Valentine Tea Time

 A double date for Valentine's Day tea was fun and something

my "live-in gardener" and I haven't done for many years.

 Off to Medley's for afternoon tea.
It's a fairly new tea cafe here in Portland's Multnomah Village.

 Cauliflower Beet Soup was served as part of the tea platter.

I choose a small pot of Darjeeling tea.

 The Platter was designated as their full afternoon tea for two.
Quiche, Sandwiches were Salmon Dill, Egg Salad, and Cucumber

Scone with mock cream and strawberry jam

Crepe filled with jam

Raspberry cupcake, Sugar cookie, brownie, Poppyseed and Blueberry tea bread,

and coconut macaroon with chocolate icing

The platter was for two people and then you order your tea separately

so each item, except the savories was cut in half.
A very different way of serving tea, but it seemed to work.

 You pick your teacup to use from a shelf.

Something to remember:

Don't leave your box of goodies on the table when you leave!

When I returned about 10 minutes later they had been tossed.

The tea shop was gracious to fill another box with 3 items to enjoy later,

though I really wanted that cupcake.   Sniff!
It was a fun, casual place to enjoy good friends and tea time too.

Medley, a Tea Cafe
7881 S.W. Capital Highway
Portland, Oregon
www.medleytea.com

Valentine and Tea time

Saturday I got to play at T Project, making Valentine's and sipping tea.

What fun we had playing with paper and glue.

Teri is such a lovely host.

While we played she read poetry to us.

Now how fun is that!?

Her shop is a mixture of art exhibits and tea.

We sipped I'll Take you There, a Darjeeling with vanilla bean, pink peppercorns,
rare tea flowers.  This is my favorite. 
Then we sipped Voila, an Indian black with spices, fennel,
safflower, roses, lavender, bergamot
Teri's specialties are blending teas with flowers and herbs.

 

You can find her website and details here:  http://www.tprojectshop.com/

If you are in the area sign up for her email notifications,

 she has wonderful events from time to time. 

Sending love for Valentine's Day and all year long.

May each of you feel the love each and every day.

hugs!!!

Walk with Me - My Neighborhood. A Bit Political

Yes, my neighborhood tends to be a bit political;

so when I went walking on a rare clear day recently

these are the signs that did confirm that.

And then I just had to smile to see several old fashion

styles of entertainment hanging in trees.

One intersection had trees drawn on the road in

each direction with a medallion in the middle.

Yes, my neighborhood also loves art and

next week we will walk by many of the murals.

Then I found berries and touches of color here and there.

I love witch hazel; so when I saw this I had to run home

to see if mine was blooming, mine not so much.

Our neighborhood elementary school has decorated

the fence with flags and children's artwork on the fence.

This always makes me smile.

Do you enjoy walking in your neighborhood?

I will be happy when I can venture further with my little photographer in tow.

There has been a lot of rain lately, but we are beginning to see signs of spring.

Chocolate Medallions and Flowers

Reminding myself here that Valentine's Day is just days away.

Flowers and chocolates are definitely part of this day of love.

Do you love giving or receiving flowers and chocolates?

I do!  I love both giving and receiving.

 The flowers here are reminiscent of the paper whites which bloomed not long ago.

The chocolate medallions come from a memory of visiting chocolate shops in Paris.

Oh how I loved visiting there and carrying home a small box of chocolates.

I was fascinated by the chocolate medallions and kept saying I must try

my hand at making them.

Recently I had some Hershey kisses in the house,

so I unwrapped a hand full, put them in a microwave safe cup,

and melted them.  Only 20 seconds at a time, just enough so you could

stir them to melt the rest of the way.

Then I swirled a teaspoon of chocolate onto parchment paper

and scavenged in my cupboard for things to add to the chocolate.

Just about any nut or seed would work, plus dried fruit, and because

it would soon be Valentine's day I added red hot candies.

Then the pan of medallions were tucked in the refrigerator to firm up.

I was pleased with the results and actually enjoyed them more than

in their original form as a Hershey kiss.

Let your imagination run wild.

Now wouldn't these chocolate medallions along with a bouquet of flowers
 be fun for Valentine's?
They would be perfect for tea time too, YES! both flowers and chocolate.

HAPPY WEEKEND, dear friends!

Some Days!

 Do you ever have days where you want to sit and dream a bit?

 Maybe sip a cup of tea and nibble on a cookie?

 Or sit in a garden and smell the roses?

 Maybe toss in a sweet surprise?

I do!

Today is one of those days when it is wet and drippy outside that I dream.

Dream away with me!

Chinese New Year's celebration with Tea

Shiuwen from Floating Leaves
in Seattle travels to Portland twice a year to
share tea with the WuWo Tea Ceremony group I belong to.
She entertains us with her stories,
she pours tea for us,
and we laugh and share food together.

Shiuwen and David of PDX Tea poured together
with the gathering on Sunday.

Just a little of the spent tea in the above bowl.

We tasted 8 different teas and

each and everyone of them was delicious.

The tea comes in all shades of lovely.
Now sipping in my cup at home is a delicious Dong Ding Traditional,
which is a bit heavier and less floral, more roasty than the floral oolongs I usually purchase.
Shiuwen had some fun stories of the Dong Ding tea master.
She said, I think I almost met the tea master too late.
She is hoping to film him later this year to preserve some of his story.

One of the guests brought her collection of small yiqing teapots to share with us.

My contribution to the food table was a cherry mochi.

It was my first time making cherry mochi and I did like it.

Tea in my cup and a cherry in my mochi, almost feels like a Valentine in my hand.
This was a celebration of Chinese New Year, but the celebration continues into the
month with Valentines coming soon.

Walk with Me - Winter Lights

 Saturday evening I walked again along the Willamette River,

but this time alone and in twilight and darkness.

The trees were filled with these poofs and twinkled as the

darkness arrived.

 It was the Winter Festival of Lights.

The children played.

Many adults donned light all around.

 There were sculptures in light and color.

 As the lights played through the hanging display, 

the children laughed and danced.

 My favorite sight was of the city and the paddle boat all lite up in festive array.

 There were lights above.

 There was a field of bunnies to delight.

 And I walked down the dark, lite pathway along the river at night.

 Walks take place even in Winter and in Darkness,

but we are always searching for the light.