Port Townsend Victorian Heritage Days Tea Re Visited With New Photos

As this is the weekend of the Port Townsend Victorian Heritage Festival, I have done a partial repost from 2011 with additional photos I recently found from the afternoon tea...

In 2011 we attended events at Port Townsend, Washington during their Port Townsend Heritage Days. The town, about 30 miles from us on a peninsula with harbor on the Strait of Juan De Fuca and the Hood Canal and Puget Sound that calls itself the Victorian Seaport Village. The town has more than it's share of Victorian buildings, many that are BnBs.

We attended a Victorian Afternoon Tea, as it was billed at one of the BnBs. You were assigned to one of several that participated in the tea event when you purchased your ticket. We were assigned to The Old Consulate Inn and had 12 at the dining room table and had a 4 course meal with tea.

Some of the ladies came in costume from different eras. We had sisters in 1850s bustle outfits, a woman in an 1890s outfit and 2 ladies in 1910 dress. I had a long dress with a lace collar/jabot and antique painted brooch...not exactly period, but...

So here are some of the photos from the tea.

The Old Consulate Inn where the tea was held...

The 2 sisters who attended the weekend in period dress...

2 other ladies attending the festival weekend...

Costume backs...

The sideboard and silver tea set...

The magnificent parlor chandelier with the blown glass grape fixtures...

Another dining room buffet...

The fireplace in the foyer...

The dining room set for the afternoon tea...

The menu...

Starter

Baked Apple with Brandied Raisins and Pecans

Sandwiches

Seafood Salad in Puff Pastry

Cream Cheese & Olive on White Bread

Cucumber, Sprouts & Dill Spread On Wheat

Scones

Plain Sugar Crusted Scones with

Homemade Strawberry Jam & Double Cream 

Sweets

Toffee Crackers

Lemon Glazed Cupcakes

Shortbread Cookies with White Chocolate

Heritage Red Tea

The place settings... set with matching Limoges china...

The setting for the fruit or starter course...

I forgot to photograph the sandwiches... we were all having such a lovely time getting acquainted...

Scones course... and i almost forgot to photo this too!

So 2 photos of the Sweets course to make up for it! Lol!

We had a wonderful time and left stuffed!!!!  My DH didn't mind that he was the only male with 11 ladies...and he is certainly capable of holding his own. And as soon as he opens his mouth and the British accent is evident...well!

And a last photo of thedesk in the parlor and the stained glass window.

Thanks for visiting!

Hooray! Spring is Here! First Spring Teatime

Hello and welcome to spring... finally!

And after all our record snow this year... we are ready!

So, I enjoyed a spring tea in the sunroom... because it actually reached almost 70 outside today! Also a record!

I had found lots of spring things this week, and they combined into a nice tea!

I have a pretty Royal Albert Orange Blossom teacup in the Blossom Time series that features blossoming trees...

The shape on this teacup is interesting, because it is called the Royal Albert Shelley shape. When Royal Doulton took over Shelley and closed it in 1966, it released this shape and named it for Shelley. It is not the same as any Shelley shape, but very reminiscent of several.

And speaking of Shelley, I am also using a pretty pink Roses Shelley Dainty shape teacup that is very fun... because I have never had this pattern in my 30 years of dealing in Shelley China...

The Shelley pattern books are wonderful to identify the name of a pattern... but ya gotta be able to read the number... and on this one, I can't. I came up with about 10 different possibilities and none of them fit. 

Oh well... it's so pretty anyway!

I am sure you noticed my cute little spring chick cookies... I couldn't resist them! They were at the local market from the Seattle Shortbread Company and are gluten free. Very sweet, but fun for a spring treat...

I am using a Victorian era hot water jug or pitcher as a teapot today. The pretty hand painted enamels on transferware design has birds and flowers, with a pewter lid and is in the Aesthetic Movement or English Arts and Crafts style. Love it!

And a pair of candleholder made for sale through Victoria magazine in 1995 in a reissue by Royal Winton Grimwades, England of their famous Welbeck Chintz. There were only 500 made, and all are numbered...

I just love this chintz pattern!

And presiding over the tea table... my church birdhouse... a gift from my husband years ago... that I dearly love!

And, also from Victoria magazine, a spring quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...

Have a lovely week... so nice that we have had sunshine, and we are really enjoying the milder temperatures!
Thanks for visiting!

Irish Tea at Nourish Sequim

Yesterday, March 16th was  an Irish afternoon tea at our local organic locally sourced restaurant Nourish here in Sequim...

So happy my Honey is doing well enough with our new protein and meds schedule, and tea was exactly in the 1 hour window he can have protein at proper spacing from his medication!

This was taken last fall... with the snow just melted and spring arriving there was little in the garden this year so far...

The restaurant is a non pretentious almost industrial space... a lot different than a fancy tea room, but we are rural and this is an area mostly known for organic farms and lavender farms....

There was a choice of 2 tea menus... and we had the Dairy Free, which is always a good choice because of my allergies. Their teas are always gluten free as well.

We atarted with the tea menu... I always choose Darjeeling as it is my favorite tea. John branched out from his usual decaf black, and had a Lemon Ginger herbal. Both pots came with a tea strainer and a tea timer... mine for black tea...3 minutes; and John's for 7 minutes for the herbal.

The 3 tiered server arrived...

The savory course was Corned Beef on Caraway whole grain toast with pickled vegetable garnish...

which was very good...

and Smoked Salmon (locally caught and smoked) on crispy potate slices as this is the dairy free menu.

I don't like salmon particularly, but John said they were very good and he really like the potato base for a change from bread

The next level was Apple Tart with Raisin and Nut toppingand Chocolate Dipped Oat Flapjacks. In the US we call them oat bar cookies, but we were both raised with them as Flapjacks...

The Dairy-Free menu didn't have scones, it had the flapjacks instead...

And lastly, Chocolate Mousse. Quite good for dairy free.

We ate the sandwiches and the mousse but brought the tarts and flapjacks home and had them later.

Recently Chef Tanya and husband David, co-owners of Nourish and expat Brits were featured on a segment on Seattle King 5 TV...

and here is the link to our local paper

http://www.sequimgazette.com/business/sequims-nourish-featured-on-king5s-new-day-northwest/?fbclid=IwAR3MNxGUe8FlH9uhxadBaL04xLNIdWg7MJB-MS8PTXOM1nXR8R2YJa39kEk

and a link to the program segment on King 5 which includes Tanya cooking with recipes.

https://www.king5.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/new-day-northwest/nourish-sequims-organic-offerings-feed-the-body-and-soul/281-743ade5f-e12f-4d72-9021-a5a67203314a

Hope you have had a lovely St. Patrick's Day!

Happy National Pi Day... or Pie???

Today, March 14th, 2019 is National Pi day... but also appropriated by the pun and culinary minded as Pie Day...

Accoding to Life's Little Mysteries, here are the mostpopular pies in the US....

notice basically all are sweet.

Now, here is a similar chart for the UK... and most are savory.

In the UK, Yanks are known for their sweet tooth...

And where did PI and subsequently Pie Day come from?

It is celebrated in countries that follow the month/day (m/dd) date format, because the digits in the date, March 14 or 3/14, are the first three digits of π (3.14), Pi Day was founded by Physicist Larry Shaw in 1988.

So... now you know...

and my pie for the day...

I just made a Chicken and Mushroom pie...

So what was in your pie plate today????

Spring Forward, St. Patrick's Day, Irish Scones

Hello! Just want to remind my US followers, that tonight, March 9th into Sunday March 10th, we Spring Forward for Daylight Savings Time...

I must say, I wish they would leave it alone. It disrupts my husband's Parkinson's Disease medication schedule, and it takes a few days of feeling not so goo to catch up, and that's twice a year!

Washington State has a bill into the state senate to opt out, and I really hope it succeeds.

St. Patrick's Day is March 17th, and everyone feels Irish, don't they?

I recently acquired some Irish Belleek, so wanted to share them with you.

I have always loved Belleek, and vidited the pottery while in Ireland in the 1980s. Their oder pieces are so delicate and lovely!

And they have some lovely shamrock designs. This is called Shamrock or Harp... you can see the handle and lid finial is shaped like harps... isn't that lovely?

The teacup trios I got have a lovely basketweave with shamrocka, and I love the twig handles.

Until the mid 1980s, Belleek was easy to date, because the marks differ in what's included and color. This mark, for example, is the 3rd green mark which dates it to 1946-1955.

There was a period in the early 1980s, when they changed the material used to put the marks on and it didn't work with the glaze, and many items had their marks sidappear quite quickly. They fixed that, but you do sometimes find items you know are Belleek, but the marks are missing or wierd from that period.

Teacup trios available at Antiques And Teacups... just click the photos...

Here is an Irish treat for St. Patrick's Day...

from my little Irish cookbook...

This is A Little Irish Cookbook by John Murphy and here is the illustration by Karen Bailey of the Irish scones...

I made them, but made the in wedges which is our favorite...

Here is the simple recipe:

2 cups self raising flour
3 tbs butter
1/2 cup milk...I use almond milk
pink of salt and I added 2 tbs of dried currants

Sieve the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter quickly and lightly with the fingertips. Add the salt and then using a round bladed knife, mix in the milk a little at a time.  With floured hands knead lightly to a soft dough, adding a bit more milk if necessary. Roll out evenly to about 1 finger thick on a floured board. Cut out and cook on a greased cookie sheet close to the top of a pre-heated oven at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  They are best eaten for tea and do not store well.