Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The "Friends of the Central Library" Tea

For the second year in a row, I had the privilege on Saturday to speak at a fundraiser for the Friends of the Central Library, their annual tea. Now I can't think of a better way to celebrate the first day of fall than by going to tea, can you? Here's the "tea room" the volunteers had created in a meeting room at the library.

Each table was decorated with a teapot holding a fresh floral arrangement in gorgeous fall colors. (Later, I got to take one of the arrangements home with me!)

As guests arrived, they were offered Cheese Straws, and these were some of the finest I have ever tasted, with that nice "kick" from cayenne pepper.

We were also served tea sandwiches of classic flavors including Chicken Salad, Tuna Salad and Pimiento Cheese. Yum! The sweets included Nut Brownies and some Pecan Mini-muffins and ...

... small slices of some of the most divine Caramel Cake I've ever put in my mouth. Boy, was it good!

My tablemates were longtime friends Sandra, Mary Ellen and Shirley.

I also got to visit with two of my favorite fellow tea lovers, Friends of the Library volunteer Jimmie, at left, and Joanie, whose teacup top was quite the hit!

As she did last year, Jimmie loaned some items from her vast collection of teawares to the library for display.

Have you ever seen a peacock teapot? I had not!

Or this frog teapot? I love these unique designs.

It was such an honor to get to speak to the Friends of the Library, and it was a mighty fine way to say hello to Fall!

15 comments:

  1. What a lovely room. Everything looks so yummy !!!! I bet the company was fun !!

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  2. Looks like a lovely time and what a nice fundraiser!

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  3. Love the frog teapot. I wish my library would have events like this!

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  4. What a fun event for a library to hold; a definite draw for a fundraiser. That caramel cake does look good!
    What did you speak about Angela?
    Judith

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  5. What lovely tea tables, that is a neat fundraiser! If our local Friends of the Library group would have a tea, I would attend for sure.

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  6. Judith, I spoke on "Tea and Books" and read brief excerpts from a few of my faves: "If Teacups Could Talk" by Emilie Barnes, "For All the Tea in China" by Sarah Rose, "Death by Darjeeling" by Laura Childs, "Tea at the Blue Lantern Inn" by Jan Whitaker, and "The Harney and Sons Guide to Tea" by Michael Harney. It's always fun to talk books with other book lovers!

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  7. I love that the library has this annual event and that you get to share your love of tea with them. The cheese straws and caramel cake do especially look soooooo good.

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  8. Would it be possible to post the recipe for the caramel cake? It looks delicious. Thanks, Judy

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  9. The peacock teapot was darling! After trying my cheesestick recipe one year, my sister asked for it. After seeing it had cayenne pepper in it, she chose to leave that ingredient out. Then she called and asked why hers didn't taste like mine. LOL! That little kick of cayenne pepper makes a big difference!! :)

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  10. What a fun event, and a perfect way to begin the fall season! I'm waiting to see a photo of the teapot centerpiece you selected.

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  11. Hello Angela, the Tea at the library sure was great! I enjoyed your talk so much - it was so interesting to hear about all those tea-themed books. And thank you for bringing the tea plant - that was the first time I had seen a tea plant 'up close.'

    What a wonderful way to kick off the fall season, Joanie

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  12. Tea and Books is the perfect topic for this special library event!

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  13. Such fun! That caramel cake looks amazing!

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  14. Looks like a wonderful tea event. I would have loved to hear your talk. It would have been difficult to choose just a few books, there are so many great ones out there. I have all you mentioned, except For All The Tea in China.

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