Tea Leaf Reading - Afternoon Tea

The Introduction to Tea Leaf Reading program recently held in the tea room also included Afternoon Tea. In keeping with the tea leaf theme, several menu items were prepared using tea leaves, by infusion, or with ground leaves.

The specialty menu began with a leafy green salad with fresh raspberries, English cucumbers, topped with Feta cheese and dressed with Raspberry Zinger vinaigrette, a recipe from Celestial Seasonings book Cooking with Tea. The vinaigrette is created by steeping the raspberry zinger teabags for 20 minutes in vinegar before adding oil and sugar to create the vinaigrette. The tea imparts a subtle raspberry flavor and pretty pinkish tint to the dressing.

The sandwich selection featured a warm Blue Cheese and Asparagus rollup, a Cucumber sandwich with herbed cream cheese, Goat Cheese and Sun Dried Tomato Rounds, Chicken Salad Triangle and a Carrot Cake Tea Sandwich on raisin bread.

A reader requested the Carrot Cake Tea Sandwich recipe which can be found on the TeaTime Magazine website here.

There was an English Cream Scone, and a Candied Ginger and Green Tea Bread filled with mascarpone cheese. A medley of green fruits rounded out the plate. For the Candied Ginger and Green Tea Bread I used Harney & Sons Citron Green Tea, finely ground. The recipe is from Eat Tea by John Harney and Joanna Pruess.  Follow this link (to Hudson Valley magazine) for the recipe for the tea bread.

The dessert medley included a white cake topped with lemon curd, heavy cream, and a sprinkling of coconut. The other miniature cupcake was a delicately spiced Chai cupcake, and the teapot shortbread was flavored with matcha, powdered green tea. From eating the leaf to tea leaf reading, it was a day filled to the brim with tea.

 

Introduction to Tea Leaf Reading

A recent event held in the tea room was dedicated to an Introduction to Tasseography, or tea leaf reading, under the guidance of Rissa Miller of Tea & Smoke. Rissa shared that tasseography is the interpretation of random symbols and telling a story of those symbols. Not only tea leaves, but coffee grounds, cacao, even fresh juice grounds can be used to tell a story.

For tea leaf reading, Rissa instructed that you need a tea cup, with a handle, low edges, curved bottom, and no patterns or color inside. You want to keep the cup simple so as not to distract from the symbols that are created by the tea leaves. The tea room was filled with budding tea leaf reading enthusiasts. Proper preparation of the cup, sipping tea, swirling the leaf, flipping the cup to reveal the symbols, and discovering the different designs found within the cup filled the afternoon. A little bit of imagination, perhaps some intuition, and attendees were seeing assorted animals, a dancing couple, ships and more. 

What do you see in the cup? Does it tell a story?

 

St. Patrick's Day Afternoon Tea

The tea room was abuzz with activity on St. Patrick's Day as we served Afternoon Tea and listened to favorite Irish tunes played by Sasanach, our favorite fiddler. The first course featured the Emerald Isle Salad, leafy greens, Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese, blueberries and Kiwi slices.

The sandwich course included a miniature toasted Reuben on Rye, Rolled Asparagus Sandwich with a honey, curry, lime spread, Irish Potato Bites with Kerrygold Skellig Cheddar and Corned Beef, a Wee Cottage Pie, and a Guinness Biscuit with Irish Chive Cheddar, Apple, and Pecan Filling.

We offered a few seasonal tea blends from the Larkin Tea Company such as Shamrocks & Shenanigans which is a chocolate strawberry flavored black tea and Irish Whiskey Cream, a smooth black tea, for the discerning taste.

The next course presented held a Spotted Dog Irish Soda Bread Scone and a slice of Orange Marmalade Tea Loaf. These were served with sweet cream and peach butter alongside a skewer of pineapple and green grapes.

Lastly, the trio of tasty desserts offered were a Chocolate Guinness Cake with a creamy frosting, Irish Cream Cheesecake with Lemon Curd and Blueberries, and the Leprechauns Special Green Cake with gold dust. Yum!

  The lively tunes of Sasanach  had us all toe tapping. 

Visit Sweet Remembrances Facebook page for a short video taken live during our tea. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!