Sweet Afton Tea Room

A long-time girlfriend [since 7th grade] and I met at Sweet Afton Tea Room in Plymouth, MI recently to "catch up" on life.

The tea room is named after the Afton River in Ayrshire, Scotland made famous by Scottish poet, Robert Burns, in his 1791 poem, "Sweet Afton."

Established in 1988, the tea room is on its fourth owner, successfully keeping its doors open for business 24 years - incredible longevity for a tea room.

We ordered from the "Hearty Fare" section of the menu and chose the Robert Burns option, which was a  slice of  quiche, a warm cheddar muffin, and a cup of soup.  Stuffed Pepper Soup was one of the choices, and our waitress said it was very good, so we took her recommendation.  The pot of tea was additional and I chose Wild Cherry Amaretto, a flavored black tea. 

Our server took our picture. My girlfriend, Sandy [left], and me.

Perhaps because it was a damp, rainy day, the soup was especially enjoyable, and I came home searching the Internet for the recipe.  There were several to chose from, so I took the liberty of combining recipes.  We love soup in the winter months at our house and this one is a winner. 

Stuffed Pepper Soup

1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 medium onion, finely diced

3  sweet green peppers, coarsely chopped

3 cans tomato soup

1 can beef broth

1 package dry onion soup mix

1 3/4 cup water

1 [15 oz.] can tomato sauce

1 [28 oz.] can petite diced tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup white [or brown] rice, uncooked

In large Dutch oven brown ground beef and onion together.  Add remaining ingredients except rice and simmer on stove top for 45 minutes to an hour. 

The last fifteen minutes prepare rice in a separate saucepan, combining 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice and bring to boil.  Reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes [if using brown rice simmer for 45 minutes] or until liquid is absorbed and rice is fluffy.  Add to soup and serve.

The rice will absorb liquid from the soup even though cooked separately.  Thin with additional beef broth if necessary.

Sweet Afton's food and service are good and worthy of a visit if you are ever in Plymouth, MI or the surrounding area.  Quaint stores surround the tea room for shopping.

After lunch we headed over to Livonia, MI to visit two antique malls.

The Town Peddler

We didn't find any treasures to bring home that day except the treasure of our friendship and a wonderful day spent together!