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The Tea Trolley

Last week we enjoyed Afternoon Tea at The Tea Trolley in Delta, PA.  This beautiful Victorian home is located near the PA/MD border.  It provided a lovely respite for our traveling herb seminar.

The lovely place settings featured assorted teacups and plates.  Notice the napkin rolled into the teacup and the petite spoon tucked in the handle of the teacup.  Clever.

The hot pots of tea featured for the day included the House Blend (a traditional black variety), Almond Cookies, or a decaffeinated Raspberry tea.




A generous fresh salad dressed with a strawberry dressing was presented as the first course.

The three tiered tray service included chicken salad, egg salad, and carrot & cheddar cheese sandwiches.  There were two of each variety for the guests.  They were all very tasty and fresh.

The top tier held the warm English cream scones.  It was served with a sweet cream, lemon curd, and strawberry preserves. 











And the beautiful assortment of desserts included a tasty meringue, a petite fruit tart, a delicious chocolate truffle in an edible chocolate cup, and a tiny white cake with a sweet pink frosting.  Oh yum!  The perfect ending to a fun afternoon tea.










Rachel Cox, the owner, greeted our group and shared a little history of the building. Additional photos from her photo gallery can be seen here on the tearoom website.  Behind her is a tiny peek into the gift shop where you could purchase the teas that were served along with the lemon curd, and assorted fun tea related items. 

 

Garden Decor

Sharing some whimsical displays of garden artistry that captured my eye recently. 
Love this little cat statuary holding a nest of eggs!

Looks like a serene setting to enjoy a glass of iced tea!

Did you spot the face and wild hair on this rusty shovel?  Fun little garden discoveries while we were out and about on a rather unseasonably cold Monday in May.

 

Tea Decor

These two distinct, yet similar, tea themed wreaths were spotted in two different tea rooms.  The one on the left has tea cups nestled about the wreath with a gold ribbon and berries running around the faux pine wreath.  The wreath shown below is made with a grapevine base and features a delicate ribbon woven around the wreath with tea related trinkets tucked at the base of the wreath along with a pretty teacup and white gloves. 




Fun little discoveries during our tea room travels.  Both of these wreaths would be fairly easy to replicate.

Mother's Day Tea 2013 - the menu

Our annual Mother's Day Tea is now one for the memory books. The first course included individual cups with Herbed Spinach Dip and assorted fresh veggies.  The sweet little cups are actually meant for baking cupcakes, but the pretty floral pattern and die cut edge caught my eye.  I thought it might make a fun and different presentation for the starting course.

This next photo shows the sandwich course, plated and ready to be served.

The sandwiches included Pimiento Cheese on Pumpernickel tied with a garlic chive leaf, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus in a Phyllo Cup, a warm Boursin Cheese and Green Onion Stuffed Biscuit, Fresh Sweet Strawberry Bruschetta, an Apple, Rosemary and Blue Cheese Knot, and a Petite Phyllo Shell filled with Herbed Goat Cheese.

Angelica starting to serve the Scones and Fruit.  Our guests enjoyed Traditional English Cream Scones and White Chocolate Apricot Scones, always served fresh out of the oven.  A sampling of fresh fruit and assorted scone toppings completed the plate.

And the little trio of desserts featured an Italian Cream Cupcake, Coconut & Pecan topped Chocolate Cupcake, and a Tangy Lemon Filled Cookie.  Just the right size!




















Angelica and her mother helped waitress. Angelica lamented that she wants to come to the Mother's Day Tea, with her Mother, but sadly, she realizes she is probably the tea server again next year.  I suggested she try and make reservations next year.  We'll see what happens with that idea.  Hope everyone enjoyed a Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

A Yard Sale Find!

This cheerful and colorful Mary Engelbreit keepsake tin found its way to my house this week.  According to the back of the tin, it originally held 20 tea sachets of gourmet Cherry Tea from Sri Lanka.  Now empty, it was discovered at a yard sale by a friend who found it and delivered it to me.  It'll definitely find a happy new home here!

Biltmore Estate

Our sister Marj of Rosemary Remembrances and a fellow retired buddy recently journeyed to the Biltmore in Asheville, NC.  Lucky me, I've been enjoying some of the souvenirs that were purchased specifically with me in mind!  What fun!  The Fine Tea is especially blended for the Biltmore Estate.  My sister selected the English Breakfast, which is a rich and mellow black tea blend.  It makes for a fine cup in the morning.  Some Black Raspberry Jelly, also private labeled for the Biltmore will be mighty tasty on some scones.  And the sweetest little tea themed napkins complete the assortment of surprises.  It's practically a tea party waiting to happen!  Thank you, Marj! 

Charlotte Russe

The culinary sources for several of the recipes served at the Tea With the Parlor Maid include the Last Dinner on the Titanic and Mrs. Beeton's Victorian Cookbook.  Inspiration for the Charlotte Russe recipe came from the Victorian cookbook.

Charlotte Russe is a chilled French dessert made with ladyfingers and is filled with a fruit-flavored cream filling set with gelatin, a favorite ingredient in Edwardian cookery. 

Shown below, the photo in the cookbook, and the individual portion served at our special event.

Judy Larkin, The Tea Lady

We were delighted to welcome enthusiastic guest speaker Judy Larkin, The Tea Lady, from West Virginia for her presentation Tea With the Parlor Maid.  Her lively and spirited program shared why tea was an integral part of life for the working class. 









She explained the rules and hierarchical relationships that governed servants lives in the late-Edwardian era England, but also shared the "below stairs" life where tea may not have been enjoyed in silver teapots, but was enjoyed none the less. There were plenty of opportunities for merriment complete with music hall songs and colorful expressions.


Judy began her program lightly dusting the china displayed in the tea room.  If only she had stayed a little longer after her program to complete the dusting, it would have been a perfect day!

A special thank you to Judy for her delightful program. 

Featured Menu - Tea With the Parlor Maid

Our afternoon tea started with an Asparagus Salad with Saffron Champagne Vinaigrette.  This recipe was found in the cookbook Last Dinner on the Titanic.   In the first episode of the Downton Abbey series, it is learned that Lord Grantham's heir, James Crawley, and his son Patrick have perished with the sinking of the Titanic.








"Shall we have some tea?", Lord Grantham. The afternoon tea sandwiches included a Spring Salad Aspic, Chicken Bombay Sandwich on Raisin Bread, Rolled Asparagus Sandwich, Watercress Tea Sandwich, and a Tomato Aspic Cucumber Sandwich.











Olde English Seed Cake and Traditional English Scones were accompanied with Sweet Cream, Cinnamon Honey Butter, Raspberry Preserves and Fresh Fruit.

















Dessert included individual servings of Charlotte Russe. "Is that Charlotte Russe?  How lovely!", Lady Grantham.







We also served petite Vanilla Rosemary Madelaines served in my favorite silver basket!  Do you remember the scene where Matthew selected a madelaine from the three tiered server?

An excellent resource for Downton Abbey recipes and ideas can be found at this website, Downton Abbey Cooks.  "I sometimes wonder if I should learn to cook.  You never know when it might come in handy.", Lady Edith.

Spiced Pecans

Tea service for Tea With the Parlor Maid continues. Each table had a silver serving bowl that contained Spiced Pecans providing something for the guests to nibble on before tea service would begin.  "The menus were wonderfully varied and tempting.  I stayed at the table from soup to nuts." Titanic passenger Kate Buss.









Spiced Pecans
2 egg whites
1 pound pecan halves
1 c. sugar
2-1/2 tsp. apple pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix egg whites with 2 tsps. water in a large bowl, and beat until frothy. Add pecans and stir until well coated.  Combine sugar, spices and salt.  Pour over nuts.  Mix well. Spread coated nuts on a lightly oiled 11 x 15 shallow pan.  Bake at 250 degrees, stirring every 20 minutes until coating hardens, about an hour.  Store in an air tight container.  Will keep for a month, provided no one knows what is in the container!