such a peaceful place would be here. The owners have remarkable vision transforming an older home into their dream and they truly have a gift for decorating. While it was too chilly to enjoy tea outside, you could imagine the splendid parties that could be had in warmer weather.

If you look closely you can see some visitors.

Emma and her friend Tess from Colorado

Cottage veranda overlooking the pond.

Maudie's dramatic solarium where we enjoyed an elegant tea overlooking gardens, a pond and waterfall.

Enjoying each other's company.

Tier 1: chicken & egg salad croissants

Tier 2: cucumber, pimento & crab sandwiches

Tier 3: cream & cranberry scones

Tier 1: carrot cake & chocolate cups with orange cream

Tier 2: chocolate éclairs & coconut macaroons

Tier 3: pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting

Kimmy enjoying a cup of a very secret tea blend called Maudie's rose Romance.

Em and Tess sharing the Fall desserts.

More tea please Tiff!

A sampling of the desserts with the rose black tea.

Crown & Crumpet

I've been slacking on my blog, I think this fireman distracted me or perhaps it was my aching body that isn't cut out for marathons.

While I was in San Francisco for the Nike Women's Marathon in mid-October, I visited Ghiradelli square.

One of the shops within in the square was the cutest tea shop ever - Crown & Crumpet.

This shop was the perfect example of how a tea shop does not have to be "old lady." It was chic, eccletic and fun - right down to the actual logo. I came home with lots of goodies from this shop including a cute cup and saucer with their logo and a tea canister.

  

Em's Fall Birthday Tea Trip

In honor of Emma's 29th (wink, wink) birthday, and after much research, I found a brand new tea room in Red Wing, MN! With the sun shining we set out in her brand new pearly white SUV. It was a lovely day for a drive through the river valley with the leaves just beginning to turn. I can't think of a better excuse to take the day off of work! Wisteria Twig Tea Room and Cafe has only been open for two weeks. The tea room is in the Pottery Place building (2000 Old West Main) former home of Red Wing Pottery.

The tea room overlooks the boiler/kiln? I liked the contrast of the warehouse/industrial building with exposed brick and beams for a high tea. The building also houses the Red Wing pottery museum and many shops. Mmm, scones!

 

                                                 

The food was homemade and a really nice black tea, Yorkshire Gold, was served. It always makes us happy when a nice big pot of tea is left on the table - this was the first time we didn't run out of tea! Many traditional high tea foods were served, including cucumber sandwiches and scones with Devonshire and lemon curd. In addition, the proprietress, Rita, also served fresh asparagus cream sandwiches which were a fun twist.

As Emma was opening her birthday presents, I mentioned that my mom and I found some of her presents in Fort Frances, Ontario. The couple next to us shared that they live in the Fort - small world! We chatted a bit and I mentioned that my maiden name was McHarg and they had known my great aunt Ruth! We figured if we kept talking we would end up related!

Here's Emma with one of her presents from Fort Floral - she loves hedgehogs. In fact, we stopped at a nursery on the way home to pick out a succulent for her new planter. The desserts were yummy - lemon bars, chocolate mousse, caramel apple bars and strawberry phyllo tarts. I love the bubble glass dishes.

Happy Birthday Emma! Hope you had a great day!

I'm glad I was able to spend time and celebrate with you with one of our favorite things - tea!