Sand & Sea Tea

Today Emma hosted a summer Sand & Sea tea in her garden. The centerpiece was a glass globe fishbowl with white sand, seashells and a sea blue betta swimming around. She decorated with lots of seashells and even had candles shaped like seashells. The music made us all feel like we were on a Hawaiian beach listening to the ocean.

And the food...we began with the bread.

Tier 1: Eggplant and hummus chipotle spread with yellow tomatoes from Em's garden served on pita

Tier 2: Cucumber sandwich with mascarpone

Tier 3: Apple cinnamon raisin walnut bread with a creamy fruit dip

We sipped a tropical Arnie Palmer: mango black tea with limeade and Earl Gray tea of course. Emma also had a special tea straight from Hawaii - Pineapple Kona Pop!

Kim & Em

Fruit included blueberries, kiwi,
golden raspberries and organic strawberries.

Tiff, Jackie, Kim, Kendall & Emma (I'm the photographer)

The main course included:

Coconut curry chicken (and mushrooms for me) on cous cous

Spicy chickpeas

 Emma's serving pieces included heirloom blue glass teacups and mother of pearl silverware that has been in the Spahl family for years.

Dessert: Mango lassi with vanilla bean ice cream

We were also served the best tea latte that included black tea & sweetened condensed milk.

And a parting surprise: We each had to dig in the sand to reveal a seashell necklace. The necklaces were purchased at an estate sale from LaVyrle Spencer, the American best-selling author of contemporary and historical romance novels. I love presents, but especially those with a story and a famous person! Fun!

Antique Tea for One

I was walking through downtown Anoka hoping to find a scone at Truffles and Tortes (no luck), but as I passed Antiques on Main this little tea set caught my eye. Ever since I had high tea in Hawaii and we were served with our own little silver teapots, I've been keeping my eye out for one. This set is silver plated = affordable, but still cute. I bought some silver polish and shined it up. I liked that it had a matching tray, sugar and creamer. Time to enjoy some tea for one. I can't imagine life pre-Emma and pre-tea :)

Summer Dinner Tea

Tiffany hosted our first dinner tea on Thursday evening. It was fun to mix it up and get together on a weeknight. With Mrs. Moos as her sous chef, Tiff really outdid herself on the made from scratch menu. I can honestly say that it was the best dinner I've had in months! Tiff was too kind and made everything vegetarian (you are too sweet to me!) The menu:

• Salad with Homemade Fresh Herb Vinaigrette - best homemade dressing ever - the combination of basil and rice vinegar in the dressing with a hint of sugar and garlic was a perfect balance.
• Crostini with Ricotta and Goat Cheese we love that Giada!
• Grilled Vegetable Gazpacho - amazing! The soup was light, yet it had great fresh flavor with tomatoes, cucumber and hint of cilantro - delicious!
• Summer Lemon Vegetable Risotto - another winner! I think this may have been Tiff's first from scratch risotto and she executed it perfectly. The asparagus was cooked to perfection and the risotto was creamy.
• Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Strawberry Rhubarb Compote - just when you think dinner couldn't get any better she brings out the rhubarb!
• Hibiscus and Mint Lemonade - this was a very refreshing beverage; not too sweet and it was a beautiful deep red.
• Creamy Chai Iced Tea - a fun take on classic chai flavors in a cool form and less sweet as it paired nicely with the savory dishes.

Writing this is making me hungry and wish I had Tiff to cook me dinner again!

The elegant table setting

Summer Lemon Vegetable Risotto with the two iced teas

The girls about to eat dinner

Andrea - as pretty as the flowers

Kimmy and Cindy (Tiff's mom)

Kimmy was in heaven with her dream woofer, Daisy, but alas she couldn't take her home.

Français Thé

Jackie hosted a lovely French tea this weekend with delectable treats!



The table was set with Jackie's grandma's china and real silver!



She made a to-die-for spinach and cheese souffllé (we all asked for the recipe!), dill Havarti, baby Swiss cheese and Brie was served as well as strawberry rhubarb jam for the croissants. Jackie also made homemade chocolate mousse with raspberries, which I'm sure is laborious to make, but tasted amazing!

Croissants, macarons - pistachio and vanilla with chocolate filling, caramel eau claires, oh my! How do those French women not get fat?

The Girls tea partaying!

Tea at the Ritz

My first tea ever at the Ritz-Carlton! Thursday is not a busy tea day as I was the only patron having tea. I noticed the teapot did not match the Wedgwood India pattern china. Apparently, when they packed up all of the dishes because of Hurricane Katrina, the lids to the sugar and the teapots were never found.

I enjoyed Harney and Sons Paris tea, which I have at home too, but it's a nice black tea with smooth current and caramel notes. The server was most attentive. He even gave me a cute little Ritz bag with tea sachets, which they do not typically do as he put them in a used loose leaf tea container - very sweet!

My last moments in New Orleans - a relaxing high tea. Notice the three-tier tray even has a silver Ritz signature lion.

Beautiful room for tea, but very eclectic as is chic now I suppose

 

The little crunchy balls on the banana and chocolate desserts were very interesting. The server referred to them as Ritz cocoa puffs, ha ha!

Hot-tea!

Even though I was travelling alone for work, I made a point to both begin and end my journey with high tea in New Orleans.

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.    --Henry James

The first tea was at Le Salon in the Windsor Court Hotel. There were a number of folks having tea. I expected hats in the south and there were none in sight. I also found it intriguing that there were two tables of men with dainty dollies and petite sweets in front of them.

As I'm sitting enjoying my tea (pictures below), the girls at the table behind me are making a bit of a commotion. I turned around and asked them what was going as they pointed to the lobby as Quentin Tarantino and James Marsden (27 dresses!) are waiting for the elevator! Just then one table of men having tea gets up to leave. The girls inform me that it is Rufus Sewell of a Knight's Tale, a director and a screenplay writer.

While we didn't want to accost him while taking tea, we pounced like kittens as he headed for the lobby door - "hot-tea!" He is even from England. As I was posing for the picture below, I asked him "Are you here filming the vampire movie?" He replied with his rather dreamy British accent "Oh yes, I am the king of the vampires!" He wasn't short on confidence, but very nice and very handsome!  He’s filming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – June 2012 ladies!

James Carville and Mary Matalin were in the lobby when we returned from picture taking. I definitely stumbled upon the celebrity hotel. I must say this may have been the most invigorating high tea I've ever experienced!

 

Souvenir menu $8; picture with a handsome & famous Brit = priceless...

Cucumber and egg salad sandwiches. The egg salad had a peach chutney for an interesting twist.

Scones and the best Devonshire cream ever - it was from England and so thick you can tell they used an ice cream scoop.

The tiniest pecan pie tartlet - very popular in New Orleans.

Rufus Sewell a.k.a. hot-tea vampire!

Royal-Tea

Since it seems to occur only once approximately every 30 years I thought it was most appropriate to take the day off to watch the royal wedding. While I enjoyed the pageantry and the fairy tale of a young woman turning into a princess it was, of course, a good excuse to have tea! While my cousin, Rachel, and I did not wear hats today, she did bring, Roan, her handsome little prince.

I was excited to use my royal tea set for the first time. The tea set is white with different silver metallic crowns on each dish. We enjoyed "Buckingham Palace Garden Party Tea," crown cucumber sandwiches, gouda and crackers, roasted red pepper soup, fresh fruit, cherry white chocolate scones with vanilla bean devonshire cream, lemon curd and strawberry preserves and chocolate macadamia nut shortbread cookies.


The table is set for the royal-tea

Roan's first tea party

Springtime in Paris?

While Emma and I celebrated springtime in Paris, it was actually a rather dreary snowy day in Minnesota. The Mad Hatter served a special French menu with nicoise salad, croissants, brie, quiche, scones and crème brûlée tea. It was fun to see others dressed in Coco Chanel inspired attire - pearls, scarfs, and horizontal stripes. Dessert was served a block away at the French Flea. French macaroons in a variety of flavors were served with raspberry champagne.

Emma and I about to enjoy the first course - scones with devonshire cream and lemon curd.

April Tea at the Avalon

Andrea hosted April tea at the Avalon in downtown White Bear Lake. While Kimmy was enjoying the last snow of the season on the slopes we were able to meet Anne, Andrea's friend from college. Knowing that Anne has a tea cup collection she will have to join us again.

The dishes were elegantly spring with multi-color flowers and varied cup shapes. The food was exceptional - all four courses! Quiche; four varieties of tea sandwiches; cream and cherry scones with devonshire, lemon curd and preserves; cake, shortbread cookies and two more desserts - yum! I think this was the first tea party where we all needed to go boxes.

Alice in Winterland Tea

After a postponement ironically due to a winter snowstorm; Alice in Winterland tea was held on a sunny winter day.

Four courses were consumed with all dishes having an Alice in Winterland title, including Cheshire creamy white bean soup and Red Knight royal sandwich Hearts. I emphasized savories over sweets on this menu as I find most tea shops have far too many sweets. The Snowflake Black tea from Lady Elegant's complimented the food wonderfully and the Cupcake prosecco was delicious.

 

Three varieties of sandwiches were served. Kimmy was so helpful and arrived early to help me prep. She did a great job rolling bread to make the Mad Hatter's celery cream cheese pinwheels and arranging the Dormouse's cheese and snowflake crackers. We put a twist on the traditional cucumber sandwiches using mascarpone cheese and layering with the cucumbers thinly sliced on top. Emma adored the roasted red pepper sandwiches so much she already called to ask if I'd make them for her birthday. Dessert included Knave of Hearts cranberry and blueberry scones and the ultimate coconut snowball truffles.

Red Queen's Strawberry Heart Salad - simple, yet elegant with feta cheese, slivered almonds and homemade heart croutons and strawberry dressing. 

Love my new Alice in Winterland tea set - notice Alice is figure skating across the teapot and the Cheshire snowcat is the lid. To center the table - a beautiful wintry blue arrangement with hydrangeas.

 

 Alice in Winterland ornaments incorporate the chandelier into the party theme.

The tea party girls! Thanks to Tiffany for all of the pictures!

“There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of wander, mystery, and danger! Some say to survive it. You need to be as mad as a hatter.”