Oops!

I know I promised to post the caramel video today, but life got in the way. Specifically, Dartmouth announced their next president today, which means my poor hubby had to work all weekend to get video material ready for the announcement. He was spirited away to Boston on Friday (under cover of a signed confidentiality agreement) to tape an interview of the new guy, Dr. Kim, and then worked all weekend to edit the clips. So while he was racking up loads of overtime pay (yay!), my video is not quite yet ready to go. See, I do the first edit (the "rough cut"), but I'm reliant on Dan to finish it up by mixing the sound and correcting the color. (Since we shoot in our kitchen, which has only one window - a large skylight - the light color and quality can change drastically over the short period of time that we are actively shooting.) My saint of a husband is now putting on the finishing touches (instead of catching up on sleep, as he should be) so hopefully I can post the video tomorrow.

In the meantime, however, let's take a tea break.

Remember my resolution to drink more green tea? I'm not doing so well with that. I'm still drinking mostly black tea. I think I've had three cups of green tea so far this year. Bad Sarah! (I've also made no progress with the fish resolution, but that should change soon - pollock filets are on sale this week and I plan to stock up!)


But can you blame me, really, when such delectable teas as this Twinings Lady Grey are tempting me? The decorative flecks of cornflower almost make this too pretty to drink. I'll have to use this tea in some scones or tea cookies soon. I picked it up right after Christmas. Dan loves the tins that Twinings loose tea comes in because they are so useful for storing small items; we keep our laundry quarters in one.


The little tea house was a Christmas gift from my Aunt Gail. It's perfect for brewing a single cup and comes with a tiny tray to set it on when you take it out. The enormous round cup was a Listen Center find; after trolling Home Goods, the Christmas Tree Shop, and numerous other stores in search of the perfect oversized mug, I gave up - and promptly found this beauty for only a quarter.

Year in Review: Autumn Afternoon Tea

Remember when we took Grammy to the tea room? While we were comparing our cups and plates and playfully arguing over who was using the prettiest ones, Grammy remarked that she had a beautiful teacup collection of her own and lamented that her lovely cups and saucers sat on a shelf and were never used. "Why not have a tea party?" asked Dan, and so a plan was hatched.


Grammy and I worked out the menu and settled on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for a date, since many people (including Dan and I) would be back in Maine that weekend. I printed invitations at the letterpress studio on campus. The day after Thanksgiving, the three of us shopped for ingredients and prepared the table. The hardest part of this was choosing our ten favorite cup and saucer sets out of Grammy's collection of around three dozen.


The next morning, I made two batches of scones while Dan and Grammy made all the sandwiches. Grammy had already made some cookies and I had previously baked an applesauce spice cake with cream cheese frosting.

The full menu:
-Earl Grey scones
-cranberry-almond scones
-blueberry muffins (brought by Aunt Gail)
-lemon curd, clotted cream, and apricot jam for the pastries
-chicken salad on French bread
-cucumber sandwiches (no crusts)
-rye toasts with cream cheese and olives
-almond-raspberry cookies
-applesauce spice cake with cream cheese frosting
-cream puffs (purchased)
-Swiss rolls (also purchased)
-three kinds of tea: Earl Grey, Scottish Breakfast, and classic orange pekoe


We had a wonderful time! We sipped and nibbled and chatted the afternoon away. As the only female out of seven grandchildren, I've always been surrounded by boys. I like boys, I really do, but having a room full of women at Grammy's house was a refreshing change.


Dan was allowed to attend, despite not being a woman, because, well, the party was his idea! But he's also a wonderful man who can appreciate a nice, civilized tea. However, he did spend most of the party in the other room, having been dragged there by our niece, Leah, who, at two years old, has better things to do than sit at a table while we drink tea. Instead, she and Dan played bedtime: she ordered him to lie down on the couch, covered him with a blanket, said goodnight, and then commanded, "My turn! Switch!" This was the pattern for about an hour and a half, although at one point, Dan asked for a lullaby and was gifted with a rare live performance of Leah's hit John Denver cover, "Sunshine on My Shoulders Makes Me Happy."

Out to Eat: Jacqueline's Tea Room

I recently visited Jacqueline's Tea Room, a lovely little house in Freeport, Maine, where for $23.75 per person, you get a pre-set four-course menu and all the tea you could possibly drink (from a selection of about seventy varieties!).

Jacqueline sets the tables with teapots, cups, saucers, and plates from her extensive personal collection.


Grammy came along for the first time. White wrought iron, floral prints, and pearl-bedecked crystal chandeliers make up the little-girl's-fantasy decor.


For Dan and I, this was the second visit. On display throughout the house are books, stationery, scarves, jewelry, and of course, tea implements, all of which are for sale. You can also purchase any of the dozens of teas on the menu.


We started with scones. Here's a delicious almond scone with clotted cream and lemon curd. Strawberry-raspberry-cherry jam was also available.


Next came the tea sandwiches. Clockwise from the top: chicken salad, peach and ginger, salmon roll, cucumber with lavender. All were tasty, but this was the best chicken salad I've ever had: bedecked with cranberries, almonds, and celery, and held together with something that didn't quite taste like mayonnaise (a plus, since I am not a mayo fan). The peach and ginger was delicious, too, and could have easily been included on the pastry plate.


And what a pastry selection it was! Clockwise from top left: nut cakes with caramel, chocolate-cherry cake, jam tarts with Earl Grey cream, and almond macaroons with passion-fruit curd. The maraschino cherry baked in a chocolate cupcake was my least favorite; it's a cute concept, but the flavor was just not as interesting as anything else on the plate.


Both Dan and I agreed that the nut cake was the best. The texture was moist and incredibly velvety, and the caramel was just right.


For the final course, a touch of berry sorbet graced with a nasturtium. In the cooler months, instead of ending with sorbet, the meal begins with a cup of soup. By this point we were absolutely stuffed; between the three of us, we'd gone through at least six pots of tea.


Having been twice now, I can definitely say that I love Jacqueline's Tea Room. It's the perfect place for a bridal or baby shower or just a special treat!


Jacqueline's Tea Room is open Tuesday through Friday and every other weekend, with seatings at 11am and 1pm. Reservations required.

Jacqueline's Tea Room
201 Main Street
Freeport, Maine
207-865-2123