This past winter, I teamed up with restauranteur, Dawn LaRochelle, who is equally passionate about food as I am about tea! It is a perfect match and we have been offering formal afternoon teas during the dreary winter days once a month at her restaurant on Route 102 in East Lee, near Stockbridge. To our knowledge, we are the only ones in the county offering this and it has been well received. We have different speakers at each tea...
I have done a talk about "The History of Tea" while my husband, Cecil, a charming British gentleman talks about tea etiquette. His British accent sure makes it feel more authentic! Chef Jamie has wowed attendees while showing them how to fold some pretty nifty napkins! In celebration of St. Patty's day in March, local author Kevin O'Hara, read a few selections from his two novels. He captivated everyone with his hilarious stories of what it was like growing up one of eight to immigrant Irish parents.
What I like most about these monthly teas is the friendliness and bonding between total strangers! Some guests come on their own, only to join others at the tables and by the time the 2 hours is over, they have made new friends and exchanged phone numbers and emails! Actually, it seems we all become one big group by the end of the afternoon! And I love seeing repeat faces from month to month. I also like the opportunity to bring out the fancy silver tea service which helps make it that much more special. We offer 4-5 unusual teas at each event and Dawn has a table full of scrumptious finger foods and delicacies, such as cucumber sandwiches with the crusts removed of course, and scones with jams and other assorted delicious bite size jewels which vary every month!
On April 12th from 11-1, we will host a MadHatter's tea, where everyone comes in whatever style hat they so choose. We will have some prizes at hand for different categories of hats! We are hoping to have Anne Langlais as a guest speaker discuss the history of hats and show us a selection of some of her handmade hats from her shop, Hats & Jewels in Lee, MA.
Then on April 29th, we will be "attending" the Royal Wedding at Perigee while watching it on the television together whilst enjoying tea and feeling as if we are participants at the wedding! It will be a special occasion and we are planning for some fun surprises!
On March 28th, Cecil and I had the pleasure of being guests on the local cable tv show, "Smile with B-Mile". She is truly an inspiration to be around and we had a great time on her show -- I shared my passion for tea and Cecil shared his about interior design. It will be aired for 2 weeks, 3 days a week and we hope the community will get a chance to view it!
For the next few blogs, I am planning to post some of the discussions I did during some of these afternoon teas. If any of you can make it to the next few teas at Perigee, it would be great to have you there! Best to let us know by calling for a reservation at: 413.394-4047.
There is a fee ($25) to attend but please don't let that stop you, because you will certainly get your money's worth! Hope to see you there!
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