Enjoying Breakfast in Ireland

Our summer vacation included an excursion to Ireland to visit castle ruins, colorful gardens, tearooms, and more. We stayed at locations that included breakfast to get a good start on the day. This is our first breakfast of the journey. a traditional Irish (English) breakfast that was frequently offered. This is at the Lough and Quay (pronounced Lock and Key) in Warrenpoint, County Down, UK.

A large pot of tea was always offered, served with a creamer full of milk and sugar.

Heinz baked beans, bacon, baked tomato, eggs (your choice), potato bread, and sausage. There was also a delicious fresh fruit plate with yogurt or lemon mousse. Most of our mornings started with some combination of this plated medley.

This breakfast (day 4) was offered at the Riverside Restaurant and Guesthouse in Charlestown, Ireland, a family owned business. It featured a breakfast buffet of fresh fruits and assorted fruit juices. Tea with milk was offered at the table. We were able to order our breakfast selection, omelets, or the traditional Irish breakfast crafted by their award winning chef. A yummy scone served with butter and house made strawberry jam was fun.

On day 6 we stayed at the Glena House on Muckross Road in Killarney, Ireland and were greeted with this fun sign as we selected our juice for the morning along with a granola option with assorted toppings. Our waitress also took orders for scrambled eggs, omelets, sausage, or bacon.

Day 8 took us to the Hanoras Cottage Guesthouse and Restaurant, in Nire Valley, Ballymacarbry, where our breakfast featured a fabulous buffet with a wide range of fresh fruit. yogurts, applesauce, rhubarb applesauce, fruit juice, breads and cheeses. We were also able to order a traditional Irish breakfast.

 It was a fabulous adventure, and we never started our day hungry!

Fresh Mint Cooler

This refreshing summer mint cooler is the perfect way to chill down during the dog days of summer. It's the perfect way to use some of your mint harvest, and a flavorful way to share with neighbors and friends. Tasty, minty, refreshing, and fun!

Fresh Mint Cooler

1 c. water

1/3 c. sugar

1 cinnamon stick

handful of fresh mint

1 quart apple juice

1/2 c. lemon juice

1 liter ginger ale

fresh mint sprigs for garnish

Place water, sugar, cinnamon, and mint in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and chill. Add apple juice and lemon juice to mint syrup. Chill. Just before serving, add chilled ginger ale. Garnish with mint sprig and enjoy. 

Sweet Melissa Patisserie, Lebanon, NJ

Sweet Melissa Patisserie is a casual bakery/café located in Lebanon, NJ, with easy on/easy off access from route 78. They offer a three tiered Afternoon Tea as long as it is ordered in advance. In addition, they have a varied luncheon menu to order from as desired. This combination is perfect for our traveling family as not everyone wants the afternoon tea selection (I know, hard to believe). It's always a good find when we can keep everyone happy.

We preordered two Afternoon Tea selections which came with one pot of tea per tier. Our teas of choice included chai latte and raspberry black tea. The sandwiches, on the bottom tier, featured Chicken salad on a toast square, Salmon and pimiento avocado toast, and Prosciutto with lettuce and pesto. The middle tier held the desserts while one large Apricot Coconut scone graced the top tier.

The variety of desserts included a petite lemon meringue, a blue frosted petit four, craisin almond biscotti, crispy shortbread cookie, and salted caramel chocolate tart. Sweet Melissa Patisserie was voted best bakery in New Jersey.

A Birthday Feast!

There is one day of the year that Nancy loves and Susanna finds, well, challenging. A birthday celebration of grand scale took place this week, and a special homemade dinner prepared by Susanna and family was a feast to behold. The short glass held A Pimm's Cup crafted by Angelica. It has a gin based liqueur mixed with lemon-lime soda and fresh fruit. Very refreshing, and reminiscent of our trip to England. The soup was a very fresh corn soup with celery and red peppers, a recipe found on the internet.  

A Thai noodle salad with soba noodles, cucumbers, and lots of freshly minced ginger gave the salad a bit of a zing. Angelica was in charge of mixing this one together.

Taco boats were next up - either in a boat, or in a tortilla, everyone could make it how they preferred. Diced fresh tomatoes, onions, avocado, and a seasoned chick pea shredded red cabbage combo formed the base. The head chef, Susanna, and sous chef, Angelica,  pictured here; in the wings were David and Cedar, each with their own assignments.

A petite veggie frittata ended the variety of courses for the birthday celebration.

Kudos to the family for pulling together such a fabulous celebration.

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.

 

An Afternoon Tea to Celebrate Summer

We welcomed the arrival of summer with a celebratory tea prepared by guest chef Faith Cohick. We are so pleased that Faith is working with the tea room to create her unique and colorful tea menus. We love all the special touches she introduces with her menu, and all the festive flavors she incorporates into her menu. The floral notecard included a hand written menu that announced the deliciousness yet to come. 

The first course began with a Berry Broccoli Salad with Poppyseed Dressing. Guests were able to select their own flavors of tea from the extensive tea list offered by the tea room. Strawberry Cream Green was popular, as was Harney & Sons' Peaches and Ginger blend.

The sandwich plate included a colorful umbrella atop a Ham and Cheese Sandwich on a miniature potato roll, Asiago Bacon & Tomato Crostini, Cucumber and Chive Butter Flower, Mini Caprese Cup, Veggie Patch Crescent Bar, Strawberry Chicken Salad, and a Mascarpone Tart with strawberry Jalapeno Jam. What a fun variety! Colorful, flavorful, and summery!

The next course included a slice of Lemon Blueberry Bread and a warm Lime Poppyseed White Chocolate Scone. These were accompanied with Cherry Jam and Sweetened Whipped Cream alongside fresh seasonal fruit.

And the dessert trio included an Almond Cherry Shortbread Bar, Lemon White Chocolate Macaroon, and a Piña Colada Cookie Cup.

Special thanks to Faith for her Celebrate Summer menu. And additional thanks to her behind the scenes helpers, Robin and Sharon. Their help in the kitchen and tea room is appreciated.

"Peter Rabbit & Mr. McGregor Have a Tea"

Members of the Penn Cumberland Garden Club coordinate and host an annual herb tea. This was the 58th Annual Bertha P. Reppert Herb Tea, an event inspired by Bertha Reppert in an effort to bring herbs to the forefront. It takes a committee of dedicated women, plus the many members of the club that volunteer to prepare the tea party menu. On the day of the event, it's all hands on deck. The theme this year was 'Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor Have a Tea'. It is true that 'herbs make the difference', and combined with fresh veggies and unique twists on favorite recipes, a delicious afternoon tea was enjoyed by all.

Kudos to the Chairman of the Tea, Terri Maclay. A long standing member of the club, and a very talented floral designer, Terri's touches could be found in the beautiful displays executed to elicit thoughts of farmer McGregor's garden.

• The Herb Tea Party Menu 

Orzo Salad 
Carrots & Raisin Pineapple & Mint Salad
Peas and Mint Crostini
Beet Rubens
Asparagus Roll ups
Celery-Protein Peanut Butter Bites
Radish Butter with Pita chips
Brown Bread Scones with currants
Zucchini Spice Cake
Rosemary Pound Cake Trifles
Easy Oreo Mint Truffles
Chamomile Shortbread Cookies
Thumbprint Cookies with Elderberry Jam

The Orzo Salad was individually cupped and served in a gardener's wooden carryall.

Brown Bread Scones with Currants were served with Marmalade. And Thumbprint Cookies featured Elderberry Jam centers.

Once everyone was through the buffet line, the Afternoon Tea plate looked something like this. Such a beautiful array of colors and quite a variety of veggies were represented. Each member receives a recipe booklet that includes all the recipes along with hints and tips about herbs. This particular booklet included 'Mr. McGregor's Garden Tips', and occasional quotes from the story book; "First he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and then he ate some radishes."

The guest speaker for this event was Erica Shaffer, the Wildly Crafted Woman. Erica presented a program about herbs found in the garden entitled "the Rabbit Whispers Herb Secrets to Mr. McGregor".  As Erica talked about each herb, it was passed around the room for members to see and sniff each fragrant plant.