Tea Room Postcard #50 -- Maple Cabin Tea Room (St. Johnsbury, Vt.)

I've been to all kinds of tea rooms in all kinds of places, but I've never been to one that looks as if it were made of Lincoln logs! Still, I think this Maple Cabin Tea Room looks quite fitting for a town in Vermont in 1941.

At least I *think* that date says 1941. Do you agree? This card is interesting to me because it was apparently some sort of postcard exchange. It was addressed to Miss Theresa Zimmerman of Huron, Ohio, and reads, "Dear Theresa, Thanks for the swell card. Am willing to exchange postcards with you. You are the only one in Oho who I exchange cards with. Sincerely, Alvin W. Gold," and it includes his address in St. Johnsbury, Vt., site of the tea room pictured on the postcard. So, how did Theresa and Alvin become postcard-exchanging pen pals pre-Internet? (Perhaps there were ads in some national magazine.) And is it just me or do you think this handwriting looks like a female's? I'm wondering if Alvin's mother penned this postcard and sent it for him. I think a postcard exchange sounds like a fun idea, and I'm a little surprised I've never heard of one before now. Have you?

"A request from the Palace ..."

If you're like me, you probably find a lot of e-mail solicitations in your in-box at this time of year. Some companies seem to quadruple their marketing at Christmas, and while it can be overwhelming, there's one company I always enjoy hearing from, Fortnum and Mason in England.

That 307-year-old firm remains the store of my dreams, and though the international shipping keeps me from ordering, I always enjoy seeing what they have "on offer." Teas often make their list of suggested gift items, and this week I was scanning my screen when I thought I saw the word "Smoky" before the words "Earl Grey." So I enlarged the screen and yes, that's precisely what it said.

But in case that description of the Countess Grey/Smokey Earl Grey set is too small for you to read on the device you're viewing it on, here's what it says: "Smoky Earl Grey was created in response to a request from the Palace, and combines traditional bergamot with a touch of Lapsang and Gunpowder tea, combining the best qualities of all three. Aromatic and distinctive, it is superbly refreshing in the afternoon." Now don't you love the subtle way that the royal request is couched: "A request from the Palace." I've read before that the Queen likes Earl Grey tea, so do you think perhaps she is the one who requested the Smoky Earl Grey? (And go here if you happen to wish to order some.)

Sampling teas from Korea

Recently my friend Ginger in North Carolina e-mailed with an intriguing offer. The mother of a son's classmate gave her some Korean tea to try, and she was willing to share with me if I was interested. Naturally, I was happy to accept her kind offer. Clockwise from left are a packet of Matcha Ginger Latte, some roses and what I think may be chamomile flowers, pumpkin and yam tea sticks, and green tea.

I must say that "Pumpkin and Yam" is a new flavor to me, so I went for this one first. I opened it, poured the powder into a clear glass mug and thought, "Hmm." It smelled a little funky.

I added the amount of boiling water as Ginger had advised, and the result was a thick, creamy looking concoction. I looked. I sniffed. Again I thought, "Hmm." But then, what the heck, I took a sip. Interesting! This really tasted like a pumpkin bisque or broth, and I found myself looking for some saltines to go with it. So though I wouldn't necessarily scarf down this tea as I might a cup of Earl Grey, I did enjoy it in a "soup" kind of way.

The Matcha Ginger Latte was also a nice surprise. I can take matcha only in small doses, but I do like ginger (the tea as well as the tea friend, ha!). Here's what the powdered mix looked like in the glass tea mug.

I added hot water—you could also make it with cold water, the directions said—and whipped it up nice and frothy with a whisk. It didn't have that vegetal taste I associate with matcha, and it had heaps of ginger (you can't over-ginger anything for me), so this was a real hit! The plain green tea was good as well, though not nearly as exotic as these other new treats. Thanks, Ginger, for the new tea tasting experiences!

American Girl Dolls who enjoy teatime

Our trip to the American Girl Doll Store Monday definitely sent me on a trip down memory lane to the dolls of my youth, dolls like Crissy and Velvet, whose belly buttons you pressed to make their hair grow out, and Dancerina, whose crown you pushed to make her dance the Nutcracker Ballet. There’s always been Barbie for the fashion-minded little girl, but I must confess I have mixed emotions about Barbie. She can never seem to make up her mind whether she wants to be prom queen or an astronaut, and at 55 she really ought to be able to come to a decision. What I like about the American Girl Dolls is that they are just normal American girls, and I absolutely love that they come in all shapes, colors and sizes. Dark hair, light hair, dark skin, light skin, eyes in every color. I noted on Monday you can get a wheelchair for the doll (imagine what that would mean to the little girl who rolls around in one), and there was even a doll on crutches wearing a cast. Some of the dolls represent certain eras in history, such as the first American Girl Doll I ever saw, Samantha, shown here. Although she was discontinued for a while, she’s back and lovely as ever.

And of course her accessories are mighty tempting to me. Samantha is the 1904-era doll, and if I ever get one (which, yes, I am actually considering; what are you laughing at?), this is the doll I’d want.

But then I discovered the Rebecca doll and fell in love with her too once I saw some of her accessories!

This sideboard was just adorable, and I certainly give the American Girl designers points for the box of Orange Pekoe Ceylon Tea and the teapot! Oh, to be a little girl again ... What dolls do you remember from your girlhood?

Tea with Amelia and Jessica at the American Girl Doll Store

For the second year in a row, my niece Amelia's Christmas gift from us was a visit to the American Girl Doll Store at North Point Mall to select a new doll and enjoy afternoon tea in the store's restaurant. Here are Amelia and the newly adopted "Jessica Lauren" enjoying tea.

Amelia loves the fact she gets her own teapot when having tea at the American Girl Doll Store.

The server brought us a selection of Tazo Teas. I was in the mood for straight-up black tea and had their English Breakfast Tea while Amelia chose the China Green Tips Tea. The server was impressed that a young girl would choose a) hot tea and b) green tea. As you can see, Amelia takes her tea preparation quite seriously.

And she also adds enough sugar to choke a horse. The server said, "You know, the green tea has antioxidants in it that are so good for you!" "Yes," I said, "but do you think they're canceled out by the five packets of sugar she put in it?"

Here Amelia pours some tea for Jessica. To our surprise, we got to take Jessica's little cup and saucer home with us as a favor!

Our three-tiered server arrived and we were definitely ready to eat!

On the bottom was a cup of strawberry yogurt (for sharing), along with two fruit kabobs and two blueberry mini muffins. Amelia particularly liked the muffins.

The savories were mini turkey burgers, a puff pastry "pig in a blanket" and a cucumber tea sandwich. I guess I will always love cucumber sandwiches as good as anything on the tea plate, but that turkey burger was very good too! (The turkey was Amelia's favorite.)

Our sweets included "dirt" cups (chocolate mousse), mini cupcakes and iced sugar cookies. I'm again impressed that they keep tea at a very reasonable $12 per person.

Last year Amelia got the character doll "Julie," but this year she wanted a "My American Girl" doll, the one they say "looks like you." So Jessica was chosen for her long brown hair (no bangs) that is just like Amelia's. The hair is very important, I learned. Amelia had to touch Jessica's hair before she agreed this was the doll she wanted.

It was another fun day of shopping with my very fun niece — and I hope she'll remember these trips for many years to come!

Time for the tea-themed Christmas tree!

After going with a turquoise tea-themed tabletop Christmas tree last year, I decided I liked my little pink one better, even if all the ornaments don't quite fit on it anymore.

I had some help this weekend in the form of my 9-year-old niece Amelia, who was spending the night with me and eagerly agreed to help put up the little tree.

These glass teapot ornaments came from Kmart several years ago, purchased thanks to a shopping alert from a thoughtful tea friend.

Hanging near the bottom is a recent addition you've seen here before. So pretty!

And the tabletop tree is actually atop a writing desk now, so there was a little more "tabletop" to cover, and I enjoyed using some things that are meaningful to me: a hat from the Senoia Area Historical Society tea I attended over the summer, a teacup and teapot that were gifts from a dear tea friend. How many of you are decorating with a tea theme this Christmas?

Tea Room Postcard #49 -- Strawbridge & Clothier (Philadelphia, Pa.)

It was while I was writing a book about department store tea rooms in 2011 that I first learned about the Strawbridge & Clothier department store in Philadelphia, Pa. I later acquired a teacup and a soup bowl from the old store, which was in business from 1868 to 2006 in the northeastern U.S., with headquarters in Philadelphia. That's the site of this vintage department store tea room postcard that I was happy to add to my collection.

The card is postally unused, but I liked it anyway because of not only the image of the tea room but also the old-timey telephone pictured on the back. When I was a little girl (which means the late sixties and early seventies), my mom was into the whole Early American decorating theme, and I remember having a wooden box telephone with a receiver that looked like the ones pictured here. In my lifetime I've seen a lot of changes in telephone equipment, including the switch from rotary phones to push-button phones (so exotic!), Princess phones, cordless phones, the first clunky "car phones," clamshell phones and now smartphones. I couldn't help chuckling the other day when I read a post on Facebook where some young mom was lamenting the misplacement of her cell phone and said, "Somebody ought to make one of these with a cord on it that you can hang on the wall." I think it was a joke, but I wouldn't bet on it!

The thriftiest Spode around

Since I had to run in Michaels for a few things this week, I did a sweep of the $1.50 bins up front and found a few new Spode-design products I hadn't yet run across this Christmas. Last year I found heaps of the Spode items, but this year, not so much. What I found this week is paper plates, cards and gift tags.

I think these 7-inch plates will be perfect for delivering some Christmas treats.

And the cards and gift tags in green were designs I haven't seen before. I must admit I was disappointed not to find any new Mary Engelbreit tea-themed Christmas goodies this year. Are they out there and I just haven't seen them? It seems that different Michaels stores sometimes get different products, and I'd love to hear what they have in your neck of the woods!

Christmas Tea in a Christmas teacup

Originally, I intended to save this whole box of Twinings Christmas Tea so I could tuck the individually-packaged teabags into Christmas cards. But when I went to the post office for Christmas stamps this week, they were sold out! (Yes, the *post office* was out of Christmas stamps, although they were hoping to get new ones in.) So, willpower on the wane, I couldn't help myself and tore into that pretty box of tea and had a sip.

I even like the tags on this cinnamon and clove blend! I also wanted to mention that my "Noel" teacup is marked Royal Tuscan, but I have seen this same pattern from other makers, and I'd love to know who else has this pattern so I can start keeping a record of all the makers.

One handy thing about having a tea blog is that I almost always share photos of a new teacup, providing a catalog of sorts, and when I typed in "Royal Tuscan" and did a search, I found that I purchased this teacup on eBay in 2010. Something else I did not remember is that Royal Tuscan was part of the Wedgwood Group! Do you have this pattern by another maker? If so, please share!

More (tea) gifts of good will

If you had come across these same items at Goodwill, you would have splurged the $2.53 for these goodies, wouldn't you?

I love to come across a Santa mug in a style I don't already have, and this one (77 cents) was a larger and more-decorated mug than most of the ones I have, which usually feature only Santa's face.

This tiny teacup votive holder was another 77-cent purchase. Not sure where it'll go when I start Christmas decorating soon, but I'm sure it'll have a nice place among some tea-themed goodies.

Finally, I found what appeared to be a brand-spanking-new tea mug for the whopping price of 99 cents. I must confess I'm torn between giving it away to a tea-loving girlfriend and using it myself, but at this price I won't feel too guilty whichever way I decide!

The December 2014 Food Network magazine

This year my Christmas baking will be taking a bit of a different turn. Since my husband and I started a communications business earlier this year and have become well-acquainted with a number of our clients, we decided that cookie trays really ought to go to some of them this year along with the trays I make for family and friends. I was inspired by the cookies on the cover of this Food Network magazine I recently picked up at the grocery store, and the cookies inside are just the sort of new and different flavors I'd hoped for: Brown Butter Madeleines, Lime Icebox Cookies, Pink Grapefruit Shortbread and No-Bake Spiced Fruitcake Balls, just to name a few.

When I finished studying the cookies and went back to read the rest of the magazine, I found a few other features I thought some of you might be interested in as well. The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, shares a recipe for Cranberry-Orange Scones that she likes to whip up the night before, store in the refrigerator and bake the next day. I've always made scones right before serving time, but I'm going to give her recipe a try and see how it works.

And I always love the little recipe booklets in this magazine. This one features Cheese Appetizers, a number of which are balls, toasts, tartlets and other foods that I could easily see on a tea tray. If you're not normally a Food Network magazine reader, you might want to pick up this issue and see what you think!

Have a cup of cheer!

Have a holly jolly Christmas

It's the best time of the year

Well, I don't know if there'll be snow

But have a cup of cheer

— From the song "A Holly Jolly Christmas"

I don't know about you, but having grown up with that old Burl Ives Christmas tune, I take to heart his advice to "have a cup of cheer," and to me that often means a cup of Christmas tea! Suddenly, as if by magic, my tastebuds have tired of pumpkin and gone in search of peppermint and spice flavors.

Fortunately we tea lovers have lots of Christmas teas to choose from. Three I have on hand at the moment are Candy Cane Lane from Celestial Seasonings, a decaf green tea; Christmas Tea from Twinings, a black tea blend with cinnamon and cloves; and Holiday Chai from Republic of Tea, a spiced herb tea I have enjoyed in the past.

But what's my favorite? Without a doubt it's Candy Cane Lane! I'm not sure which of you turned me on to this tea years ago, but someone did, and I've been a loyal fan ever since. In fact, I'm feeling a bit nervous since I have only one box left and haven't seen any of this tea in stores yet, but then I haven't given it a good search, so I suppose there's still time to stock up. Do you have a favorite Christmas tea? Will you start drinking it today now that December has arrived?

Tea Room Postcard #48 - Pier Tea Room Restaurant (Asbury Park, N.J.)

This week's vintage tea room postcard is from the Boardwalk and New Casino in Asbury Park, N.J., but I was most intrigued by the sign visible at upper left: Pier Tea Room Restaurant

The card was mailed in July of 1938 from Ocean Grove, N.J. to a Miss Ettie Bunn of Warnerville, New York. The message is quite intriguing: "Dear Ettie and Mary, Thanks for your (printed?) letter, Ettie, it was much appreciated. You need not worry, Mary about my goodness. I have learned that I'm very small and weak, much more so than I ever realized. Surely I shall think of you folks as always. With love, Leta - Sorry about Mr. R." Now if that's not a mystery just waiting to be unraveled, I don't know what is!

New teatime Christmas decor

It is always fun to find a surprise in the mailbox, but it's even more fun when the surprise comes from a tea friend! This week, the mailbox turned up two delightful new tea-themed Christmas decorations I'll soon be including in my holiday decor, a cute plaque with a tea mug and an embroidered teapot ornament.

Both are from Donna Z., a longtime friend of this blog, and I was sooooo tickled to receive them. I've even been examining the ornament to see if I might be able to make something like this myself one day. Thanks for kicking off my holiday decorating in style, Donna!