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!