Afternoon Tea At Least Once Each Year

It has been over a year since I've enjoyed a formal Afternoon Tea. Pretty much since we packed up Two for Tea to be precise. I love Afternoon Tea anytime of year and truly drink hot tea even when it is 90 degrees outside, but something about winter makes we think of my favorite places to enjoy the fine art of taking tea.


The last time EJ and I enjoyed Afternoon Tea not by our own hands was a delightful trip to The Lobby at the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago. The Peninsula is a Five Star hotel on Chicago's magnificent Michigan Avenue. I am not sure of the history of fine hotels serving tea, but there is definitely a connection. Perhaps that will be a future post.


Until then, since Two for Tea is no longer open, I suggest these fine places for Afternoon Tea:


1. The Peninsula Hotel in Chicago
2. The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
3. The Waldorf-Astoria in New York
4. The Plaza Hotel in New York

If your taste runs to the less high brow, what a shame! However, I suggest consulting teamap.com. This resource is a fairly comprehensive list of tearooms nationwide. Please call the tearoom ahead of time as many require reservations and even more may no longer be open.


Sharing the love of (Afternoon) tea,


Dara

Thrif-tea!

Look what I found for $1.99 at the thrift store! I wouldn't call myself a collector, but I do have a few things that might appear that way to the casual observer. I have approximately 16 mismatched tea cups, 12 tea pots and 10 books about tea.

Just before I was married, my girlfriends hosted an Afternoon Tea Bridal Shower. The invitation requested that each guest bring a teacup to start my collection. I love them now, but at the time I thought, "what the heck I am going to do with a bunch of mismatched teacups?" And I still use the same 2 or 3 cups for my daily cuppa.

The books were a more natural extension of my interest in tea. EJ and I starting snapping up every book we could find about tea and tea parties as a part of our research to prepare for opening Two for Tea. On a recent excursion to the thrift store (a guilty pleasure since childhood), I found a copy of A Passion for Tea by Hattie Ellis. My mother already has a copy for which she paid full price at the local bookseller. It is not the best book about tea I've ever read, but it is a sweet little book with very nice photographs. Plus, who can deny anything useful that costs less than $2.00!

On of my favorite elements of Ellis' book is in "The Teas" chapter where she summarizes the various tea producing countries and the varieties for which they are best known. I forgive her for not including any African countries, since they are mostly known for beverages that are commonly called tea, but are really herbal beverages or tisanes.

So make that 11 books about tea.

Sharing the love,


Dara

Tea Shelf

{photo: www.designspongeonline.com}

I found this really sweet tea shelf on Design*Sponge while searching for inspiration. There is a lot of inspiration out there in the world! You never know what event, activity, book, photo or person will create your next aha! moment.

Two for Tea was inspired by a book EJ and I started writing about Entertaining & Tea. We never finished that book, because in the midst of researching and writing we were so overwhelmed with the desire to take our vision to the people that we opened our business. Now I am more inspired than ever to complete that book! I learned so much about entertaining while serving Afternoon Tea, I can't imagine not finishing the book.

Sharing the love of tea - inspired!

Happy Mother's Day

Every Mother's Day I struggle to find, create or share the perfect gift. I mean, how do you honor someone for giving you life, dealing with your pubescent years and then becoming your business partner? If we didn't already have a tea business, I would throw her a really great tea party.

Long before we started our business my mom (EJ) and I used to host wonderful Annual Afternoon Teas. Our first tea was an intimate affair with about eight women and three little girls in attendance. We planned, prepared and orchestrated everything ourselves. The menu was simple--scones, homemade lemon pound cake, a few finger sandwiches and several varieties of tea. We had such a good time, an annual tradition was born.

Our Afternoon Teas grew from 8 to upwards of 40 guests. Each year for six years we opened one or the other of our homes and shared our passion for people, entertaining and tea. On more than one occasion we had women call months in advance to make sure they were on the list and to see if they could invite a friend! So many people raved about our parties that we started to think about ways of bringing that atmosphere and tradition to an even larger group of people. Our business, Two for Tea is a direct result of those annual tea parties.

So my gift this Mother's Day is one of hope. I will not be throwing my mother a tea party, but I will brew a nice pot of tea and have her over in the afternoon. Our conversation will surely turn to our business and our plans for the future. It is at that point that I will again thank her for all that I am. Then, I will suggest that we find a way to march on and continue to promote our shared passion for tea.