Afternoon Tea at The Village Teahouse, Lansdale, PA

This past July, members of the Mid-Atlantic Tea Business Association gathered at The Village Teahouse , 1919 West Point Pike, Lansdale, PA for their summer quarterly meeting.  Proprietor Meg Shaffer greeted members as they arrived.

After tea related business owners from PA, NJ, and MD gathered, a light breakfast was served. Traditional Victorian Earl Grey tea was served, or the option to select from their extensive tea menu was offered. A bacon, potato & caramelized onion Quiche was presented alongside a peach nutmeg Scone with peach curd and Devonshire cream. This was the perfect prelude to our meeting.

Following the breakfast repast, we were introduced to 'Martha Washington' where a first person interpretation of life with George and the politics of tea was presented by Carol Spacht. As an historic interpreter, Carol portrays several women from history. Carol is most famously known for her portrayal of Betsy Ross for well over 25 years at the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia. Following the presentation, our afternoon tea luncheon was served.

The first course included a house salad with orange vinaigrette, baby mandarins, and sliced almonds served alongside a chilled raspberry soup.

The tiered tray included a selection of chef's choice handcrafted sandwiches and petite sweets. Among the sandwiches, there was a salmon spread on pumpernickel bread garnished with a cheddar cheese goldfish, a cucumber 'flower' sandwich, chicken salad on a puff pasty florette, egg salad with a pickle topper, and a layered veggie sandwich on pumpernickel and rye bread with a chocolate dipped strawberry garnish. The colorful dessert layer included a blueberry lemon mousse, strawberry cake with a rosebud, a key lime tartlet and their signature teabag shortbread cookie.

Some tea room decor inside,

And outside, retired teapots perched along the metal fence. It was an enjoyable gathering of business associates, now friends, enjoying afternoon tea. The next scheduled MATBA seminar will be held in October at Tea by Two in Bel Air, MD.