Downton and Tea

I have great friends who love tea, tea parties, and Downton Abbey. Why not combine them and have a  
Downton Abbey Finale Viewing Tea.  

The most fun for me as always is the setting up with all my pretties and who better to appreciate them are my tea friends.

We had English tea room setting and a British table. 

The English buffet table held tea cups, tea pots, creamers and sugars, tea accessories, pretty china everywhere, leaving room for the tea foods my guests were bringing.  And wonderful goodies they brought - pimento cheese spread and crackers,  small roast beef sandwiches, a fruit platter, all to go with my chicken puffs, sweet potato biscuits, and blueberry scones and lemon curd.  And pots and pots of Buckingham Palace Garden Party, Lady Londonderry, Wild Blueberry iced teas.

The British table held desserts of pecan cookies, mini cupcakes, lemon pound cake, gingerbread crisps, dipped oreos with D A piped, and candies.

 

While eating (grazing) we watched the 2 -hour finale of Downton Abbey,  wonderful as always, except for the last minute of doomed drama.  I won't spoil, but most of you already know.  The guests left full, happy, but also in a state of shock.  We will definitely gather next season for another tea and fellowship.

Thanks all of you who contributed, it was great fun.

 

My new shipment of Teas have arrived.................

There is nothing like opening a large

box of freshly shipped pound packages of tea.

The aroma.....................mmmmm. 

I placed an unusually large order with my

favorite wholesaler and it has arrived.

My visitors often say my home smells 

like tea and assorted candles.  

And that is a good thing.

A new one - Blarney Blend

(see side Page - HopeChest Loose Leaf Teas)

                                                                                                                                       It will most certainly be the one we drink with our Annual 

St. Patrick's Tea, tiny shamrocks and all.

See below (next post) for a listing
of my yummy teas and more info
on the "PAGES"on the
right of this blog page.

New Teas! New Teas! New Teas!

                              HopeChest  Premium Loose Leaf Teas

                                                     June 2012

Loose	Type	Description
Lady Londonderry	B	Always a favorite, a perfect blend of black with strawberry & lemon hints, great for afternoon tea
Buckingham Palace Garden Party	B	Delicate Earl Grey and jasmine, delightful for afternoon tea settings
English Breakfast	B	A perfect breakfast tea with good body and full tea flavor notes
Irish Breakfast	B	A stout robust blend of Kenya and Assam teas for early morning to start your day
Blarney Blend	B	A strong brisk flavory morning tea with a surprise -  tiny shamrocks for a lucky day
Windsor Castle	B	Lively flavor from Ceylon, maltiness from Assam,  and toasty notes from Darjeeling
Hooghly  Holler	B	Full-bodied pungent tea combining Earl Grey and Vanilla green with a flavory Assam
Cream Earl Grey	B	A flavory Earl Grey mellowed with a delicious creamy taste
Le Marche Spice	B	Hints of cinnamon, apples, and oranges
Menage a Tea	B	A full-bodied tea with brightness and a dried berry fresh market character
Wild Blackberry	B	Piquant and berry-ish makes it great hot and even better iced.  Sweeten with honey for a real treat.
Black Currant	B	Deep black currant aroma and flavor, great as an iced tea
Ginger Peach	B	Spicy ginger is mellowed with the sweet character of peaches, great iced
Sencha Kyoto Cherry Rose	G	A stunning blend of high quality green tea with sweet cherry and morning rose flavor
Long Island Strawberry	G	Sweet strawberry and papaya pieces round out this exceptionally smooth green tea
Scottish Caramel Pu-Erh	B	The earthiness of  pu-reh fuses with caramel for a sweetly decadent finish, dessert in a cup
Sleepy Hollow Pumpkin Chai	B	Warming and comforting in the chai tradition, guaranteed to ease the chills
Green Tea Chai	G	Green tea blended with fresh Asian spices, to be made with milk and sugar

Type:    B – black

                                    G – green

                                    O – oolong                   See "Quantities and Pricing" Page

                                    W – white

                                    N - natural

The Jubilee

It is exciting and enjoyable right now 

to be a tea and England enthusiast.  

My tea friends and I are finding lots of time 

for tea and celebrations.

 

This was taken Saturday at the English Tea Room 

in a small town about an hour away.

I even made my own fascinater to wear (at 2:00 AM).

Some of us are also getting together to 

watch any and all Jubilee coverage, 

much like we did the Royal Wedding a few years ago. 

     

God Bless England. 

Tea or Mask ?

Since this blog is about "All Things Tea",

 here is an interesting twist.  

The last tea order I placed to my wholesaler included Matcha, 

a premium green tea powder from Japan 

used for drinking as tea or as an ingredient in recipes. 

I must admit I don't particularly care for the taste, 

which I may have to work on to acquire.

So to be able to use this Matcha tea I ordered, 

I looked into recipes for breads, lattes, etc and other uses. 

Here is one I really, really liked, be prepared . . . . .

A mask made with Matcha powder, white tea, and lemon juice.  Just make a paste with these ingredients, 

apply and leave on for 15 minutes.  Rinse well.  

It left my skin refreshed, moisturized,

 and quite dewy, which is always my goal.

I am selling Matcha powder

 if you would like to make your own mask. 

It is $5.00 per 1 ounce bag, which either 

makes quite a few masks or

around 24 cups of tea.  

Message me: marsch3647@gmail.com

Tea Cup Thursday

 One of my newest favorite teacups (if there is such a thing) is the gift I received from my daughter ( in-law)
for Christmas.

 It has everything I like in a teacup - bone china thin, 
this color combination flowers,
a pretty shape, 
especially the handle.





She appreciates the old ones, too, and knows
 how hard they are becoming to find.
Love you, Christy.

Teacup Thursday

This unusual teacup has to be included in my Teacup Thursday.
                             I've always loved colors with black. 

 

And of course, my kitty Sarah has to part of the picture.

 







                                              

                                                                            

Hello All,
I'm making a short attempt to get back to blogging.  I was having so much trouble with E blogger, posting pictures, which make the blog more interesting, arranging and "getting it right".  I did update, so we will see how that goes.  But for now just a Hello.

And thanks so much for your visit. 

Afternoon Tea, even in hot weather

For some, here in Louisiana, it is getting too hot for hot tea.

I can say never to that.

I always need my afternoon
pot of hot tea.

I can do without a morning pot, oddly enough.

But by afternoon, I demand one.
And it is even better if a friend stops by to drink with me.

There is something so soothing to me
in steeping fresh tea leaves,
and pouring it into just the right cup,
for the moment,
which I do change, as I have so many of them.

I am going to have Southern Lady today.
Mmmmm, (See under Pages -
Custom Specialty Blended Loose Teas)
proud to say it is one of my own blends
for us Southern Ladies.

Tea Cup Thursday

This is my newest and
now most favorite teacup pattern.

( I don't know why this is underlined
and don't see a way to correct it.
Blogger upsets me a lot of the time,
I wish things went smoother for me.
Any suggestions, I'm open to switching)

ANYWAY, I found it on Ebay and just had to bid on it,
always ends up more than I want to spend,
but sometimes it is a matter of the heart.


I'm still a hearts and ribbons person,
and the little violets speak to me.


It is also very fine and thin porcelain
to the lips, just like I like it.


Like I said, my favorite so far.

Royal Wedding Party

Most of us who love tea and tea blogs loved the coverage of The Royal Wedding.


And hopefully you all had a gathering such as we did for the event.






We started at 7:00 with a British meal of
Shepard's Pie
English Peas and Carrots with
Asparagus,
Roasted Vegetables,
and Tossed Salad
(I hope I didn't leave anything out.)

Of course, we had lots of snacks and
English goodies, mostly Cadbury brand
and completed all with a real Wedding Cake.
We had to find time to eat all this,
plus watch coverage, but we managed.

Teamwork with Oatmeal Cookies

"Nana, maybe we can make some oatmeal cookies again."

I didn't have very good luck for some reason with the last batch,

so I said "You and Mama can make the next oatmeal cookies."

"Nana, maybe we can work together as a team."

sweet moments........

BBC America's Royal Wedding Countdown

Lots to do......
to get ready for the big day,
BBC American style.

I'm an Anglophile
in ancestry and in heart.
I love anything English, hence the interest in
All Things Tea.......

Now with the big Royal Wedding
coming up, a group of friends and I
are planning a sleepover here
complete with English eats, tea party
food, of course, and a beautiful
Wedding Cake.
We may do some crafts -
dream pockets and maybe tiarras.

AND watch non-stop coverage of the
Wedding Day.

So let's begin the Countdown...........
Any others of you doing something for this occasion?

End of March teacup Thursday

Today I'm posting the match to
one of my previous cup and saucers.
That one was a bright yellow-shaded background.
This one is predominantly aqua colored flowers,
but the same shaped cup with detail inside.

These were part of the collection given to me
by my daughter-in-law's third cousin and these
were the cousin's mother-in-law's.

Complicated.

I feel blessed to have all ten or so of them.

I don't know much history,
but just what is on the bottom
of the cup and saucer looks
interesting to me.

I think these would be so sweet
in a tea for two situation.

And I, of course, have just the
right mix & Match teapot for the tea,
which would be I think Angel's Dream.

(See Page Tea Bags, Rooibus, ect )

Best of Friends

Don't we all have best friends?

Have you ever had a friend that you couldn't imagine life over the years without?

I am blessed to have quite a few.

One of those is Judi,
who was my college roommate for 3 years.

We are still very much connected, have so many of the same interests,
have shared so many of life's experiences.

She being my good college friend,
got to know my husband-to-be,
we double dated, later she married and
had 2 girls, and I had 3 boys.
We have always shared an interest in tea,
loved the idea of Southern Belles
(we laughingly pronounced it bellies)
have been hopeless romantics,
and loved mystery and drama.

We've tried to visit all along,
but have had more time lately,
as both our husbands have died.
We made it a point to stay connected
and to visit each other.

We've done New Orleans,
the Myrtles-a haunted plantation
in Saint Francisville,
and other plantations,
her city of Vancouver,
including taking the
ferry to Vancouver Island,
where we did Afternoon Tea at the
Empress Hotel in Victoria.

One of her visits here, she helped
serve a tea party at my shop.

But we've had the best of times relaxing at each
others' homes, talking, talking .......
Over a fire, a jigsaw puzzle,
and a cup of tea, sometimes wine.

She now resides in the Yucatan Peninsula for 3 months,
escaping the very inclement winter weather in Vancouver.

I've a standing invitation and sure wish I could go. One of these days I will , for sure.
Miss you, Judes.