Triple Lemon Tea Bread

The Triple Lemon Tea Bread was popular at the Downton Abbey Tea this past weekend. We are happy to share the recipe so that you may enjoy it at home!










Triple Lemon Tea Bread
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest (reserve lemon for glaze)
1 Tbsp. finely cut lemon verbena, fresh (optional)
2 eggs
1-1/2 c. flour
1/8th tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. milk


Lemon Glaze:
1/4 c. sugar
juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour an 8" x 4" loaf pan. Beat butter and sugar under creamy and light.  Add lemon zest and lemon verbena (of using). Add eggs and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and combine. Beat for 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan and bake for one hour. While bread is baking, blend sugar and lemon juice. Pour glaze over bread as soon as it it removed from oven. Cool, then remove from pan. Refrigerate. Serve bread chilled.

Note: This bread freezes well for up to one month. The recipe also doubles very easily.

For a variation, add 3 Tbsp. fresh lavender blossoms, finely ground.

Downton Abbey Afternoon Tea - A Reprise

The starched aprons, polished silver teapots, and vintage cut glass were pulled out of storage and put back into service this weekend as we celebrated the Downton Abbey movie in style with an elegant Afternoon Tea. Quotes from the previous seasons of Downton Abbey were interspersed throughout the menu and will be included below.

Upon arrival, guests were served an effervescing Peach Shrub in the aperitif glasses. We were excited to introduce the Republic of Tea limited edition blends that are now available at The Rosemary House! In response to Lord Grantham's query, "Shall we have some tea?", we served the Grantham's English Breakfast Tea, Downton Christmas Tea (a herbal tisane), Lord and Lady Grantham's Tea (spicy black tea), and The Bate's Tea (think plum pudding!).

Appetizers, which included warm Spinach Artichoke Crostini and Petite Cordon Bleu were served individually to each attendee.

Lady Edith Crawley states, "It feels so wild. To be out with a man, drinking and dining in a smart London restaurant."

A seasonal salad featured Mixed Salad Greens, Parmesan cheese, goat cheese crumbles, fresh sliced nectarines, honey roasted pecans all dressed with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette with fresh basil.

All the while, Lady Mary mused, "People grow up and move away and things change."

Following the salad, a trio of sandwiches was presented. It included Rosemary Chicken Salad in Pastry Boat, Cheddar and Carrot Relish Rounds, and Cucumber, Tomato, & Radish with Chante Cheese Spread on Puff Pastry.

The next course included Traditional English Cream Scone, Triple Lemon Tea Bread, Sweet Cream and Lemon Curd and fresh Orange Slices and Cubed Pineapple. Lady Edith pondered,  "I sometimes wonder if I should learn to cook. You never know when it might come in handy."

"I'm a woman, Mary. I can be as contrary as I choose.", Lady Grantham, the Dowager Countess. And don't we all love the Dowager?

A trio of desserts included an Earl Grey Teapot Cookie, a Caramel Cream Sandwich Cookie, and Poppyseed Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Cream Frosting.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Thank you to all our customers that joined in the festivities this weekend. We love the extra effort you put into your outfits!

"We should always be polite to people who are kind. There's not enough of it about.", Mrs. Patmore

Tea Time at the Fairy Festival

This over sized teacup is a permanent fixture in the garden. It is the perfect spot for photo ops and elicits a lot of memories for many of our local customers. We purchased it at auction when Williams Grove Amusement Park closed down. It's fun to have this piece of local history in the garden. The original color is the orange you see around the saucer and on the inside of the tea cup. An artistic friend painted it for us, and we let him use his imagination and creativity to paint it as he visioned it. He decided to highlight the fairy festival. The pair of gnomes were placed there for the arrival of the fairies at our Fairy Festival. Once the festival is over, they are tucked away until next year.

Thyme for Tea! 

Adorable Fairy Tea Set Centerpiece

Miniature Asparagus Tea set!

Many imaginary tea parties in the garden

Fairy Festival - 2019

The Rosemary House Fairy Festival for 2019 occurred this past weekend. We were blessed with fabulous weather, and fairies and friends came and frolicked in the garden on Saturday and Sunday. Here's a quick peek at some of the festivities. The garden is decorated with trinkets and treasures to discover along the way. Pinks, purples, blues, and all shades in between add color; toss in a sprinkling of fairy dust and you have magic.

Fairies and bubbles gather around the giant teacup.

Vendors line Rosemary Alley

Making magic fairy wands under the pavilion.

Fairy Lily crafting  fairy wands.

Big Shoe Productions Puppet Show

Fairy Food on the fly. Fairy Cakes and sweet treats.

Fairy Godmother telling stories.

Wings and more wings!

Our favorite Unicorn and the Trinket Trading Post.

Caroline MIddendorf (author) reading The Prince & The Dragon 

Lining up for the Fairy Walk

Fairy Magic

Woodland Whispers Faerie

Fairy Tattoos 

The Enchanted Teapot Princesses

Finding fairies in the garden.

Playing along with the fairy fun!

September - time for the Fairy Festival!

We have marched right into September, and with that, activities are in full swing for the upcoming 26th Annual Fairy Festival held in the gardens of The Rosemary House and Sweet Remembrances. The gardens are being decorated with all things fairy, bright colors abound, twirling things and miniature tables and chairs. It is a complete transformation.

In the tea room, we have unpacked all the miniature tea sets and they have been placed on the tables to be enjoyed by the festival attendees, to be played with, and to pretend they are having tea with the fairies.

An assortment of tiny teacups adorn each table inside, and the tables that are set up outside also. There are many sturdier tea sets that are placed about the garden in anticipation of a host of pretend tea parties taking place with the fairies. It makes us smile. We hope to share photos after the event, but visit our Facebook page for pictures from years past!

A few extra special fairy treasures are placed a little higher on the shelves, to be admired from a distance, but still enjoyed. Over the years, the tea pot fairy collection grows. It's fun to pull them out and play with them in preparation for the festival. Need more details? Visit the website for the schedule of events and other information.We hope to see you, Saturday, September 7th and Sunday, September 8th from 10 am to 4 pm.  Wear your wings!