Lady's Tea Time was created by Lady Estelle of Providence. With her passion for the Victorian style of socializing, she wanted to incorporate it as the theme to her Tea corner of her home. Tea Time is not a tea rooms, tea parlors or coffee shops. It is a place to come and enjoy a custom designed tea experience..One can come to socialize or just relax with Lady Estelle
Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers, mothers-to-be and grandmothers.
Hope you all are celebrating with a tea or two. This day brings to mind of the mother-to- be!
PLANNING A VICTORIAN BABY SHOWER TEA?
The "showering" of a the
"Mommy-to-Be" has been popular in many countries for hundreds of years,
but not in the style we know it today.
Gifts were given when after a
baby was born -- usually at the baby's religious christening or at the
baby's debut (it was very common until the middle of this century that
no one was invited to the house until the baby was at least a month old
because of the fear of diseases).
In the very late 1800's, Victorian ladies began having teas for mommy, but not till after the baby was born because pregnant women did not appear in public. In the early 1900's, the teas transformed into "showers" (based on the "showering" of the bride before her marriage)
and umbrellas became symbolic because it was customary for ladies to
carry parasols when they attended these afternoon gatherings. Almost all of the gifts were handmade except the silver that was given to the babies by the grandmothers. In today's world, baby showers are customary and great fun -- especially for a first-time mommy and are referred to as "sprinkles" for mothers having second or more children.
Valentine's
Day is one of my favorite days of the year. It was one of the most celebrated in the Victorian era outside of Christmas. One was able to show their feeling of affection openly during this time. So what could be better than
the Celebration of Love with friends and loved ones at a Tea Party?
Chocolate is also my all time favorite! So together it makes for a fabulous celebration. Just think, Chocolate and Tea together!
So, dazzle yourself in your finest RED ATTIREand enjoy a afternoon and evening of wonderful chocolate delights and delectable Teas. It will be a treat to enchant any Lover!
Please bring a Valentine's Day card for a fun card swap!
Tea pairs well with many foods, but one of the most heavenly
combinations for tea lovers who happen to be chocoholics is, of course,
tea and chocolate
While experimenting with different flavor
combinations can yield tasty results, there is something of a science
behind knowing which varieties of tea will best complement which types
of chocolate. The key is to consider the strength, depth, and subtle
notes of the flavors you're pairing. Strong black teas like smoky lapsang souchong, for instance, pair well with darker, more robust chocolates, according to chocolatier Patricia Christopher, who owns Patricia's Chocolate in Grand Haven, Michigan, while lighter teas, such as Adagio's white peach tea and most rooibos blends, are better suited to milk or white chocolate.
A
tea lover herself, Christopher created her own collection of six
tea-infused chocolates. Her almond oolong flavor is made with a luscious
dark chocolate ganache combined with Shui Xiang oolong tea, herbal red
top clover, and almonds.
In a proper tea and chocolate pairing,
the tea should not wash away the flavors of the chocolate. "You need
flavors that will stand up to each other," Christopher explains. "If you
take a bite of chocolate, and then you have a sip of tea, and you still
taste the flavor of the chocolate, then you know it's a good pairing."
Her favorite combination is Earl Grey with a dark chocolate — something
around 61 percent or higher. Quality Counts To get the
most out of your pairing, be picky about the quality of the tea and
chocolate you choose. "You really need to use a good quality chocolate,
something with a couverture, or a percentage," Christopher says. "That
generally means it's made with cocoa butter unlike some of your less
expensive chocolates that have hydrogenated oils in them." For a
chocolate bar whose label says it's 85 percent cocoa, that means that 85
percent of the ingredients come from the cacao bean, and the remaining
15 percent is sugar, according to Christopher.
The cocoa butter
from the cacao bean is what coats your tongue, capturing all those rich
chocolatey flavors, so when you take a sip of tea, the taste of the
chocolate enhances the taste of the tea, and vice versa. "Look for
chocolate without hydrogenated oils, that's all cocoa butter — you'll
get pure flavor that way," Christopher suggests.
Tasting Tips Once you've chosen your chocolate and brewed your perfect cup of tea, it's time for a tasting.
For
best results when pairing flavored chocolates with tea, follow the
guidelines of the Lindt chocolate company's chocolate and tea tasting guide:
"Slurp some of the liquid so that it sprays to the back of your mouth
reaching the furthest taste buds. Make sure you breathe to take full
advantage of the character of the tea. Swirl the liquid to coat your
mouth and swallow, then take a bite of the chocolate." Sipping your tea
prior to eating the chocolate will warm your mouth, allowing the
chocolate to melt faster and evenly and making the tea and the flavors
of the chocolate that much more savory together.
For chocolate
with a higher cocoa content, the tasting process is reversed, according
to Lindt's guide. You first eat the chocolate, and then you sip the tea
so that the flavors of the tea will heighten all those rich cocoa
flavors. Think Outside the Cup Pairing chocolate with tea doesn't always have to include brewing tea leaves. Pam Vieau, a chocolatier and owner of Chocolate Inspirations
based outside Chicago, makes chocolate bars with dry tea artfully
sprinkled on top to add both a decorative touch and a punch of tea
taste. In fact, Vieau makes tea-topped chocolate bars for the Adagio
Teas store in Chicago. One of her first pairings featured Adagio's peach oolong
tea, which she says she immediately fell in love with when she first
tried it, combined with milk chocolate. She also makes a milk chocolate
bar topped with Adagio's vanilla oolong and almond oolong teas.
Aside
from the bars she provides for the Adagio store, Vieau also makes
nearly a dozen of her own tea bar varieties. Her Christmas tea bar,
which is available in white or dark chocolate, is topped with a black
tea blended with orange peel, cinnamon, cardamom, peppermint, spearmint,
and clove. She also makes a raspberry rose tea bar, also available in
either white or dark chocolate, that's sprinkled with a Sri Lankan black
tea blended with raspberry pieces, blackberry leaves, rose petals, and
Himalayan pink sea salt.
Unlike a pairing where you're sipping
tea and eating chocolate to heighten the flavors of both, you're mostly
getting the flavors of the chocolate when you're eating one of Vieau's
tea-topped bars. "You do want the impact of the tea flavor to come
through though," says Vieau. "You don't want to be eating a bar of
chocolate and saying 'Oh, I kind of taste the tea somewhere.' You want
to get experience the full flavor of the tea as well."
