Tea at Sweet Shalom

You may remember my post last month when I mentioned an ATAA [Afternoon Tea Across America] e-group meet-up that tea friend and fellow ATAA member, Teresa Weddelman, was coordinating at Sweet Shalom tearoom in Sylvania, Ohio.  She wanted a gathering before Sweet Shalom closes its doors for business at the end of the summer.

Friday, July 16th was the day.  Through a torrential rain storm to pick up my girlfriend, Sandy, [44 miles away], we made our way to Sylvania, Ohio [another 47 miles], and got there in time for our 11:00 a.m. reservations.

July's theme was Tea Tripping through Toledo.

Pictured below is Teresa with her granddaughter, Madeline, who was the perfect little lady at the tea party.  Notice her white wicker teapot purse sitting on the table.  Teresa is training her right because she has a fabulous tea-themed purse collection too!

Our ATAA gathering was small - just seven of us, but the tearoom was filled with other guests too. If you weren't able to make it, we missed you. I met an ATAA member I had never met before, Pat James-Hasser, who brought her 90-year-old mother.  Pat lives in Ohio and does tea party catering. She also has a large herb farm [PJ Herbs].

The tea began with light and flaky cream scones with butter and strawberry jam.  The tea we chose to begin our tea was Blueberry Green by Harney & Sons.  It tasted great and was very aromatic.  I'll be placing an order for some soon.

The photo below is Amy [in yellow outfit] and Kimberly. Both are elementary school teachers from southeastern Michigan who spend their summers going to tea outings.  Amy has been pictured on my blog before.   She's one of my blog followers.

I bought a hat when I visited Sweet Shalom last time [2019], and chose an outfit to wear on Friday that would coordinate with it, but ended up leaving it in the car with the inclement weather.  Next time!  ;-)

The scone course was followed by zesty 'Mud Hen' salad on Boston Lettuce.  Mud Hen is the name of Toledo's minor league baseball team.

The tiered server came out next.  Open faced cucumber tea sandwiches were on the top tier. Bottom tier contained spinach nibbles, open faced fresh tomato tea sandwiches, and a delicious slice of savory onion tart.  On the middle tier were orange/blueberry crumb muffins, and honey nut bars. Yummy!

The grand finale was Chocolate Mousse.  It was the perfect ending.

~ Amy and me ~

Because the tearoom is closing, everything in the gift shop [except tea] is 50% off.   Kimberly bought a lovely hat and I purchased one almost identical.  I love the wavy ruffles and the hat is so light and airy.

I also bought Sweet Shalom's second cookbook and an old issue of The Daily Tea.  I did a happy dance when I discovered the cookbook contains a recipe for orange pinwheel scones.  I'm so anxious to make them.  The Daily Tea is a digital subscription with a printed annual magazine that came to fruition after Pearl Dexter's TEA A Magazine ceased publication. 

~ Teresa and me ~

~ Sandy and me ~

Before we left to go our separate ways, Teresa gifted each of us with a box containing chocolates and six teas so we could do a chocolate and tea tasting at home, complete with instructions.  Thanks for your generosity and creativity, Teresa!

It was a fun day, and best wishes to Sara and Chris as they begin a new chapter in their lives when Sweet Shalom closes.

Yesterday was a busy day at The Whitney serving tea to 77 guests.  Sandy and her daughter and three friends came for tea so she had two tea outings back-to-back.  I intended to get some pictures, but was so busy I forgot.

When I got home from work, a book order from Hoffman media was sitting on the table.  

Hoffman Media has a great sale going on right now and these are my newest acquisitions. I already had the Tea and Scones book but this is a new expanded edition, so I ordered it.  I'm looking forward to relaxing with a cup of tea and these books today.

I may make my tea in this new-to-me Nikko teapot that a lady from church sent home with my hubby.  The pattern is Blue Peony.  Thanks, Lisa!