Tea Room Postcard #15 -- Tick Tock Tea Room (Hollywood, California)

This postcard from the Tick Tock Tea Room in Hollywood was mailed in 1950, and I like that the card shows both the exterior and interior of the tea room. You'll note the clock says "TICK TOCK" above the clock and "GRUEN TIME" beneath. What's Gruen time? Well, Gruen was the name of a watch company in Cincinnati from 1917-1921, so I'm guessing that's it. (If anyone has another theory, I'd love to hear it!)

The best thing about this card, though, is the chatty message on the back. I'm guessing the message actually begins with the words halfway down, and then the words above were scribbled when the sender, Harriet, ran out of room. So here's how I read it: "This is where we ate tonite. Ann, De, Margaret, Violet Carlson (Ted's nurse), & Doris & I. We had a huge turkey dinner. We have had a big day - I was on a television show today KFI-NBC (just local) gobs of fun. De & Ann were on also. I am writing this in Hollywood Bowl waiting for the ballet to start. We are leaving on (Fri.?) on Sun. 5 pm to go to Seattle. Harriet." Wow! That Harriet knew how to write a postcard, didn't she! I imagine Mrs. Lelah A. Sutton of Lincoln, Nebraska was happy to receive it. I love knowing what was eaten at this tea room ("a huge turkey dinner"), and now I want to know who Ted was and why he had a nurse. Also, why were Harriet, De, and Ann on TV? One day, I think I may just sit down and make up some short stories to fill in the blanks about all these great old postcards!

A friend is in Tea Time magazine!

The new issue of Tea Time landed in my mailbox this week, and I had eagerly awaited its arrival. You see, I had heard while in Kentucky that my tea friend Nancy Reppert, proprietress of Sweet Remembrances Tea Room in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, would be featured! And she was!

Doesn't she look like the perfect, most gracious hostess? I thought they captured her spirit quite well in this photo!

I'd been corresponding with Nancy for years through our blogs, but I got to meet her face-to-face in Kentucky last month. I must say, there may come a day when I meet a tea friend from afar who is just a real pill and a disappointment, but so far, every single "tea friend" I've met in person has been just as I'd expected. And Nancy, like so many others I've met through the world of tea, has two qualities I prize in women: she's smart and she's funny! Here, she humored me by posing next to the Greentree Antiques and Tearoom sign in Lexington, Kentucky before we all went in for tea.

Before reading the article in Tea Time, I brewed a special gift I had received from Nancy in Kentucky, some of Rosemary's Relaxing Tea from her sister Susanna's herb shop next door, and I used this pretty mug mat from Nancy as well. (The tea was divine, by the way!) Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania is at the top of my bucket list of places to visit, partly because I absolutely adore herbs and would love to visit the shop in addition to the tea room! Years ago, a friend here in Newnan owned a magnificent antebellum home and had a small herb shop on the property. I loved to drop by just to sniff the place. It was heavenly. And while I love herbs for their scent, I also find them so useful in cooking, in flavoring tea, and just for the pleasure of seeing them in my garden. It turns out that the Repperts' late mother, Bertha Reppert, opened her Rosemary House herb shop back in 1968, long before our society recognized the value of herbs. Isn't that amazing? I always love to hear about entrepreneurial women who were ahead of their time! And it sure sounds like the apples didn't fall far from the tree. If you'd like to keep up with the adventures at the tea room and herb shop, bookmark the Rosemary's Sampler blog here. You'll be glad you did!

Proud to be a bag lady

Who of us ever has enough tote bags in this world? I certainly don't. I use these 99-cent ones from T.J. Maxx and other stores to organize crafts (yarn, quilt scraps, scrapbooking supplies). I use them to store mailing supplies (one hangs in a closet and gets every padded envelope and small box that comes in the mail). I've been known to use these bags as gift bags for large presents like, oh, a pair of pillows or seed starter trays for a gardening friend. My point is, one can never have enough of these large 99-cent tote bags, and one recently found these new ones at T.J.!

You can see why I liked this design, right?

I mean, really, a few more graphics of tea sets would have been nice, but I can totally live with these.

Maybe you need to pick up a few more yourself?

Cobblestone Kitchens Lemon Poppyseed Scone Mix

Occasionally I get a bee in my bonnet and decide to have scones for lunch. This week the lunchtime scones were courtesy of my friend Maureen, who recently gifted me with a package of scone mix.

This mix is from Cobblestone Kitchens, which I learned is a Canadian firm. That's appropriate since Maureen is Canadian too! These scones couldn't have been any easier to whip up. You pour the scone mix into a bowl, add 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil and a cup of milk (I used skim milk), stir/scoop/bake, and about 15 minutes later you have nice, hot scones!

I love Lemon Poppyseed-flavored anything, and these scones were especially good. They baked up nice and fluffy, and the lemon taste was excellent. It was probably overkill that I had some lemon curd with mine, but boy, were they good. I often see scone mixes but have rarely bought them, so it was quite a treat to receive one from my friend Maureen. Have you tried any scone mixes you like lately?

New — Tetley Black & Green Tea

The other night I ran through the Ingle's grocery store near my dad's house, and as I passed by the tea section I saw a new type of tea. It was this large box containing Tetley's Black & Green Tea, just $3.69 for 72 tea bags. Sounded worth a try, right?

What most intrigued me was that this is black AND green tea. Interesting.

The teabags are the round ones I most often associate with the Republic of Tea. When I opened the box, the scent was nice and brisk, so I was ready for a good, strong, black cup of tea — but maybe not since green was added? And by the way, how does one steep a tea that's both black AND green? Well, according to the box, you add boiling water, just as you would with black tea. So I did.

The result was the most plain, boring cup of tea I've had in a while. Blah. Not good blah or bad blah, just ... blah. I had expected something at least a little different, but this didn't do it for me. The good news is, I now have a nice box of plain Jane tea just waiting for iced tea season and some mint from the garden to flavor it up!

The gluten-free cookbook winner is ...

Marilyn M.! Congrats, Marilyn, and I'll be in touch ASAP about how to get the cookbook headed your way!

Thrilled to be thrifty!

Because my Aunt Jane loves to visit thrift stores, that's where we often go when I take her shopping. A recent stop by a Goodwill store in Carrollton netted this fabulous array of loot for just $8 and some change! I was thrilled!

Why? For one thing, I found some miniature copper molds I think are just delightful. These are sitting in a silverplate Reed and Barton bowl that someone will be getting for Christmas with cookies inside. The last time I paid several dollars for an ugly piece of plastic on which to present Christmas treats, I swore, never again. Not when thrift stores have so many more charming options for just a dollar or two!

And on the subject of copper molds, I should probably warn you that I've suddenly found myself on a vintage Jell-O recipe kick, so I've started looking for inexpensive copper molds to make gelatin treats as well as frozen fruit salads. I love the thought of frozen salads as teatime treats made in such pretty shapes! Also, I am channeling my inner Betty Crocker and shall soon attempt to make a Tomato Aspic, and this copper ring mold looked just perfect for that. I also liked the small tin plate from Avon with a Plum Pudding recipe printed on it.

The vintage Christmas goodies at Goodwill always catch my eye too, like the Santa mug and Christmas sleigh here.

The Christmas sleigh with spaghetti trim still has the original Napco sticker on bottom. I love that! Do you know the term "spaghetti trim," by the way? I had to learn about that a few years ago when I was on the lookout for a Christmas figurine with this kind of trim, and I believe it was probably eBay where I learned what to call it.

"Spaghetti trim." I marvel that all that "spaghetti" remains intact after so many years!

Tea Room Postcard #14 -- Younkers Department Store Tea Room (Des Moines, Iowa)

About the time last Saturday's tea room postcard was published, I received the terrible news that the Younkers Department Store Tea Room in Des Moines, Iowa had suffered a devastating fire during the night. In their story about the Younkers fire, USA Today noted, "It was renowned for its elegant Tea Room, which featured oak tables and chintz draperies. The Tea Room hosted a who's who of Des Moines inside the anchor of a vibrant downtown shopping scene." Renovations of the building began last fall, with plans to convert it into apartments and reopen the tea room. A report in the Des Moines Register said the tea room was not as badly damaged as other parts of the building, but it was unclear if the building will be considered a total loss. So after this sad news out of Des Moines, I thought today it would be appropriate to focus on some happy memories of the tea room, as shown in the postcards here. This one, from 1942, has writing on the front in very faint pencil, and the sender says she'll meet the recipient, Mr. Graham Walker of Sheridan, Wyoming, at a hotel in Rapid City.

On the back of the card there is also this sweet message from a child: "Dear Dedde, how are you? We saw some better Escalator than the May [another department store]. Buttons is a good dog. But when we took him to the dog place. Love, Maurine." (Or Waurine, maybe?)

The second postcard is postally unused, but I find it interesting the chairs appear to be the same as in the first postcard, they're just different colors!

My blogging friend Bernideen in Colorado went to Bible College in Des Moines and twice attended events at the Younkers Tea Room in those days. She asked me last week for a link to a Younkers Tea Room recipe I posted several years ago on this blog, and it's this Chicken Salad if any of you would like to see it as well. I also made the tea room's Wilted Spinach Salad last year, and that recipe is here.

The winner of "The Petit Four Cookbook" is ...

Julia Ann, who said she was hosting a bridal luncheon in 10 days! If you'll send me your snail mail address via the e-mail button at right, I'll pass it along to the publicist so she can get this book headed your way. Congrats!

Teas for your inner hippie

These large cans of hippie-looking tea have caught my eye for quite a while now. Recently a Facebook friend wrote about how these Peace Tea drinks are some of her favorite teas, so I decided it was time for me to try them. I prayed no one would see me drinking them, as it would ruin my carefully cultivated reputation as a prude. Fortunately, I wasn't sighted by anyone but my husband ...

When I came in with this 24-ounce can of Peace Tea's Tea + Lemonade flavor, he said, "Did you get enough to drink?" Actually, this proved more than enough, especially after I realized each can was THREE SERVINGS! The 150-calories-per-can (50 calories per serving) wouldn't be just terrible, but 39 grams of sugar per can? That, I can do without. It did taste rather nice, but in a Kool-Aid-is-tasty kind of way, not like anything resembling traditional tea.

I smarted up before drinking the Razzleberry Tea. I poured it in a glass of ice to dilute the sugariness ("only" 36 grams of sugar in this flavor) and sipped this can of tea over the course of three days. Not hard to do at all, but not practical either. So there you have it. I've tasted 'em, and I'm glad I got that out of my system!

A giveaway for fans of gluten-free foods!

Today I have a very special giveaway to announce! Two dear friends of mine, Amelia Cronic and Deberah Williams, have just released a new book, "Gluten-free with No Apologies," and to celebrate I am giving away a copy!

Amelia has two sons who require a gluten-free diet, and she tells how she used to make gluten-free foods for them and then cook separate dishes for the rest of the family. Then she began serving the most delicious of her gluten-free foods to others. She would apologize for serving something gluten-free until she began to hear from friends how much they enjoyed these foods, that they'd had no idea they were eating gluten-free. That's when she had an epiphany and realized, "I needed to stop apologizing for making good food."

Amelia's collaborator on the book is her mother and my dear friend, Deberah, who was the art director of the magazine I used to edit. I'm so impressed with all the hard work these two put into the new book — from breakfast dishes to comfort-food classics and lots of tasty desserts, this book has something for everyone! I'm a bit biased in that I edited the book for them, but I think it's fantastic, and even as a wheat-eater I gained a real understanding of why gluten-free ingredients can be tricky to use in cooking and baking. I have actually purchased a copy of the book for myself because the recipes sound so good! I decided since so many people are eating gluten-free these days, one of you might like a copy as well. If you'd like to win a copy, just leave an "Enter me" to this post between now and 7 a.m. Monday, April 7. Also, please state whether you prefer the paperback book or the Kindle version if you're the winner. And please make sure I have a way to get in touch with you if your name is chosen. Good luck! (And if you simply must have the book right now, go to the link here to order your own copy.)

Some unique new teas from Palais des Thés

Are there any lavender lovers reading today? If you're like me, I can just read the word "lavender" and I'm instantly smelling the fragrance and seeing the pretty little lavender blossoms. That's why this new Pure Indulgence Lavender Tea from Palais des Thés especially appealed to me. It's a blend of oolong tea and lavender flowers, and the result is a rich, almost creamy tasting tea that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The company recently sent samples of two of their new Pure Indulgence teas, and of course I'm always happy to try just about any new tea. When I saw the label, it dawned on me that Lord willing, I may actually get to visit Palais des Thés in person when I'm in France next month! My husband wants to go to Normandy while we're there, but we'll have at least a bit of time in Paris, where I have learned there are quite a few Palais des Thés shops. (Is there something wrong with me that I'd rather buzz by a tea shop in Paris than the Eiffel Tower?)

At any rate, I sure am enjoying these new blends from Palais des Thés. This Pure Indulgence Cinnamon tea was a real taste treat as well. When I opened the packet, the scent reminded me of Harney's Hot Cinnamon Tea, yet the steeped tea was a very different taste. It was as if they had merged the best of a fine cinnamon tea with an earthy, smoky black tea. Only after I sipped it did I go read the press release they sent, and this is a blend of "Chinese Pu Erh with natural cinnamon essence." Amazing! The result was a very sophisticated cinnamon tea, one I would drink regularly instead of saving it for the fall as I do with most cinnamon teas. This new line includes other flavors as well, and you can learn more about these great new Palais des Thés teas by going here.

The Easy Exotic Teapot

Glass teapots are nothing new, and I know many of us have owned them over the years. On Saturday, however, I visited an antique mall in Bremen and came across a new style of glass teapot that appealed to me because of the bright cobalt blue infuser and knob on the lid. When I removed the infuser and looked in the bottom of the teapot, I saw the words "Easy Exotic Padma Lakshmi." A little online searching revealed she is either a swimsuit model or a serious cook. Possibly both.

At any rate I liked her teapot, and for $12.50 it came home with me. I've got a clear glass mug that has a very similar style of infuser basket. The slits are pretty much the same, but in my tea mug there are not the large holes. I wondered, won't some of the tea leaves slip through? The answer is yes, a few of them will.

I must tell you that I was concerned when I added the boiling water and saw it sneaking up into the teapot's spout. Can you carry this to the table without spilling the tea? Again, the answer is yes, IF you are very careful!

The other discovery I made: once your tea is brewed and you remove the infuser, you'd best hold on to the lid while pouring your tea, as it will bang around mercilessly. Perhaps this is why the teapot ended up in an antique mall!

Want to win "The Petit Four Cookbook"?

Let's start this week off with a giveaway, shall we? A few months ago, I reviewed a new book I had received, "The Petit Four Cookbook" by Brooks Coulson Nguyen. I enjoyed the book and found it had lots of great recipes, which I am planning to use when I host a bridal tea this fall.

Now I've been offered the chance to give away a copy of the book, which includes a chapter titled "Tea Time," to one of you! If you'd like to win a copy for yourself, just leave an "Enter me" to this post between now and 7 a.m. Friday, April 4, and please make sure to include a way to contact you if you're the winner. Good luck!

Tea Room Postcard #13 -- Tea Room, Copley Plaza Hotel (Boston, Mass.)

Earlier this week I wrote about having enjoyed tea at the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel in Berea, Kentucky. That reminded me I have previously had afternoon tea at only two other hotels, the Ritz-Carlton and the Four Seasons, both in Atlanta. This postcard shows a hotel tea from yesteryear, said by the eBay seller to be around 1910 (the postmark is unclear) at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston. The postcard was mailed to Mrs. Inez S. Crosby on Union Street in Camden, Maine.

What I most liked about this postcard, though, is that the sender mentions someone famous. "Dear Inez: Of course here is where I am stopping. Hope the meeting went off O.K. Went to hear Billy Sunday last night. Am going again. Going to Somerville today. With love, Mrs. Wilson."

Billy Sunday (1862-1935) is legendary in the history of American religion and was the Billy Graham of his day, from what I gather. Until I did a little research online I didn't realize he had been a ball player before he became a preacher. Although he has a reputation as an old-fashioned hellfire-and-damnation preacher (and deservedly so, based on the YouTube videos of his preaching I found online), I love this photo I found of him visiting the White House. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) He must have been quite a character, and I love knowing that "Mrs. Wilson" may have stopped for afternoon tea in Boston on her way to hear Billy Sunday!

A taste of Kentucky

This week I've tried to share a little taste of my trip to Kentucky last week, so today I thought I'd end by sharing a *literal* taste of Kentucky, this Kentucky Chocolate Pie I made using a recipe in the souvenir cookbook I bought.

I love how the cover of "Bluegrass Winners" shows the multicolored jockey shirts, and I couldn't help noticing the blue matches my new "TEA" mug, one of the gifts Linda had waiting in the lovely blue gift bags she had put together for the Traveling Tea Friends last week. I cannot imagine a more perfect memento of our time together!

And the pie … oh my! Now this is from the cookbook Linda suggested when I asked for a recommendation at one of the shops, and I can see why. It was originally published by the Garden Club of Lexington in 1985 and is now in its ninth printing!

This pie was very quick and easy to make and is so good and chocolatey, kind of like a pecan pie and a chocolate pie combined. Here's how I made mine.

Kentucky Chocolate Pie

1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup margarine, melted (I used butter)
1 cup pecans, chopped
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the mini ones)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 unbaked 9" pie shell (regular, not deep-dish)
1 cup cream, whipped (I cheated and used fat-free Reddi-wip; don't judge)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine sugar and flour, then add remaining ingredients except the whipped cream. Pour into pie shell and bake for 50-60 minutes. Top with whipped cream if desired.

Touring Lexington with tea friends

While on the way to our lunchtime tea at Greentree Antiques & Tearoom last week, the tea friends stopped at Thoroughbred Park in Lexington to take photos of the horse sculptures. Aren't these great? I've long admired how sculptors are able to convey movement in a stationary object.

Here my friend Maureen and I are with some of the statues.

Thanks to Linda we also got to make a quick trip to the Kentucky Horse Park. She then drove us through Thoroughbred country, and yes, I think I'd be perfectly happy living in any of those magnificent barns. They were amazing, and it has definitely changed how I think about Kentucky and horse racing. We barely had time to see the Horse Park, though, because we were so busy antiquing after lunch!

I believe I'm one of the few who didn't come home with a teapot, but I did find this beautiful tray and the mystery spoons I mentioned last Friday. The 9-1/2 x 7-1/2-inch china tray with pink roses, just $6, was one of the prettiest things I've seen in a while, and I love how those intricate edges are all in perfect condition after all these years. There's no backstamp, so I have no idea who made it. I'm going to use it to hold a sugar and creamer in a similar rose pattern.

Also at that antique mall, I saw a piece of furniture, I guess you'd call it, that I have never seen before, and I was just enchanted. Do you know what this is?

What if I show you the interior here? Now can you guess? My new friend Lori and I had a lot of fun examining this piece, which was probably about 4-1/2 feet tall or so.

An old ribbon dispenser! Who knew!

Also, I thought I'd give you an update on the mystery of the spoons I first blogged about here. Since I've had several people wonder if perhaps these were serving pieces, it dawned on me I should have mentioned the dimensions. Each spoon is just 6-1/4 inches long, with the widest part of the "bowl" (for lack of any other term) measuring about 1-1/4 inches wide. In other words, these are just normal spoon size, not large enough for serving anything.

Here's the set of four as they were tied together when I bought them, and this way you can see the curve of the bowl.

Here's the backstamp. If only it showed the patent number!

And this will hopefully show you the design of the slits, which are at an angle for some reason. Such a mystery!

I got some great information on spoons from The Sage Book Whisperer, who noted the curvature of the spoon would make it sit nicely on the edge of a glass (as it does here) for drinking Absinthe. Yet when I looked at Absinthe spoons online, I don't see that little scalloped design at the upper left of my spoon. Surely it had a purpose? At any rate, if you want to see some amazing spoons, please pop over to The Sage Book Whisperer's post here. Nancy had suggested perhaps this was a spoon for buttering corn on the cob, and I indeed found such a vintage implement on eBay (go here to see it, at least for the next four days), but the design's not the same as mine. My husband admitted that he was bored the other night and searched every type of spoon he could think of on the internet, yet he can't find what these are either. The search continues, and if I find a definitive answer about what these are, you can bet I'll let you know!