A Pampering Tea Party

What???? My last post was in February??? Where have I been???

Well, one place I have been is the Sweet Shalom Tea Room in Sylvania, Ohio! My oldest daughter introduced me to the Living Social coupon site and the very first time I visited, they offered a discount coupon for the tea room. I could not click fast enough!

I invited my youngest daughter to be my guest. Although I have been escorting (or "dragging") her to tea rooms since she was little, this was her first experience with "High Tea". The theme for the month of May was "Pampering Tea". Every dish was served with a pampering, soothing and comforting theme.

 We were so excited that we were among the first to arrive for the 10:30 a.m. sitting.

 Of course I HAD to wear one of my vintage hats.

 We began with a pot of apricot tea; I just love my vintage cup.

Our first course was a "Comforting Cream Scone". Learning from my previous visit, we sampled just a corner of this huge scone with some butter and currant preserves. The remainder was placed in ziplocks and put into our cooler.

 The second course featured Chicken and Dumpling Soup. It was just delicious! A brief introduction of the massage therapist who would be giving us hand massages through out the remainder of the meal proceeded the lovely tiered tray featuring the savory and sweet courses.

 The bottom tier featured pimento and cheese sandwiches on homemade rye bread.

 Next we enjoyed some especially creamy macaroni and cheese in adorable miniature glass bowls.

The bread and butter sandwiches had their crusts removed (of course!)

My daughter had never had a cucumber sandwich (bad mama, bad mama) and the openfaced cucumber rounds on white bread with cream cheese were fabulous!

 The top tier featured a lemon bar and chocolate brownie with ganache.

 Our dessert course was a generous serving of pineapple upside down cake with homemade whipped cream and a cherry.

Here is another view of the pineapple upside down cake on a different vintage plate.

It was so much fun to take two hours and be pampered by the wonderful tea room staff, as well as to spend some quiet time with my youngest daughter. She is very busy, a full-time college student who is also taking 15 credit hours this summer. She also works twenty hours a week at a local agency, and this past semester; student teaching every day! I think she deserved a break, too.

I will be linking with Susan's Tablescape Thursday at
 http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/05/outdoor-dining-welcome-to-143rd.html
and Lady Katherine's Tea Time Tuesday at http://ladykatherineteaparlor.blogspot.com/
Both blogs feature amazing posts from amazing people. Please stop by and visit them!