Disney Wonderland Teacups

After taking afternoon tea at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, we shopped at the gift store next to the Garden View Lounge.  I was disappointed that there were no new Disney Trading Pins in a tea theme.  I did purchase a set of two cups and saucers.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the package contained a box of teabags, as well as two pretty teacups.

The pattern was black and white, with the colored character medallions on the front and back.

 

Of course the White Rabbit was featured on the front of one cup, with the Queen of Hearts on the back.

The other cup featured Alice and the Mad Hatter, with the  Dormouse peeking out of a teapot on the back.

This will be a fun set to use when I have a tea party with my granddaughter.  You can find this set online at the WDW store, but the price is higher.

Royal Albert Trillium

This weeks bone china teacup is by Royal Albert in the Trillium pattern. 

 

The pretty footed teacup is in the Montrose shape.

The white trillium became the floral emblem for the Province of Ontario in 1937.  It is also an official symbol of the Government of Ontario.

   

I can remember driving by large roadside patches of trilliums in Northern Ontario when I was a child.  They are a protected plant on conservation area land and in provincial parks.

The large white trillium is also the Ohio state wild flower.

Please visit Terri and Martha at their lovely blogs for more Teacup Tuesday.

Afternoon Tea At The Grand Floridian

The Garden View Lounge at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Orlando is a wonderful place to take tea in the grand British tradition.  On my recent trip I shared this afternoon tea experience with my daughter-in-law.

The grounds at this resort are gorgeous and meticulously maintained.  The minute you walk past the antique car and carriage at the entrance and into the magnificent lobby, you know that this will be special.

A musician was playing the grand piano when we arrived and later a band, dressed in formal attire, played from the second floor of the lobby.  Our reservation for tea was at 3:40. We did a little shopping when we arrived and I bought my granddaughter a lovely Tinker Bell doll.  I can’t wait until she is old enough to join us for tea.

The servers are attired in Victorian style costumes and the china is Old Country Roses by Royal Doulton.

I chose Darjeeling tea, although I was tempted to try the mango scented Tung Ting oolong.  Jessica drank hot chocolate.  We both had the Buckingham Palace tea.  I forgot to take a photo of the delicious raisin scone, served with Devonshire cream and raspberry jam.  The sandwiches included cucumber, egg, shrimp, chicken curry, onion tart, and my favorite pear with gorgonzola cheese.

There are quite a few choices on the menu including the Princess Kate Tea: 

A Spring tea served with a classic dish of potted shrimp followed by a medley of cheeses, an array of seasonal fruits, and cheddar cheese biscuits. A scone, jam tart, and a selection of delicate pastries is accompanied by a glass of Veuve Cliquot champagne and your choice of tea.

There is also what I called the “manly”  Prince Edward’s Tea:

A delicious array of duck and cherry terrine, chicken and pork roulade, country pate en croute, and English Blue Stilton, the "King" of English cheeses. Served with marinated fresh berries, and Cumberland sauce. We then offer our delicious fresh-baked scones served with rich Devonshire cream. Your choice of our tea with a glass of our Fonseca Bin 27 Character Port.

I’d taken a couple of bites of my English trifle before I remembered to take a photo.  It was good, but sadly it seemed to be missing the sherry that I could taste in the dessert on my previous visit.

It is just as well that we weren’t staying at the Grand Floridian, or I’d be at the Garden View Lounge every afternoon taking tea, which certainly wouldn’t help with the vacation diet pitfalls.

 Something odd that we noticed while walking by one of the pools, was the ducks swimming with the guests.  Maybe the staff just can’t keep them (the ducks) out of the pool.  I thought the ducks would prefer the Seven Seas Lagoon.

This is a beautiful Victorian style resort and is a quick trip by monorail from the Disney World theme parks.

 

 

Queen Anne Gold Lace teacup

This week I’m showing another teacup from my sister-in-laws china cabinet.  It is a bone china Queen Anne cup and saucer in the Gold Lace pattern.

This set looks very dramatic with its heavily gilded “leaf” chintz pattern and bold stripes.

The cup has a lovely scalloped shape and the saucer is also slightly scalloped. 

All that gold really stands out on the white china.  

Queen Anne china was made by Shore & Coggins, England.  This back stamp was used from 1959 to 1966.

Be sure to visit hostesses Terri and Martha for more Teacup Tuesday posts.

I’m trying to catch up since returning from Orlando yesterday evening.  It was a wonderful and very busy trip.  I snapped close to 450 pictures of the theme parks, resort, my family, and so on.  I did manage to have afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian in the Garden View Lounge and I’ll share that with you later.

Anniversary trip 2011

It’s time for our annual anniversary (32 years) trip to Orlando.  We are staying at the Fountains Resort again.

This was the view from the balcony.  The Fountains is a great resort and close to Sea World, Discovery Cove and Aquatica.

Visiting Busch Gardens will be fun, but I’m looking forward to our day at Discovery Cove the most.  There is a new Grand Reef addition this year.

I’m hoping to have afternoon tea at Disney’s Grand Floridian resort again.  This time my daughter-in-law will be joining me.  I’m very excited that my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter are coming with us.

So, I’m off to finish packing.  Bye for now.

Queen Anne teacup

The teacup for this week is Queen Anne bone china, made in England.  I couldn’t discover a name for this pattern, but I believe it is #374.

It has a gold wheat and floral spray pattern.

 

The footed cup has a lovely scalloped shape, with a spray of wheat and flowers inside.

The cup is an unusual color, somewhere between pale pink and beige.

Queen Anne china was made by Shore & Coggins Ltd. in Longton, England from the 1940’s until 1966.

Please visit hostesses Terri and Martha for lots more Teacup Tuesday posts.

Tea & Crumpets winner

Diana in Wisconsin is the winner of the Tea & Crumpets book.  Please email your mailing address and I’ll send it right out to you.

Tea & Crumpets book giveaway

While searching my tea book library for a particular volume, I noticed that I own two copies of Tea & Crumpets by Margaret M. Johnson.  I really do need to make a list of all the tea related books that are currently in my collection.

So, I thought, who better to give the extra copy to than one of my blog friends.

The book description on Amazon reads: 

“Curious armchair travelers, nostalgic food excursionists, and inventive home entertainers will adore this tour of Europe's legendary tearooms and salons. A delicious culinary and cultural experience as well as a treasure trove of recipes from top-notch destinations, this little gem lets readers in on the rituals of taking tea. Recipes like the Ritz's cucumber sandwiches, Claridge's famous raisin and apple scones, or chocolate scones from Edinburgh's Balmoral Hotel, as well as color photographs of tasty tea fare and European teahouses, bring the charm of afternoon tea to anyone's home.”

The book begins with “A Little History of Tea and ends with “A Traveler’s Guide to European Tearooms”.  It is filled with tea quotes and lovely photos.  There are lots of great recipes like salmon mousse pinwheels, crumpets, raisin apple scones,  pistachio shortbread, chocolate and banana charlottes, battenberg cake and many more.

If you’d like to win a copy of Tea & Crumpets, just leave me a comment on this post before 9 pm on Monday, September 5.  I’ll randomly pick a winner from the comments, but I’m afraid that I can only mail the book to someone within the USA.

Here is one of the many quotes in the book:

“Another novelty is the tea-party, an extraordinary meal in that, being offered to persons that have already dined well, it supposes neither appetite nor thirst, and has no object but distraction, no basis but delicate enjoyment”  - Brillat-Savarin