Design Your Own - Tea Tray!

The Rosemary House and Caromal Colours are coming together for an evening of tea and creativity... no skill required! Carol will help you design your own large wooden serving tray in your choice of color and decoupage design. This sturdy wooden tray is perfect for serving tea or wine, inside or out. During the evening, Susanna will offer tips on brewing and serving wonderful teas! Tea and Treats will be served and you are welcome to bring your own favorite (adult) beverage and/or treats as well. Don't miss this wonderful evening of creativity and fun! This event will be held at Caromal Colours, 13 E. Main Street in charming Mechanicsburg.

Join us on Thursday, March 22nd from 6 pm to approx. 9:30 pm. Cost for this event is $55.00, and you may register by contacting Susanna at The Rosemary House.

The Rosemary House - Then and Now

The Rosemary House opened its doors in 1968 with some sparse inventory, handmade crafts, and items from the garden all lovingly placed on metal shelving units ordered from the Sears and Roebuck Catalog and assembled by dear old dad. When the shop first opened, it was the front room only. This early photo is from 1971 where the shelves are full and the shop is beginning to overflow into the second room.

1975

Hand crafted pine cone wreaths and herbal wreaths were made by mom. Local artists handiwork lined the shelves as well such as hand carved springerle cookie molds by local artist D.D.Dillon. Craft kits were put together to make Do-It-Yourself Pot Pourri or Pomander Balls. Baggies and Bows. Everything was packaged in a baggie and gaily tied with bows! You'll find that our herbs are still packaged with baggies and bows 50 years later!

Over the years we have worked to replace all of the metal shelving with vintage antique display units and all of the original peg board is now the more display friendly slat wall. 

Our wooden shelving pieces have a varied history - this piece was originally in a hat shop and the shelves are all felt lined. Our front piece was in a pharmacy/soda shop and has zinc lined cabinets once used to keep the ice cream cool. We have an old one horse open sleigh we use as a display piece and another multi-drawer unit that was once used to store patterns but has been re-purposed to hold herbs.

Valentine's Day Tea - 2018

Our first Valentine's Day Tea was this past Sunday. Roses and hearts graced the table, from fresh florist roses to tightly twisted rosebud napkins and paper hearts galore, it was a theme to be repeated throughout the day.

Once the pots of tea were brewed, the first course was served. It was flavorful Mixed Berry Salad with spring greens, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, dressed with a sweet poppyseed dressing and topped with pecans and feta cheese.

 

The sandwich assortment included a heart shaped pinwheel with red pepper and black olives. Ham Salad Sandwich with a heart cutout showed the pink color of the spread. A round strawberry cream sandwich was topped with a fresh strawberry piece cut in the shape of a heart. A warm Swiss cheese melt on pumpernickel bread offered a contrasting color to the array of red and pink sandwiches. The Apple Chicken Salad Sandwich was sprinkled with a dusting of paprika and topped with a miniature heart cutout. And in the center was a mini phyllo cup filled with mozzarella cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Lots of variety in that array of sandwiches.

What's Valentine's Day with out chocolate? We served our traditional English Cream Scones in the shape of a heart and they were served alongside a glazed Double Chocolate Chip Scones. Sweet Cream and raspberry preserves were offered as toppings and fresh fruit rounded out the plate.

A medley of desserts included a chocolate frosted chocolate cake, a shortbread heart with chocolate drizzles, both white and milk, and a buttery frosted cookie with sprinkles. Yummy, and fun! This was our first Valentine's Day celebration with another one scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Hope your week is filled with love!

Table Settings

During our visit to Camellia's Sin Tea Parlor, I snapped some pictures of the beautiful table settings in the tea room. Each table is decorated with a different theme or color or style, and each table is simply more beautiful than the previous one. It is a real study in design!

With coordinating chargers to match a round or square place setting, and then beautiful china dishes, one stacked upon the other to create an elegant layout of dishes and a promise of bountiful courses to be served, it was a feast for the eyes. This cheerful red place setting was our table for afternoon tea.

Matching napkin rings complete the service, and coordinated tea pots act as the centerpiece.

 Do you see a table setting where you would prefer to be seated? They are all so festive!

In the entryway, there is an assortment of hats in all shapes, sizes, and colors to entice you to wear a hat while taking tea. Always fun!

Football Widow's Tea - Camellia's Sin Tea Room

We journeyed to Carlisle, PA on a snowy Super Bowl Sunday for the featured Football Widow's Tea at Camellia's Sin Tea Parlor. The snow was pretty but slippery, traffic was light, the adventure enjoyable. 

If you so desire, you may choose a coordinating hat from the wide variety on the wall as you enter, 

All the tables are amazingly coordinated from chargers, to plates, napkins, and tea cups and pots. We were ushered to the glittery silver and red table. Quite festive!

For starters, we were offered a choice of soups. There was a butternut squash apple (shown here), a ham and bean soup, or a borscht type beet soup. Very thick, very hot, and deliciously flavorful, we enjoyed having soup on such a cold day.

 A lightly dressed salad was next that included spring greens, grapes, and topped with feta cheese.

Another decision was required with the scone course. There were three flavors offered, and since there were three of us, we took one of each and cut them into thirds to sample them all. No decision here! Served with soft cream, lemon curd, and a herbed butter, the flavors included savory cheddar rosemary, almond joy with chocolate drizzle, and white chocolate cranberry. Each one as tasty as the previous scone.

A tiered tray was next that included the sandwiches and desserts. On the bottom tier there was a yummy grilled cheese with a pesto filling on one side and sun dried tomato on the other side. A mini broccoli spinach quiche was served warm, and the cucumber radish sandwich with herbed cream cheese was heart shaped. A petite meat loaf sandwich filled out the variety of sandwiches. All very fun.

Desserts included  a sugar cookie, a miniature raspberry cheesecake, and a very moist chocolate cupcake.

We enjoyed a variety of hot tea with each course, but alas, after tea it was time to head back into the wintry scene, and head home, just in time to nestle in and nap during all the pregame hype.