Family Celebrations

I know, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on my blog and I’ve missed visiting your blogs, but there has been a lot going on. My younger daughter’s graduation at Valdosta State, my granddaughter’s first birthday celebration and a vacation at Panama City Beach to celebrate those events.

I’m so very proud of her for obtaining her Master of Business Administration Degree while working full time and caring for a baby.

We decided that, since Valdosta, GA was well on the way to Florida, that Panama City Beach would be a nice place to celebrate.

We stayed at Shores of Panama Resort right on the beach.  It was a couple of years ago that I blogged about her wedding at this same resort.

My little sweet pea was hesitant at first, but soon she was enjoying tasting a cupcake for the first time.

I thought her small beach theme cake from Publix was very cute. 

We ended our trip by driving back to GA in time for another birthday celebration for her on Saturday.  Things are not slowing down yet, what with some medical tests and a 4th birthday party for my other granddaughter coming up on Sunday.  Whew!

I hope to be reviewing some new tea samples from Ocean of Tea soon.  

Hall Plume Teapot

I bought this Hall “Plume” teapot while on my trip to Berea Kentucky with the Traveling Tea Friends.  It is a six sided pot, with pale pink glaze, designed by Disraeli.

During the 1940’s the Hall China Company decided to issue a series of six Victorian style teapots. The series was not well received and was discontinued a few years later.

This is quite a heavy little four cup pot.  I think the six sided shape and plumes are unusual and pretty.  This is the first pale pink teapot to be added to my collection. 

There is another pot in my collection from a trip to Kentucky for the Paducah Quilt Show in 2000.  It is a Homer Laughlin teapot in the Skytone pattern.

Now I’ll be on the lookout for the other Hall teapots from the Victorian series – the Murphy, Benjamin, Bowknot, Birch and Connie (all in lovely pastel colors).  ☺

Greentree Tea Room

The Traveling Tea Friends left Boone Tavern Hotel around noon to travel to Lexington, KY for our afternoon tea/lunch at Greentree Tea Room.

This tea room is located at 521 Short Street (downtown). 

A quick glance at the March menu confirmed that this would be a delicious afternoon tea.

The Potato Leek Soup was delectable and was followed by a yummy (and quite large) Irish Oat Scone with Blackberry Jam & Fayette Cream.

Next was a dish that I found unusual for afternoon tea, a wonderful serving of Spanakopita (baked in a square pan, instead of little pastry triangles with spinach & feta cheese filling).

Something else I liked about this tea was the fact that the sweets and sandwiches were served on a buffet table.  For someone like me who prefers sandwiches over sweets, this was perfect.

There were Corned Beef, Poppy Seed Egg Salad & Benedictine sandwiches.  The desserts included Bailey’s Fudge, Pistachio Cupcakes & Greentree French Filled Wafers.  I took a photo of Angela’s plate to include the sweets.

There is no tea menu, but our server kept our teacups constantly filled with Irish Blend Tea (l-r Angela, our pleasant server and Lynn).  I thought that this blend suited the food very well. 

Another fun feature of this tea room is the opportunity to shop for fine antiques before or after your meal.

If you will be visiting Lexington, KY, I would highly recommend enjoying an afternoon tea at the tasteful Greentree Tea Room.

Thoroughbred Park, Lexington, KY

On day three of my trip to Berea, KY we drove to Lexington to have afternoon tea at the Greentree Tea Room.  Lexington, KY is known as the horse capital of the world.

We stopped at Thoroughbred Park to admire and photograph the amazing life sized equine sculpture of artist Gwen Reardon.

It’s not hard to see why many consider Ms. Reardon to be the best equine sculptor in the world.

It was thrilling to see these seven thoroughbred horses and jockeys captured in such detail, as if in the middle of a race.

You can get an idea of the scale of these works in this photo of Angela (Tea With Friends blog) on the left and myself.

We couldn’t stay long at the park, since our reservation for tea was at noon and that was another great experience I’ll share later.

 

Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride,
Friendship without envy,
Or beauty without vanity?
Here, where grace is served with muscle
And strength by gentleness confined
He serves without servility; he has fought without enmity.
There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent.
There is nothing so quick, nothing more patient.

- from The Horse by Ronald Duncan

Derby Tea–Boone Tavern Hotel

The Traveling Tea Ladies returned from our trip to Danville, KY and we met at 1:30 in the Skylight Room of the hotel for our special Derby (inspired) Tea.

We started with a taste of Spoonbread served in a little spoon on a bed of greens.  I really like this dish and look forward to making some at home, with the recipe provided by the hotel.

Next, we were served a bowl of Kentucky Burgoo, a tasty mix of pork, beef and chicken, with lots of veggies.  Yummy! 

Our tiered tea tray consisted of Mini Hot Browns, Tea Biscuits with Country Ham, Apricot Jam and Arugula, a fancy Deviled Egg and Liz’s Spicy Pimento Cheese Sandwich.  The edible flowers were a pretty touch.

Next there were two kinds of delicious scones – Cranberry Orange and Plain – served with real Devonshire Cream and Blackberry Jam.

The scones were followed by a great selection of sweets including Chocolate Bourbon Tartlets, Mini Race Day Bites, Mini Cupcakes with Mint Julep Icing, and White Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Raspberries. 

I’ve tasted chocolate covered strawberries before, but not chocolate covered raspberries – they were luscious. 

A separate plate held pretty Horseshoe Sugar Cookies (held by our hostess Linda, at Friendship Tea blog.

What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon with old and new tea friends. 

Day 2 with The Traveling Tea Friends

Had an early start on my first full day in Kentucky and was in the dining room enjoying my poached eggs, toast and fruit before 7:30.  There was even time for relaxing in the Tea Parlor with a nice cuppa and my Kindle Fire.

We were off to our tea tasting and shopping trip in Danville, KY around 10.  Bruce Richardson greeted us at his new store, Elmwood Inn Fine Teas.

He gave a very interesting presentation on tea history, cultivation, travels, etc.  His many gorgeous photos of people and places of the tea industry lined the walls of the shop.  His assistant, Lois, brewed several teas for us to try, including a rare Forest White Hawaiian Tea.  My favorite was their signature blend, Mayor’s Cup, which is blended from hand picked single-estate Darjeeling, Assam and Ceylon black teas.

My purchases included a tin of Mayor’s Cup, an issue of Tea Magazine and an autographed copy of A Social History of Tea.  It took great restraint to limit myself to these three items.  There were stump teapots in many beautiful colors, lots of great books and magazines, many blends of teas that I wish I could taste and so much more.

Mr. Richardson kindly posed for this photo with me, answered several questions and talked a little about his trip to Quebec City and the Charleston Tea Plantation.

Later in the day, after our Derby Tea at the hotel, we shopped at The Log House Craft Gallery and the Kentucky Artisan Center.  The photos below are from the latter. 

There certainly were some unusual teapots that I’d like to add to my collection and wouldn’t those metal and pottery fish be perfect for a lake house?  ☺  I did purchase the book Bluegrass Winners (shown in the photo with the red pottery).  There is a lot of information and photos of “Horse Farms Of The Bluegrass”, with each farm providing a menu from one of the parties held at their farm.

One of the highlights of my trip to Berea was the special “Derby” afternoon tea at 1:30 in one of the meeting rooms of the hotel.  It deserves a separate post to best describe all the wonderful Kentucky dishes that were incorporated into the menu.  Linda from Friendship Tea did an outstanding job working with the hotel staff to plan this lovely tea event for us. 

Berea, KY with the Traveling Tea Friends

Just returned from a trip to Berea, KY to meet with a wonderful group of ladies (fellow tea enthusiasts).  Angela (Tea With Friends blog) and I drove there from the Atlanta area, arriving late afternoon at the historic Boone Tavern Hotel.

We were met by our hostess Linda (Friendship Tea blog) in our special tea parlor on the second floor.  Most of our group dined at the hotel that evening.  The award winning dining room uses locally grown ingredients, some that are from the Berea College Farm.  I’d been looking forward to trying the spoonbread and it was a delicious start to my meal.

The hotel uses a hundred year old recipe and this dish is brought to the table piping hot in the baking pan, and dished out by the spoonful.  It’s enjoyed with a pat of butter melting over the top.  It is hard to decline a second helping of this yummy but filling dish, but I’m glad my appetite was intact for PORK CHOPS THE TRICKY WAY - Boneless Pork Loin Chops with a Unique Breading of Tomato and Parmesan served with Cheese Grits, Braised Greens, and Grain Mustard Cream.  The Mayor’s Cup black tea (hand blended by Bruce Richardson, Elmwood Inn Fine Teas) was also very good. 

After some more visiting in the tea parlor, it was time to retire to my lovely king room.  There were period furnishings and décor, but also the modern comforts of flat screen TV, Keurig coffee machine and Wi-fi. 

I’ll continue later with day two of our trip, which includes a trip to Danville, KY for a tea tasting with Bruce Richardson at his Elmwood Inn Tea Shop and shopping at some Berea shops and the Kentucky Artisan Center.