| Events and Classes |
Dear Tea Lovers,
The latest newsletter is out! Included inside are tips for a great tea party, a scone recipe and more! Our tea of the month is: Rhapsody in Raspberry which is raspberry mango and it’s 25% off this month. Also be sure and check out our April special of free shipping for orders of $20.00 or more. Have a great Easter holiday!
Amy
Dear Tea Lovers,
Thanks to all who came to the class this Saturday. We had over 50 people there again! Wow! You all really amaze me! I am so grateful that so many people want to come to my classes. You’re amazing!
Unfortunately I printed out handouts for everyone but left them in the car! So, here’s the link to a pdf of the handout. I’m so sorry I forgot to give them to you!
Many people have asked if the information is in one of the cookbooks. The sandwich information is in the Master Tea Room Recipes cookbook. This book was originally intended for other tea rooms, caterers and people doing large parties but I’m finding that a lot of my customers are interested in this book as well. I’m sorry I didn’t have more copies at my booth. The cookbook is on special for $49.95 from now until April 30th.
The next class will be May 1st at 11:00 AM and will focus on Large Tea Parties, Brunches and Tea Buffets. Just in time for Mother’s Day!
Have a wonderful week! For all of you loyal on-liners, I have a few specials coming up for you. I didn’t want you to feel cheated because you couldn’t come to my classes. Look for them in April!
Amy
P.S. This is a note from Amy’s husband Pat. It’s time for KCRA’s A-List again. Somebody nominated An Afternoon to Remember. For that, we thank you. The fact that we are getting any votes after the tea room closed is an amazing testament to you, our customers. I am not asking that you vote for us since the tea room is no longer open. However, if you are willing to support a passion of mine beyond my family I would be greatful. If you could vote for Bedwell’s Karate that would be fantastic (or if you know anybody who could benefit from the martial arts, send them our way.)
Dear Tea Lovers,
This is just a reminder that the “How to Make and Garnish Tea Sandwiches,” class will be this Saturday, March 27th at 11:00 AM at the Antique Trove in Roseville.
This class will focus on:
All classes are free and you don’t need to sign up. However, if you think you might attend, please send me an e-mail so that I’ll know about how many to prepare for — we’ll taste teas and a few goodies. Hope to see you there!
Update on cookbook:
Our new cookbook will be out soon! The proof came back but there were a few corrections so we’re waiting on the second proof. I’ll let you know when the final copies arrive. I can’t wait to share it with you!
Next class:
Brunch Ideas for tea buffets for Spring and Mother’s Day! April 10th at 11:00 AM.
Have a wonderful Day!
Amy
Dear Tea Lovers,
Thanks to all of you who attended my last class! We had a fantastic turnout! Wow! I meant to have my husband take a picture but I forgot. Hope you are all having fun making sugar!
For those of you who missed the class, the sugar recipe is in the, “Making It Your Own Afternoon to Remember,” cookbook. The Almond Fruit Tea Spritzer recipe we served is in the, “Tea Time Tidbits and Treats,” cookbook.
Some helpful tips to remember when making sugar:
Here’s where you can find an assortment of candy molds to make the sugar: www.candymoldcentral.com.
Our next class will be on March 27th. How to Make and Garnish Tea Sandwiches. This class will focus on:
If you are interested in large tea party recipes, be sure and check out our “Master Tea Room Recipes,” cookbook. This book is full of tea sandwiches, desserts, and scones and the recipes are all geared toward large parties. If you’re not sure how much filling you will need to make 100 tea sandwiches, this is the book for you!
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, all tea will be 15% off on March 17th (on-line only) until midnight. Stock up on your favorite teas!
Have a wonderful day! Check out my tea plant. Isn’t it gorgeous! Can you believe a delicious cup of tea comes from two leaves and a bud? That is all they pick — the tender leaves. Unfortunately my plant is not big enough to make much tea, but I still love looking at the leaves anyway.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Amy
Calendar Updates:
Dear Tea Lovers,
Now that we’ve had a few nice days here (even though it’s back to rain at the moment), I have spring fever. I worked in my garden a bit, bought some new plants and cleaned up my patio. I also finished the new cookbook! I have a bit of editing to do this week and then it’s off to be published. This past weekend, I had a big party at my house and made recipes from the cookbook so we could get take a picture for the cover. As many of you know, we try and do things ourselves, but we are a bit challenged in the photography department. One of our friends who is an artist came over and just “magically” rearranged all of the food and now we have a great photo! I can’t wait to share it with you!
I’m also looking forward to my next class coming up this Saturday at 11:00 at the Antique Trove. I’ll be talking about Spring Tea Parties and how to make decorative sugar. I love to teach this class! It’s fun and even though it’s still a bit chilly, it gets me in the mood to have an outdoor tea party. There are so many cute ways you can decorate for a spring tea party, especially with Easter right around the corner.
I should receive our new sugars, new tea cup votives and menu stands just in time for Saturday. They are so cute! I’ll put them on-line when they arrive for those of you out of towners. In addition I also have another spring shipment coming with buffet markers, tea cup ornaments, dessert stands and a few other goodies. They probably won’t be here before March 6th, but we’ll cross our fingers!
I know there is a lot of excitement about this class in particular. It’s also a great help if you are doing a wedding shower or baby shower tea party. The class is free and you don’t need to sign up. However, it would help me greatly for preparation purposes, if you think you might attend, if you would please just hit “reply” to let me know you might be there — that way I have an idea for food and tea preparation and chairs. Thanks! Hope to see you there!
For all of my loyal and patient on-line customers, I did receive quite a few responses about on-line classes. I’ll be working on that new project for you this summer. Unfortunately it will have to wait until then. My spring schedule is pretty busy as I’m writing a book for tea room owners and need to get it published before the World Tea Expo in June.
Have a wonderful day! Hope to see many of you on Saturday!
Amy
Events:
Smoked Almond Chicken Salad Recipe:
This is one of my favorite tea sandwiches. Regular almonds will work fine, but the smoked almonds really make the difference in this recipe. Many places carry smoked almonds in bulk such as Costco and also Winco (in the bins).
Mix together first 4 ingredients. Add just enough mayonnaise to bind the
mixture together. Spread butter on bread. Add filling and top with second
slice. Cut into desired shapes. Sprinkle parsley on sides of sandwiches for
decoration if desired.
Dear Tea Lovers,
You know, spring is just around the corner! My tea plant is blooming and it has new leaf shoots. I can also tell because the spring merchandise has arrived! We now have cute colored 3 cup pots in various colors – pink, mojito lime, plum, spring yellow and sky blue, plus a new pretty white porcelain 2 cup pot! If you’re looking for a gift for a special someone, these are perfect when paired with the 2.5 inch mesh infuser basket and a 2 oz bag of tea. The basket infuser just fits inside the pot perfectly. I’ll be putting up pictures soon on the website.
More decorative sugars are on their way. We did receive a small order last week so currently we do have heart petite packs and shamrock/heart petite packs. Those will also be on the web site soon.
At the present time, I’m working hard on the new cookbook. This one has been particularly fun to work on as it brings back memories from my childhood. I should have it finished by the end of this week and then it’s off to the printer so you’ll have it in late March. I can’t wait to share it with you!
Updates:
March 6th at 11AM (at the Antique Trove) How to Host a Spring Tea Party and Make Your Own Decorative Sugars – the molds have arrived and I’ll be selling them on this day only. You’ll learn special tips on creating a tea party menu, how many guests to invite, how to prepare all that food in a timely manner and more!
Coming in April – Kick off for the new cookbook. I’ll be demonstrating how to make a few of my favorite recipes from the new cookbook. Come join me! (Of course tasting will be involved)!
Have a fantastic day! I know I will, I’m starting my day off with a great cup of Makaibari Darjeeling. I haven’t had it in a while. Yum!
Amy
Dear Tea Lovers,
To those who attended my scone class this past Saturday, I was literally blown away by the attendance! We had over 50 people there! Thank you so much! I really appreciate you coming and I’m sorry we didn’t have enough chairs for all of you. It was just amazing!
I thought I would send you the link to our YouTube video, How to Make Cranberry Orange Scones. The scone lesson is good, but I was a bit smile challenged at the point we did this take. This was the fourth or fifth take and I was still very nervous and trying to concentrate. It’s harder than it looks! :-)
We should have new inventory in later this week. The Valentine’s sugars arrived and we also have hearts and shamrock sugars as well. The rest of the sugar order will be in shortly and when it arrives, I’ll take pictures and put it up on-line for those of you who can’t get to the Antique Trove.
Our next class will be on March 6th at 11AM. I’ll be talking about how to do a spring tea and demonstrating how to make decorative sugars. For those of you who can’t wait, the recipe is in Making It Your Own Afternoon to Remember (page 19).
I hope to see you then!
Amy
My husband loves Rum Cake. My original recipe is in my first cookbook, however after tasting my aunt’s, I decided that my own recipe was in need of an update. So here’s the result. It’s a combination of the two cakes. See what you think. It’s still easy and quick to make so it might be a great one for Valentine’s Day as well.
Double Rum Cake Recipe:
Rum Sauce:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a non-stick 2 qt. Bundt pan with cooking spray. Using an electric mixer at low speed, blend the cake mix, pudding mix, coconut, rum, oil and 1/2 c. water. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition.
Evenly distribute the pecans in the bottom of the Bundt pan. Pour the batter on top of the pecans. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.
Make the rum sauce:
In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, butter, rum and dash of water to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. With a fork, make holes in the top of the cake. Pour 1/2 of the sauce over the cake and let sit for 10 minutes.
Invert pan onto a serving plate. Pour the other 1/2 of the sauce over the top of cake. Serve when cooled.
Dear Tea Lovers,
Don’t forget about our scone class this Saturday at 11AM at the Antique Trove. I’ll be making Chocolate Raspberry Scones and Devonshire Cream. Yummy! Scones are a unique Valentine’s Day present. They look cute wrapped up in red cellophane along with a jar of homemade Devonshire Cream. Your friends and family will love you!
Updates:
February 15th – Last day to pre-order cookbook #6 with free shipping
Coming Soon – New Spring Merchandise:
I just put in a few orders for more tea accessories, I’ll let you know when they arrive. Included will be spring colored tea pots, tart servers, tongs, sugar molds (we’ll be having a class in March on how to make colored sugar), and of course the darling spring sugars. There are shamrocks with hearts, roses, and tea cups. I even ordered some from the seashore collection. They are so cute with mini sea horses and sea shells. I’ll let you know when they arrive and I’ll be putting them on-line as well.
I did order a few Valentine’s sugars and hopefully they will be here in time for the scone class on Saturday.
Hope to see you there!
For the on-line only customers, I’m working on doing some classes via web. Stay tuned for more! If you’d be interested in an on-line class, send me an e-mail. That way I’ll know how big the interest is, it might help to get me motivated. :)
Thanks!
Have a great day!
Amy
This morning as I was drinking my early morning tea on my patio talking to my mom on the phone, my son was in the kitchen making himself a pot of tea. When I came back inside, I was greeted by a happy, “Hi Mom! Guess what tea I made?” On the kitchen table he had placed a paper towel with a wet tea leaf and a dry tea leaf. He showed them to me and said, “What kind do you think I made?” I looked at the leaves, smelled them and said, “Some kind of oolong, maybe Tung Ting?” He said, “Nope, I made Jade Oolong!” He makes me smile. He’s so happy about his tea. Of the 120 different kinds I have, including flavored teas, he follows his mother on tea choice and picks out a pure oolong tea. That’s my boy!
Dear Tea Lovers,
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Can you believe it? It’s the perfect occasion to make our Chocolate Raspberry Scones. Impress your family and friends with these delicious treats. When served hot, they just melt in your mouth. You can learn how to make them on February 6th at 11AM at the Antique Trove. The class will cover making these delicious scones as well as Devonshire Cream (of course you’ll get to sample one, hope to see you there!) If you’re adventurous, the recipe is in Making It Your Own Afternoon to Remember so you can try it on your own. These are probably the hardest scones out of the bunch to make – but they’re worth it as are the Chocolate Mocha Chip Mini Cakes. The mini cake recipe is found at the bottom of this message. :-)
In honor of Valentine’s Day, all chocolate teas are 15% off for the month of February (on-line only.) This includes: Chocolate Mocha Spice, Chocolate Peppermint, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, Chocolate Delight, Sweet Almond Joy, Tiger Eye, Moonlight Sonata (cherry, chocolate) and our new one, Chocolate Caramel Turtle. These teas make perfect gifts for those watching their weight and who are trying to avoid those wonderful Valentine’s chocolates.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Amy
Upcoming Events:
Recipe:
Chocolate Mocha Chip Mini Cakes p. 99 (Tea Time Tidbits and Treats)
Glaze:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together first six ingredients. Beat until well mixed about 3 minutes.
Fold in chocolate chips. Spray mini bundt pans with flour spray. Fill pans with batter about two-thirds full. Bake about 10-13 minutes or until done with a toothpick. Cool completely before glazing. Makes about 36 mini bundt cakes. These freeze very well.
For glaze:
Mix sugar and cocoa together. Gradually add 2-4 T. hot water until desired consistency. Drizzle over cakes or make the glaze thin enough so you can actually dip the cooled cakes into the glaze.