Taking tea with the Marietta Daisies Garden Club - Part 2

My friend Lorelle had told me that the Marietta Daisies Garden Club tea on Monday would include an area where members could blend their own tea, so I envisioned a few small bowls where perhaps everyone would whip up their own individual tea bag for the refreshment time. But no, this was much, much more elaborate than that. Turns out that the lovely Katryn Taylor of camelliaestate.com is a member of this garden club and is a tea vendor herself. Here, she explains to a group of ladies how to select a base for the tea (black, green, or herbal) and then add various flavorings.

I got to meet Deanna, a friend of my friend Lorelle (and now Deanna and I are Facebook friends), and here she is blending her tea in the glass Katryn provided. These glasses (in case you ever need to know this) fit perfectly in those little rectangular bags of tea that we have probably all purchased at one time or another.

Here are some of the flower petals …

And here are some other photos from the blending station. After my presentation, I blended my own tea using black tea, mango, and coconut. I named it "Marietta Daisy Mango" blend!

When I started admiring all the elegant touches on the tea tables, I learned that these flower lollipop favors (see the rosebuds?) are also Katryn's handiwork. Beautiful!

I absolutely loved how the ladies mixed and matched vintage flatware and tied it with velvet ribbon. So pretty!

And the food? I was quite surprised when the plated food came out. The menu included:

• Vanilla bean and rose panna cotta with orange-blossom-infused toasted pistachios
• Poppy seed-dressed oven-roasted mini roast beef sandwich with melted cheese
• Goat cheese cherry-lime preserve with fresh basil and pansy flower rice roll ups
• Cream cheese fresh basil sliced carroty Argentina red shrimp rice roll ups

• Open-faced cucumber sandwich

• Tea-baked roast beef sliders with horseradish

• Chicken salad sandwiches topped with muscadine jelly and lavender petals
• Southern deviled eggs
• Fruited scones
• Mediterranean cheese balls (black olives/sun-dried tomatoes, rolled in walnuts/rosemary)
• Fig pepper preserve cheese balls (rolled in bacon/parsley - with a kick of cayenne)

Afterward, Lorelle asked if I had time to go to lunch, and I told her that while I had the time, I was stuffed and couldn't eat another bite! She felt the same way, it turned out, so instead, we went to an antique mall and a Goodwill store together.

 The Marietta Square store I used to know as Dupree's is now Park West Vintage, and wow, did they have the teacups and plates and …

Chintz!

I left with a couple of vintage Christmas goodies that I'm sure I'll be sharing later in the year, and I found a new Santa mug for my collection at Goodwill. So from beginning to end, my day with the Marietta Daisies—and particularly my friend Lorelle—was a wonderful treat and just the thing to brighten another rainy, cold week here in Georgia!