Hello and welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea! Ad another interesting week in the saga...but too much info, already!
The week has been busy with planning our Thanksgiving dinner but mostly sitting through innumerable phone calls and visits to doctor's offices trying to get some clarification on medication changes ordered for my husband's Parkinson's Disease. But...life continues apace...blow from our local organic market Sunny Farms...
Tuesday Cuppa Tea this week will be about an afternoon tea we at the end of September in Victoria, BC Canada. We had a Canadian friend call who wanted to get together for a few hours while she was enroute on Vancouver Island, so we decided to go. After our time with her, we decided on having afternoon tea.
It happened to be during the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Vancouver Island, so we knew the Fairmont Empress was having a special Royal tea for 3 weeks...but, as we were last minute, it was booked up, so we had tea at the hotel Grand Pacific where we usually stay when in Victoria....
It is much more modern than the Empress, and convenient for us being right across the street from our Black Ball Ferry terminal. Their Pacific restaurant host their West Coast Afternoon tea... It's pretty minimalist decor...
I want to apologise in advance for the photos taken with my phone camera...not the best, but...this was the table setting...and notice the tea bowl instead of cup and saucer....the menu was definitely east/west and west coast in composition...lovely! And they have a tea sommelier!
There was a large selection of teas...green, white, black blended and wellness teas....I chose the Darjeeling...my favotire...and my husband had the Grans Pacific Blend especially blended for the hotel by Silk Road, a local tea blender.
The sommelier presented first the tea to show and explain them...The Organic Grand Pacific Tea is described as "A rejuvenating blend of ginger, green tea, lemongrass, lavender, rose, citrus and rose hips" and was delicious!
Each pot had a really cool locking steeper basket from the London Pottery Company.
The menu for the foods served was...in case you can't read this...
Amuse...
which in this case was a tempura Spot Prawn...a large local shrimp delicacy... skewered on a red pepper coulis...
Then the tower arrived...and contained savories on the bottom, then the scones and desserts on top:
Savories
Free run organic egg salad on smoked salmon rye bread pudding
Sake compressed cucumber on okonomi-yaki
Lime and sweet chile endamame
Chicken liver pate' on crostini
mini Dungeness Crab cake
Dill and baby Shrimp on mini croissant
Scones and Sweets
Pumpkin spice financier
Vanilla bean scones with cream and jam
Flavoured scone...
ours were orange cranberry
Lemon raspberry mousse slice
Salted caramel chocolate tart...
absolutely incredible delicious...glad they were small...I think...
Praline profiteroles
assorted truffles and macarons
We didn't finish it all, and it was really delicious. They also sent us home with small ins of the Grand Pacific tea as momentoes. Very nice!
My Jim Shore Thanksgiving angel is out...and I came across this on Facebook this week and shared it on my page, but it certainly puts the last few weeks in a nutshell...a refocusing on blessings...
I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with blessings and joy. We are so thankful for so many blessings, and I am thankful for each one of you. Thanks for brightening my day with your comments and emails. Hopefully things will be sorta back to normal this week...if I haven't forgotten what normal is! Lol!
And I wanted to announce the winner of the Winter Berry Blend Alaska tea drawing. The winner is:
Sandra Garvey!
There is a big EMAIL ME button on my left sidebar...please send my your snail mail address!
Congratulations!
Also...my Black Friday Cyber Monday sale has started...here is the code for 15% off at Antiques And Teacups and Time Was Antiques
Sales on my Etsy shops will reflect the discounted prices starting Wednesday, Nov. 23rd
Here are the blog parties I am joining:
Thanks so much for joining me for
tea! Here is the linky for your tea
related posts...please remember that it is SSSLLLOOOOOOWWWW but if you are
patient...it's there! And I love to read your comments, and I do read every one
if I can find and can get to you to visit! If you comment from Google+…it isn’t easy...so
forgive me if I am not replying to comments you so kindly leave...I am trying!
Hi Ruth, Too bad you missed tea with the Duke and Duchess. Every time I see a photo of them with their sweet little family I just have to smile! Thanks so much for hosting and have a blessed Thanksgiving week!
ReplyDeleteGina
What a nice tea time that you and your sweetie had in Vancouver, Ruth! Thank you for hosting and Happy Thanksgiving week to you.
ReplyDeleteYou had a lovely tea time. The treats look amazing and a nice variety too. You always share such interesting posts, Ruth. Happy Thanksgiving and may His blessings be abundant upon you and your hubby this week. Take care.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Sandi
Ruth, thank you for hosting. AND thank you for sharing your afternoon tea in Victoria with us. I'm not that keen on seafood, so that menu doesn't appeal to me, but I'm sure lots of people would love it.
ReplyDeleteVictoria is on my bucket list and it looks like Tea at the Grand Pacific is a must! I'm intrigued by their exotic fare! Thank you for hosting and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteDear Ruth:
ReplyDeleteI am just now catching comments, etc as we have had company and that means lots of cooking! Ha! I thank you for sharing and linking the lovely tea you enjoyed. You have been blessed to enjoy tea is so many wonderful places! How lovely. Thanks for sharing and linking!
Fun tea time, Ruth! Those sweets look yummy....Christine
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic menu. I wouls have choose that tea too! Thanks for hosting!~
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post - Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteRuth, how fun to have tea! We did one in Oct. while visiting Orange, CA. Years ago some of my friends and I went to the Tulip Festival in WA. We took the ferry to Victoria one day and enjoyed tea at the Empress. It was a first for all of us and what a wonderful tea it was! Hope things get worked out with your hubbies medication. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for sharing with SYC.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann
Ruth, thank you for hosting. Just wanted to let you know that the giveaway in my tea post I just linked is also open to people outside the US *if* they wish to have it shipped to someone in the US.
ReplyDelete