Afternoon tea in northeast Pennsylvania — how sweet it is

Adding the spice to Sugar's, owner Cheryl Roman

review of Sugar's Tearoom & Gift Shoppe 
Forty Fort, PA

by Joy de Vivre

I decided to 'go green' by getting rid of my car 3 years ago this week.  If I'd realized how drastically it would've limited my freedom to go to afternoon tea, frankly I may have opted to continue guzzling gas.  It had been far too long since I'd been to a tea room for the first time, when at last I got my fix by visiting Sugar's Tearoom last week.  And I couldn't have chosen a better place to end my unintentional abstinence.

Sugar's is delightful in every way, as is its staff.  Server April, shop girl Linda and owner Cheryl are all gracious and lovely, genuine and sincere. And it is clear they all love being part of the tearoom experience.  From the moment we walked into the wonderland that is the gift shop, we were greeted with warmth, color and creativity.  The merchandise is diverse and plentiful and the polka-dotted, black and fuchsia shop itself set the tone for whimsy and a wonderful, jovial time!

The tearoom is comprised of multiple adjoining rooms of a house —my favorite set-up!  Each space has been lovingly decorated with an eye to feminine fun, down to the details, including borrowable hats.  And the home in and of itself is beautiful.

In short, Sugar's does everything right!

My enthusiastic companion and I order 'the works' as I am wont to do when going to a tea room for the first time.  It included generous portions of:

• SCONES - 3 types —buttermilk, white chocolate cherry, and cinnamon — all delish, served with festive blue whipped cream and coffee flavored whip 
• SOUP - they had 2 flavors so, of course, we split both — chicken rice and tomato basil. Yum!
• SALAD - mixed greens with carrot shaving, cucumber and tomato, with our choice of dressing being the house raspberry poppy seed
• TEA SANDWICHES (5) - tuna, egg salad and chicken salads, cucumber cream cheese, and olive —all served open-faced with adorably piped colored cream cheese flowers as garnish 
• DESSERT - we opted for 2 types of cake that I can't recall as I was too darn full at the time to notice!  Suffice it to say, they were scrumptuous
• POT OF TEA - I ordered the chocolate almond tea du jour and my tablemate selected the Versailles Lavender Earl Grey

The amounts served were more than ample, and from the first course, I saw a 'to go' box in my future.  Even the burly, manly man who joined me was surprised at how full he was, to the extent that he had no room left for dessert... which dessert I cheerfully added to the crammed to go box and enjoyed with coffee for breakfast the next morning.

Whether you'd like to steal away for a simple cuppa, or plan to attend one of their frequent oh so special theme events, Sugar's is sure to satisfy more than your sweet tooth.  In fact, I've already put a second visit to the tearoom at the top of my Christmas list.

Sugar's Tearoom & Gift Shoppe site
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{This is #410 of different tearooms I've visited}

The Great Gatz Tea

When Jay Gatsby (nee James Gatz) arranged an afternoon tea for long lost love Daisy Buchanan, it was far from the leisurely respite most of us look forward to.  Rather, he was a bundle of nerves to the point of grumpiness.  

Fortunately for Harvey Nichols patrons, they can enjoy an opulent 1920s tea without the tension.  Here's their Gatsby inspired Roaring 20s Tea menu that commenced 1 May, 2013.

Illegal Libations
In the spirit of Prohibition, choose either a coupette of Champagne with gold leaf, or a Prohibition Pink Lady cocktail: a blend of gin, lemon juice, grenadine and cointreau garnished by a sunken maraschino cherry.

Savouries

• Pigs in a blanket
• Chicken Caesar roulade
• Blini ‘gribiche’
• Lobster roll
• Summer Fruit and plain scone, clotted cream and Champagne jam

Sweets

• White chocolate and coconut pearl macaroon (in jewelry box)
• Bootlegger rum, coffee and chocolate cake garnished with fireworks chocolate transfer
• Pineapple upside-down cake, garnished with jewel
• Gin Rickeys (mini martini glass), finished with crème de menthe jelly and a cocktail cherry
• Harvey Nichols peanut butter, cocoa-dusted cigar (from a Gatsby cigar box)

The Roaring 20s Afternoon Tea is served daily from 3pm – 5pm.  £30 for Afternoon Tea and £40 with the champagne or cocktail.

Mermaid Tea Under the Sea

Low tide high tea by ~wovenlines at deviantART

"I'd like to be...
under the sea...
in an octopus's garden
DRINKING TEA!"

So rang the lyrics of our Fairy Tale Tea production of The Little Mermaid.  But mermaid tea parties are not just for guppies.  Today, we chum the waters of inspiration with a sprinkling of oceanic ideas to make your Summer tea party a splash!

TEA
Empress Tea Company's Tropical Green tea: Green tea, safflowers, marigolds, blue mallow flowers, cornflowers (like the ones mentioned in The Little Mermaid!) with mango and passion fruit flavors.


SANDWICHES

Here are a few simple suggestions to keep your kitchen time to a minimum
Yield: 8 servings

'Sea' Cucumber
by Joy de Vivre

• thinly sliced English (hot house) cucumbers
• Sesame vinegar (often used in Asian cooking)
• unsalted butter, softened
• soft white sandwich bread

1. Soak cucumber slices in vinegar overnight
2. Drain cucumbers thoroughly
3. Butter bread - this is much easier to do if bread is frozen
4. Place 4 cucumbers on buttered bread, top with another slice of buttered bread
5. Cut crusts off of sandwich with a bread knife; cut sandwich into 4 squares, between each cucumber slice

Neptune's Salad filling
by Joy de Vivre

• 1 Cup cooked Shrimp or crab
• 1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise, or to taste
• Squeeze of Fresh Lemon
• Dried Dill to taste
• 1 Tablespoon diced Scallions, or to taste

Beautiful when dolloped onto a French bread baguette slice garnished with a sprig of fresh dill


Seashell & 'Pearl'
by Joy de Vivre

• 4 hardcooked Eggs, diced
• 1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons dried Tarragon or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared Mustard or to taste
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Large Golden Caviar eggs for garnish, one per sandwich - the smallest jar should do
• Shell-shaped cookie cutter - one that enables you to cut 2 shells per piece of sandwich bread will keep the portion 'tea size'

1. Mix all ingredients
2. Thinly spread bread of choice with butter or similar - a white or light wheat works best so as not to compete with the tarragon flavor
3. Using a shell-shaped cookie cutter, cut shell shapes out of bread - place bread in freezer for a short while prior to cutting if needed, to make cutting simpler and cuts cleaner
4. Spoon egg mixture onto bred
5. Place top layer of bread on egg mixture, making sure to angle the bread so that it appears like an open shell
6. Garnish with one large golden caviar egg to look like pearl - simply press it into egg mixture at front of sandwich; it should stay just fine

SCONES
Ocean 'Currant,' Lavender Sunset
adapteded from food.com

Ingredients

[image from createamazingmeals.com]

• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup heavy cream (may need more)
• 1 teaspoon orange zest, grated
• 2 tablespoons crushed fresh lavender flowers, or 1 tablespoon dried lavender
• 1/2 cup currants 
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• Lavender flowers for garnish

Directions

1. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt together 
2. Cut the cold butter into the dry mixture using a pastry blender/cutter until coarse and crumbly
3. Add  cream, stirring just until moistened. Add splashes of additional cream as needed if mixture is too dry
4. Stir in the currants, lavender, and orange zest
5. Turn out on lightly floured surface, and knead 4 or 5 times.  Be careful not to overwork dough. 
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
7. Chill dough for 30 minutes
8. Roll out dough 3/4" thick on a floured surface, then cut with biscuit cutter. 
9. Place each scone about 2 inches apart on a nonstick baking sheet covered with baking parchment paper
10. Bake at 375 for 15 minute or until golden brown

DESSERT PARTY FAVORS - keep it light, it's Summer
Chocolate Shortbread Mermaid Cookies
by Joy de Vivre, inspired by Martha Stewart

• 3/4 Cup all-purpose flour

  

  [image from theartofthecookie.com]

• 1/2 Cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 Cup confectioners' (powdered)sugar
• 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• Decorative Icing

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees 
2. Beat butter until creamy, using an electric mixer
3. Add flour, sugar, and cocoa and mix just until the ingredients are combined
4. Chill dough in the refrigerator 30 minutes
5. Roll out dough to about 1/2-inch on a floured board and cut into sea shapes using cookie cutters 
6. Decorate with icing

High & MighTea — the glories of the Ritz across the channel

When one thinks of tea at the Ritz, one's thoughts immediately fly to London.  But it turns out, tea on the other side of the channel is just as fashionable.  

Unbeknownst to many, the Hotel Ritz Paris preceded its London namesake by nearly a decade.  And its tea service moderne is every bit as elegant as in the days when the hotel hosted popular personalities such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Marcel Proust.

"Temptation unfolds against a background of live piano music as the delicate fruity aromas of Royal Ceylan or the freshness of Sencha green tea fill the room. Traditional and exclusive teas are served following customary rules. The Ritz Paris High Tea includes an accompaniment of mini-sandwiches and a large buffet selection of pastries. The Imperial High Tea, served with a glass of Ritz Paris Brut Champagne, is made to measure for fine gourmets." ~ritzparis.com

Ooh la la!

The Ritz has always been... well.. ritzy.  More than 300 years ago the site saw its first construction, with a private residence built by Antoine Bitaut de Vaillé and subsequently occupied by a variety of noble families.  Near the end of the 19th century Cesar Ritz along with chef Auguste Escoffier started a hotel of their own, after both were dismissed from their triumphal creation of the Savoy Hotel in London following allegations involving the disappearance of wine and spirits from the Savoy.  The Ritz opened to a 'glittering reception' that never waned, as the hotel has continually attracted those of note and celebrity, even serving as home to Coco Chanel for thirty years.

“There were masked balls at the Opera, races at Longchamp and Auteuil, and tea at the Ritz…” declared the Baronne de Stoeckl in her memoirs set during Paris’ Belle Epoque. 

It was not until César Ritz introduced tea service at the Ritz Paris that the custom of drinking tea was adopted by Parisian high society. The Ritz Paris is currently closed for an unprecedented restoration program and looks forward to welcoming you back in 2014.

Hemingway once said, "When in Paris the only reason not to stay at the Ritz is if you can't afford it". Thankfully, the wait till the 2014 re-opening gives us plenty of time to save up those euros and frequent flyer miles. ❤