Downton Abbey Tea at The Whitney

The Downton Abbey tea that I had the pleasure of planning and executing at The Whitney restaurant in Detroit has come and gone.  Today I'm sharing highlights of the event which will be divided into two posts.  

We had 18 attendees and it was held in the Music Room on the 1st floor of the mansion.  I was fortunate that I only had to work one day last week, so it gave me most of the week for preparation, and what a busy week it was!

My first project was to get the gift bags made.  The Director of Operations advertised on the website that every lady would receive an 'exquisite' gift bag.  I told him he set the bar pretty high for me to attain.  I don't know if the guests thought they were exquisite, but I was pleased with the way they tuned out.  I ordered Downton Abbey fabric back in 2014 knowing I'd use it for something some day, and this tea turned out to be the something.  My hubby set up a spot for me on his work bench in the basement to make them.  As you can see, I cut out portions of fabric containing the graphic of Downton Abbey [Highclere Castle] so I could spray glue them on the front of the gift bags.

Then I glued gold glittery ribbon around the graphic to frame it, and in each corner I glued a gold rhinestone.  The bags contained a hand fan in a gold nylon bag [Lady Violet carried a hand fan in the beginning of the series], a 1 oz. bag of Whitney's Lavender Rose black tea, and an event program.  I made 20 gift bags and gave one to my boss when he returned from vacation yesterday.

The fans came from Dollar Tree - an item they brought in for Mother's Day.  I had to go to a few stores to find enough, but they are a nice quality.  The nylon bags came from Oriental Trading [an online business].

Originally I wanted to attach this photo of Lady Violet to the fan, but since it was a paid event and the photo is copyrighted, I decided I better not. 

I designed the program and it's content, and the Event's Manager at The Whitney formatted it and printed it in-house.  Then I brought it home to assemble for the gift bags.  The photo of Highclere Castle is one I took when I visited England in 2015.  The 'watercolor' background [on the right edge] is from an 1894 sketch of the Whitney mansion that I found in the Detroit Free Press archives right after the Whitney family moved into the mansion.  More of the sketch is visible inside the program booklet.

Below, the gift bags all set up in the Music Room waiting to be given out.  I greeted each guest as they arrived and handed them their gift bag.

The next project was folding the napkins into roses.  They were a bit of a challenge because they're stiff, commercial grade napkins and larger than linen napkins for home use, but I think they still resembled a rose.

I wanted fresh flowers on the table just like the Crawley's would have had.  In an effort to keep the cost down I made my own arrangements.  Finding just the right height and size vases was a challenge too.  When I couldn't find what I wanted in the store, I reverted to scouting out Salvation Army thrift stores.  It required going to three different thrift stores to find identical ones, but I happily found them.  What are the odds?  The only answer was the dear Lord was smiling down on the event. I do believe He cares about the little things in our lives as well as the big things.  In the photo below my hubby is spray painting them gold.

Below are the vases after the flowers were divided between them.  This photo was taken before they were completely finished, because I went back to the florist shop to buy ferns and a little more babies breath.  The one on the right was completely taken apart and reassembled.

I made four squares from the Downton Abbey fabric to sit underneath each vase on the tables.  The floral arrangements doubled as prizes to be taken home.

My program was mainly about Downton Abbey tiaras which are technically classified as jewelry, but it included other accessories such as gloves, hats, and necklaces.  I also outlined the daily responsibilities of a lady's maid.  I recycled the framed poster I used earlier to advertise the tea in the restaurant, and made it my display poster with photos of all the Crawley ladies wearing their glittering tiaras, plus the actress [Geraldine James] who portrayed Queen Mary wearing a repro Vladimir Tiara.  The original happens to be one of Queen Elizabeth, II's favorites.

Two uses for the price of one!  ;-)  And I definitely made good use of the Downton Abbey fabric.  It helped tie all the visuals together and carry out the theme - from gift bags, to display board, to tablescape.

I contacted the Detroit PBS station to see if they had any stand-up figures of Downton Abbey characters and they had Lady Mary and Mr. Carson.  Nothing against Mr. Carson, but I preferred Lady Mary! ;-)  They graciously allowed me to borrow her for our event, and even delivered and picked her up.  The guests enjoyed having their photo made standing next to her.

I got permission to go over to the restaurant on Friday evening after most of the guests had left [10:30 p.m.] to set up.  That's normally a job for the bussers, but I'm picky and wanted to be involved myself.  I felt better having everything in place Friday night rather than waiting until Saturday morning.  Experience has taught me the more you can do in advance the smoother things will go the day of the event.

Below is a photo of the table after we finished setting up.  I brought my own amber Tiara teacups and saucers from home because I wanted everything to match, and four of my silver plate teapots.  There were two tea choices - a gentle Earl Grey and The Whitney signature Garden Blend - a very popular tisane of hibiscus, rosehips, Egyptian chamomile, ginger, peppermint and cinnamon.  A pair of teapots were near each end of the table containing both teas.  

Then it was home for the night to rest up so I'd be perky and bright for the tea at 12:00 o'clock on Saturday...  Next post.

Birthday Celebration and Afternoon Tea

They say all work and no play makes a person dull, so after working five days this week and spending evenings preparing for my monthly presentation at the assisted living facility today, I took yesterday off to go to Chelsea, MI for a family celebration.  My youngest son and granddaughter, Isabella, have birthdays today - #40 for Jeremy and #14 for Izzy.  

Lori & Dave, and Steve, Sharon & Brooke came to the party too.  It was a fun afternoon with family.  The guys enjoyed watching Michigan State football together, and the ladies enjoyed catching up around the kitchen table.

It wouldn't be a party without ice cream and candles...

And presents.

Lori brought one of Jeremy's favorite desserts - Apple Crisp, and I brought a new recipe that was recently posted on ATAA [Afternoon Tea Across America] Facebook page - Pumpkin Cobbler.  Poor Landon had his taste buds all set for chocolate cake! ;-)  Everyone else enjoyed the apple and pumpkin desserts though, and I promised Landon chocolate cake for his birthday in November.  The easy and delicious pumpkin recipe is below.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix the following ingredients in a large bowl:

1 large can pumpkin puree [29 oz.]

1 c. brown sugar [lightly packed]

1 large can evaporated milk [12 oz.]

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and pour pumpkin mixture into dish.

Mix together topping:

1 stick butter, thinly sliced

1 pkg. yellow cake mix

1 c. chopped nuts [walnuts or pecans]

Evenly sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture.  Top with chopped nuts.

Lay pieces of sliced butter on top of cake mix and chopped nuts.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until golden brown.  Cool and cut into squares.

Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

*  *  *

Izzy will attend her first Homecoming Dance next Saturday, and she modeled the dress she bought for us.

Ellie was excited to show off the "Dorothy" dress that she'll be wearing for Halloween.

*  *  *

Today's program at the assisted living was "The Influence of Flowers."  It was about floral trivia and the important role flowers play in our lives.

I always take the residents a treat, but this month I didn't have a lot of time to get my creative juices flowing, so I ordered a cake and had red rosebuds piped on each piece of cake. I also took lavender black tea.  It was a program they could all relate to and enjoy.

Now I turn all my attention to next Saturday's Downton Abbey tea at The Whitney.

Livin' the Dream

When I was hired at The Whitney on August 27, 2018 [and began work a few days later on September 5] it was a dream come true.  I had aspirations of becoming their Tea Director for eleven years before it finally happened.  While I love making and serving tea to the guests everyday and chatting with them, I've also dreamed about planning special event teas in the great mansion.  What better special event tea could there be than a Downton Abbey tea!  I was so happy when permission was granted for the tea, and even happier when the date went up on the restaurant website and Facebook page last Friday. 

For local readers, go to The Whitney website for details and to make your reservation [www.thewhitney.com/] or call the restaurant at [313] 832-5700.  They have capped the event at 30 so don't delay.  Below is the poster that's displayed in the Grand Hall. 

I don't normally work on Saturdays, but they had an Apples and Autumn tea at noon yesterday [part of City Fest], so I went in to make three types of tea, all containing apple cider.  

The tea began with Sparkling Apple Pie served in a champagne flute.  It was a combination of concentrated apple cider, caramel sauce, chai tea and champagne.

The tea served throughout the meal [Scone course, Soup and Salad, and Savories - grilled Pork Belly on Apple Slaw, Apple & Cheese Sandwich, and Seafood Tart] was Gentle Earl Grey brewed in diluted Apple Cider.

The tea with dessert [baked apples slices and ice cream in a pastry tart] was chai tea made with apple cider and rum.  I wish I would have thought to take pictures of the food courses, but with all the busyness it slipped my mind.

Below are the two male servers for yesterday's 16 guests.  I trained Steve [on the left] to prepare the tea on the weekends when I'm not there.  Mary Jones [center] blends all the teas for The Whitney, and she sells her other blends at Detroit's nearby Eastern Market.  She hosted the Autumn & Apples tea.  Ricco is on the right.    

~ The Autumn & Apples tablescape in the formal dining room. ~

Simultaneously, the Saturday Brunch was in progress in the Grand Hall and a Bridal Shower in the Receiving Room.  You can see the formal dining room through the large opening on the right.  The opening to the left is the library.

I thought I was going home right after the Autumn & Apples tea, but was asked to stay on through the 2:00 o'clock Afternoon Tea.  My spirit was willing to work 6 1/2 hours non-stop, but my feet weren't too happy!  ;-)

Did you watch the NBC special 'Return to Downton Abbey - A Grand Event' last Thursday?  I did.  If you missed it, you can still watch it at NBC's website.  I just finished watching it a second time.

I've been having fun getting out some of my Downton Abbey memorabilia.  The teacup is from my 2015 visit to Highclere Castle which you can read about here, and the mug is from my visit to Byfleet Manor, the house that was used as Dowager House.  You can read about that Afternoon Tea visit here.

I hope to see you at The Whitney's Downton Tea.  Please make sure to speak to me.

A Downton Abbey Tea in Ohio

Yesterday, Saturday, September 14th, my girlfriend, Lori, and I traveled to Maumee, Ohio to attend a Downton Abbey tea at Clara J's tearoom.  How did I not know about this lovely tearoom just 90 miles away until now?

It was a beautiful day for our hour and a half drive.  Our seating was for 1:30 p.m. An earlier 11:00 a.m. seating was sold out.

We arrived about 15 minutes early, and to our delight saw two friends standing out front visiting with two other ladies.  Teresa and Rebecca [left two ladies] went on the Southern Teatime Getaway in May of 2018, and it was great to see them again!  

~ Entrance to the tearoom ~

The girl above the mantle [photo below] is Clara Jaessing Keller in her 1914 confirmation picture.  She studied Culinary Arts at Baldwin-Wallace College and eventually opened a restaurant in Maumee called Stuckey's.  She is the deceased aunt of the tearoom owner who named the tearoom in her honor.

The second seating was well attended, but not sold out.

~ My place setting ~

There were three selections of tea [two tisanes and one black tea].  We chose the Dowager Violet Grantham blend - a deep purple herbal with notes of lavender and citrus.  It was very good.

We were served a warm Apricot Scone with Devonshire Cream and a spot of Strawberry Jam to go with our tea.

Throughout our tea a gentleman played soft music, some of which was the theme from Downton Abbey.

A lot of detail was put into this tea.  Pictures of Downton Abbey cast were situated around the room to remind us it was a Downton Abbey tea.

~ Our tiered server for two ~

~ Lori and Me ~

The top two tiers pictured on my plate are as follows [6:00 o'clock position]: Traditional Cucumber triangle on White Bread with Butter and Cream Cheese seasoned with Dill; Two triangles of Spinach and Strawberry Slices on Marble Rye Bread spread with Orange Marmalade; Pate a Choux, filled with Smoked Salmon Mousse;  Mushroom Palmier with chopped Button Mushrooms, Red Onions, Garlic, Rosemint & Sherry.  It was topped with Mrs. Patmore's seasoned Cream Cheese; and lastly Fig, Prosciutto & Goat Cheese on Wheat Bread with Chives.  Everything was delicious!

Desserts were Chocolate Teacup filled with Chocolate Mousse; Lemon Tart with Sugar Cookie Crust, toasted Meringue, and Candied Lemon Zest; and Battenburg Cake - Pistachio and Rose Cakes with Strawberry Jam wrapped in Almond Paste.  In the center was a Watermelon slice in the shape of a teapot.  Yum!

Our favors were a Harney & Sons tea bag, honey stick, and a return coupon.

After our tea meal we looked around the tearoom.

Lots of hutches filled with teawares.

Then we made our journey back home.  It was a delightful afternoon, and I highly recommend the tearoom if you're ever in Maumee.   The town is very quaint with a large antique mall if you want to make a complete day of it.