New teas from Tea Forté

Even on vacation, I am always eager to visit any T.J. Maxx I can, and so when I was at the beach last week I found some new Tea Forté tea bags at a T.J. Maxx there.

This Apricot Amaretto is a rooibos tea with a richly almond flavor, and I greatly enjoyed it. One thing I love about rooibos is that you don't have to steep it as precisely as you do a black or green tea, since it doesn't seem to get bitter. This was a great tea to enjoy with the sweets I indulged in last week!

The Kiwi Lime Ginger struck me as quite an odd flavor pairing, and I'm afraid I didn't care for it. It's made with organic honeybush, organic ginger root, organic rooibos, organic lemon peel, natural kiwi flavor and natural lime flavor, according to the company, all of which I like, but the combination here just didn't do it for me. "Medicinal" is the word I would use to describe the flavor of this tea. Happily, though, the Apricot Amaretto was a real winner, so I was glad for the opportunity to try these new teas.

Cracked, chipped—and adored!

So while on vacation last week, my husband and I had gone over to Pensacola, Fla. for the day when we spotted a promising looking antique mall. Only problem was, we were listening to the radio and heard white smoke had been spotted at the Vatican, and I didn't want to miss the announcement of the new Pope. (No, I'm not Catholic, just nosey. I was also excited for my Catholic friends that they were getting a new Pope!) So the DH agreed to stay in the car and monitor the radio while I popped into the antique mall, and am I glad I did! I've never bought a chipped, cracked piece before, and certainly couldn't have imagined I'd be so happy with a damaged $6.95 item. Why?

Well, brown transferware is fine, but normally it wouldn't catch my eye. The front of the damaged, demitasse-size cup featured a young chap in a pastoral setting. Whoopee, right?

The back of the cup gets a little more interesting ...

And the small saucer, in immaculate condition, sports an even better version of the image.

Is that what I think it is?

Why yes, it's a "Tea Drinker" I'm seeing! Now, are you as surprised as I am not to have come across this design before? I *know* I would remember if I had seen this before, because I'd want all of this pattern I could find! Alas, this pattern from the Societé Ceramique in Maestricht, the Netherlands, doesn't appear to be for sale too often here in the U.S., but if you go here and here, you can see a few examples from elsewhere in the world. In the second link, if you scroll to the last photo in the series, you can see this comes in green, blue and red (Phyllis B.!) in addition to my brown design. So what to do with a small, cracked, but most treasured teacup? Well, if I hadn't killed all my miniature African violets, one of those would be perfect in here.

But then I got back to work on Monday and, in a bit of serendipity, my friend Deberah had gotten me a treasure at the Southeastern Flower Show, a *new* miniature African violet! Ta-da!

Finds at the Glass Slipper Tea Cottage

It was surprising to see that spring arrived at the beach so much earlier than at my house five hours up the road. Here in Fort Walton Beach, the plants outside the Glass Slipper Tea Cottage were just gorgeous, especially this clever row of rosemary plants along the front fence!

Doesn't this make you want to go scoop up all the rosemary plants at your local nursery and plant them at your house?

I just thought this was such a great idea, and the blooms looked very happy in their location in front of the tea room.

Azaleas were in abundance at the coast, including beside the deck at the Glass Slipper.

This, I learned, is a bottle brush plant. I want one! So photos of plants are among my "souvenirs" of this lovely trip to the tea room, but happily their gift shop had lots of things I wanted as well!

What I finally settled on: a teacup, some yummy new Caribe blend tea, and a pastry server.

The tea room served its miniature roasted peppers on these pastry servers, which made for such an elegant presentation when I saw this peeking out from my three-tiered tray.

And of course a vintage teacup is always my favorite souvenir, especially this reribboned sky blue teacup by Colclough. Great finds, great tea and a great companion ... it doesn't get any better than that!

The Glass Slipper Tea Cottage

While at the beach last week, my husband and I finally got to celebrate our annual "Valentine's Tea" together! I had a magazine deadline on Valentine's Day itself this year, obligations the weekends before and after, and other commitments that meant there just wasn't time. So when we got the opportunity to go to the beach last week, we also made a side trip to the absolutely delightful Glasss Slipper Tea Cottage in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.!

I first learned of this wonderful tea room from blog reader and "tea friend" Sarah in Biloxi, Miss., who is a great fan of the Glass Slipper Tea Cottage. She had surprised me with a gift of the tea room's terrific cookbook last year, so it was on my "bucket list" of places to go next time I was within driving distance. Sarah even helped facilitate my last-minute reservations to this tea room, and based on the full house the day we went, March 14, we were very lucky to get in that day! I loved this charming cottage from the moment we pulled up, and I thought the rocking chair made a most clever welcome sign!

When we walked in, I immediately fell in love with this tea trolley loaded with teacups, and we were invited to select our own.

Alex asked me to choose one for him, so with a nod to his Scottish heritage I chose this Nova Scotia Tartan pattern from Adderley. He chose Earl Grey for his pot of tea.

And after lusting over my fellow tea bloggers' lovely St. Patrick's Day teawares, I chose this one for myself, marked Golden Crown E&R. I chose the apricot tea, and the teas were properly prepared and served in teapots with Thistledown cozies. (Which my husband referred to as "Down with Thistles," but I knew what he meant!)

There are hats available for those who wish to wear them, and everything about this tea room tells me owners Jim and Shirley Simpson and Shirley's sister, cook Carolyn Chandler, did their homework before they opened this tea room in 2010. I was happy to hear business is good, and the tea room started to get packed within minutes of our arrival. I was also pleased to learn, from selective eavesdropping, that so many of the visitors here are regulars!

There was so much great decor to enjoy, including these teapots. (Note how it's apparently two smaller shelves displayed together. I love that idea!)

Lacy linens and toile tablecloths gave me an "Oh, goody!" moment as soon as we sat down.

Now I had had only a light supper the night before and totally skipped breakfast the morning of our visit so I would be able to eat *all* of the full afternoon tea, which had been enthusiastically recommended by Sarah. By the time our quiche, soup and cheese straws arrived, I was famished! The delicious and light quiche greatly hit the spot, and I was thrilled to find the recipes for it, the yummy asparagus soup and the cheese straws are all in the cookbook Sarah gave me. (My husband, incidentally, went on and on about the quiche, how he'd never tasted one lighter. I will have to try to make it for him sometime!)

When our tea trays came out, I was overwhelmed at how many selections there were!

Our savories included stuffed mini-peppers (my husband actually asked for, and got, the recipe for these!), a turkey roll-up, chicken salad, a BLT, cucumber, cinnamon apple and also some sugared pecans. I was starting to get quite full ...

and here's the other side view of the savories.

You can see some of the sweets on my full tea tray shown in a photo above (a cherry tart with whipped cream, an almond cookie, a chocolate and coconut cookie), and in this photo you can also see the lemon bread, apricot torte (heavenly!) and shamrock sugar cookie. Famished or not, I'm afraid I simply didn't have room for all the sweets, so the tea room happily boxed them up for us to take home.

I did, however, save room to eat one of the light, fluffy and flower-shaped scones while at the tea room, simply so I could enjoy the lemon curd and cream served alongside them in the sweetest little glass bowls you've ever seen. I really can't praise this tea room highly enough, and Alex and I both said it was one of our best "Valentine's" teas ever! Shirley, Jim, Carolyn, and our server, Katie, seem to have the art of hospitality down to a very enjoyable science. (And I know it's not proper to talk about the price of something that was, for me, a gift, but I must say, are you as shocked as I was that this bounty was just $19.95 per person, pot of tea included?) My only criticism about this tea room? I wish it were closer to my home! Tomorrow, I'll show you what I picked up in the gift shop!

Tea Room Recipe #11 - Peach Tree Tea Room (Fredericksburg, Texas)

A banana bread recipe made with apricots? Why not!

I found this fun variation on a classic tea bread in "The Peach Tree Tea Room Cookbook" by Cynthia Collins Pedregon of Fredericksburg, Texas. While the tea room is still in business (go here for photos), I was saddened to learn that Cynthia herself passed away last year. Odd how I never even knew this dear lady, yet knowing she was a tea room owner, and reading her very family-oriented cookbook, makes me sad I never got to meet her! If you'd like to "meet" her in the pages of this cookbook, copies of it are easy to find online. The book was written in 1990, but by the time I got a copy it was a 2005 edition and in its ninth printing. And there were already some 59,500 copies in print, which tells me this is a mighty popular cookbook! And after reading it I can see why. It contains lots of Texas-style family favorites as well as classic tea room fare (quiches, tea breads), and I can see this is a cookbook I'll be reaching for often. This week, I made the Banana Apricot Nut Bread and thought it was a fun new way to enjoy banana bread!

Banana Apricot Nut Bread

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups mashed bananas (about three large)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I used walnuts)
1 cup minced dried apricots

Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and beat well. In separate bowl combine the flours, salt and soda. Stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the mashed bananas. Batter will be very thick. Stir in nuts and apricots. Pour into loaf pan prepared with cooking spray (I also line mine with parchment paper) and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Yields 1 loaf of bread.

Readying for St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner, and I still have no idea what I'll be cooking to celebrate the day this year. My usual Corned Beef and Cabbage? Perhaps. Irish Soda Bread? Possibly, but I've done that before, and I always like to try something new. What will you be preparing? As I ponder, I'll sip a brisk black tea (Irish Breakfast Tea is particularly lovely at this time of year) and reflect on St. Paddy's Days past.

This cute teacup-themed St. Patrick's Day card arrived in the mail last year from a new tea friend, Melissa in Delaware, and I treasure it! I have a couple of hatboxes where I keep the thoughtful cards and notes from blog readers who have written me over the years, and I dearly love them all, including this one. It came with some tea and a bookmark tucked inside, which really made this more "gift" than "card."

And the sentiment seemed appropriate to share with all of you as March 17 approaches! Since some of you don't get a chance to check blogs over the weekend, I wanted to go ahead and wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Teavivre's Organic Superfine Dragon Well Lung Jing Green Tea

Blame Linda. She's been featuring some fun green tea tastings on her blog lately, and I can't help thinking those pretty photos and tasty sounding samplings are what had me reaching to try the new sample of Dragon Well I received earlier this year.

This tea sample is from Teavivre, and I love the look of these large, flat leaves!

Since I don't always remember to show this, I wanted to mention that I again used my white porcelain cupping set from Elmwood Inn Fine Teas. I don't use a strainer or filter, but rather place the leaves and water inside the lidded cup, then after the steeping is done I tilt the lidded cup into the handleless cup, like this, and pour off the liquid.

The dry leaf had only a light woodsy scent, so I always like to stick my nose in the wet leaf to see if I pick up any other scents. This time, I got the impression of something very vegetal, such as steamed asparagus or spinach.

This was a terrifically smooth green tea, one of those which has what I call a buttery taste. That's the only way I know to describe the rich, thick, satisfying mouth-feel of this tea, something I certainly don't always get in a green tea. This one is delicious, and I'm happy to say that teas like this one have turned me into a real green tea lover!

"You Can Do Tea" by Sandy Lynam Clough

On a recent visit to Scott's Bookstore in Newnan, I happened to flip through a book I suddenly realized I didn't own but certainly needed to, "You Can Do Tea" by Sandy Lynam Clough (Harvest House, 2010). I've had a calendar with this artwork before, and I guess that's why this book looked so familiar until I actually opened it. She kicks things off by declaring that "tea is the most flexible way to share hospitality that you can imagine," a concept with which I wholeheartedly agree! The book would be perfect for someone wanting to host a first tea party, yet I found loads of "reminders" and inspiration that will be helpful to more experienced tea hostesses as well.

As always, it features the beautiful artwork by one of my all-time favorite tea artists, and it has suggestions for tea party themes, teatime menus and tea etiquette. In the chapter on menu planning, I love how she manages to describe a discovery I made a few years ago: making chicken salad is really an inexact science, and you can easily experiment by using a simple formula which is, basically, that chicken + a binder + something sweet + something crunchy + some herbs = chicken salad. The book includes the exact proportions, of course, and when I examined the formula I realized it perfectly describes pretty much every chicken salad I've ever made! Cookie and scone recipes are presented in like manner, and I found this quite helpful.

I really must do an inventory and see if there are other Sandy Lynam Clough books I *think* I've got (or read) when in fact I have not, because I would so hate to miss one. Her artwork hangs in my home, her note cards and stationery have entered and exited my mailbox lots of times over the years, and I am so grateful for this artist whose visions of teatime have made the world a lovelier place. And if, like me, you're eager for the next Sandy Lynam Clough book, go here to see what she's got coming out in July. I can't wait!

A super special Shelley Sugar and Creamer

Whenever I see the delicate Shelley china pieces on other tea blogs I get a little wistful to find a Shelley teacup or two myself, and it occurred to me recently that I do have a couple of especially meaningful Shelley pieces I've never shared with you. Some of my kindred spirits might enjoy hearing the story behind this set!

When I married a co-worker six years ago (we journalists tend to do that a lot!), a dear lady in our community we'd both gotten to know over the years showed up at the office one day with what she said was a small gift she wanted us to have. I remember it was in a pink bag, so I somehow sensed I would like it! Inside was this pretty cream pitcher and …

…the matching sugar bowl. Lovely, eh?

I knew immediately from the shape and light weight that these were Shelley, and I even liked the name of the pattern, Dainty Pink. But what I liked even more was the sweet note that accompanied this thoughtful gift. Our friend's mother-in-law had used this Shelley sugar and creamer at her bridge parties in Newnan for years and years, and I considered that story part of the gift!

Now some of you know I edit a magazine that is owned by a newspaper, a locally-owned newspaper which dates back to 1865. We have vintage pages from the paper framed and hanging all over our building. One day, I was waiting to see a co-worker and happened to study this one.

It was from September 7, 1934, and would you look at one of the "Society Items" right there?

It was so fun to see a printed account of one of the very parties where my teawares were once used!

The Stampin' Up Giveaway winner is ...

Bev S., so congrats! And if you'll send me your snail mail address via the e-mail button at right, I'll get this great stash of goodies headed your way!

Meanwhile, for those who didn't win but are interested in locating some of the items shown in the giveaway, feel free to visit my friend Phyllis's Stampin' Up page here to learn more about these and other great products! Thanks again to Phyllis for making this great giveaway possible!