The Foods…Paired With The Mighty Leaf (teas)

EAT . BE . TEA Tasting recap…part II … the food pairings…

The foods served with our teas were wonderful.  I can say that, because I had nothing to do with preparing it…that was all on our Chef, Kevin Montoya of Carley Cakes.  It is an awesome feeling to see your recipes come to life under someone else’s hand.  His interpretation was beautiful and tasty.

We retained Kevin to cater our tasting event through a bit of divine providence…I knew when we first started developing the idea of taking my passion for getting great tea in front of the American populous in this tasting format that the teas would benefit from being paired with powerfully, flavorful bites of savory and sweet foods…and I couldn’t cook it myself…we happened to read a wonderful article in our local newspaper about this charitable pastry chef who donates a portion of his earnings to epilepsy research.  We also found out on the same day as the article that Kevin worked out of a commercial kitchen less than a half block from our tea tasting venue.  We quickly called to see if he was available to cater for us.  Obviously, he was.  Oh, and did I mention that we have also known Kevin from the day he was born?  He happens to have been our next door neighbor for 24 years….the stars aligned all right!  I could not have done this event without him. Not exaggerating here at all…not kidding either. Whew. He was professional, offered many ideas on how to improve and present the items, and he was a joy to work with.

Our Chef, Kevin Montoya of Carley Cakes

We served three courses…while my tea makers were steeping away over 150 cups of stunningly flavorful Mighty Leaf pure, organic and single estate grown teas… Chef Kevin and my pretty incredible husband were in the kitchen plating 50 plates times 3…. The savory first course paired with a Mighty Leaf organic Assam (Rani Estate grown) and a rare Jade Oolong.

Polenta with roasted mushrooms, topped with shaved parmesan reggiano were warmed in a low oven before being put on the plate with the other three savory bites

Above: Roasted tomatoes with fresh basil and fresh mozzarella…ready to plate

Below: Trays of creamed goat cheese drizzled with lavender honey…perfect with the Assam tea.

Three of the four savories are ready to go…just waiting for the polenta to finish warming in the oven…

50 plates, all set…waiting to add the warmed polenta and mushrooms…Crispy wonton cup filled with wild caught smoked salmon is the fourth item on the savory plate.  The crispy texture with the soft salmon mousse offers a nice contrast.

Second course…while I demonstrated how to make a quick bread / scone – two fresh scones were coming out of the oven…plated with my startlingly, flavorful vanilla, cinnamon compound butter (for the savory scone) and a seedless blackberry jam.

Vanilla, cinnamon butter…piped onto parchment paper and chilled, ready to plate with the warm scones

Two biscuit scones were served per person…a savory – crispy prosciutto and fontina cheese scone and a sweet biscuit…

 The cinnamon, vanilla butter goes perfectly with the savory scone and a Masala Chai tea…the spices work well together.

Third course… sweets… lemon curd tart with toasted meringue mmmmm and my decadent, dark chocolate, walnut brownie.  A perfect finish with a cup of Jasmine Downey Pearl green tea…or an iced organic Ceylon for those preferring iced.

Lemon curd tartlet with toasted meringue and dense dark chocolate brownie…paired well with two teas

A table full of sweets

A few leftovers for the kitchen staff…

I felt truly lucky to have such a supportive and skilled team put on this event with me.  It was invigorating to see our guests enthusiastically taste the teas with the various foods and discuss their preferences.   Several have told me that they went home and have “redone” their tea cupboard…going whole leaf and checking freshness dates too.  The shelf life for teas is one to two years, if kept stored in an airtight container at room temperatures, out of the sun.  How long have you had those tea bags in your cupboard?

Enjoy and drink tea!

Class Is Over! – The Tea Tasting Recap

What a remarkable couple of days.  The weather was delightful for our two day, Eat . Be. Tea Tasting events held at Goin Native in the historic district of San Juan Capistrano, California.

Just enough sun and warmth came out to make for a cheery, comfortable environment.  Everyone showed up who was supposed to and who registered.  My assistants were remarkable, skilled, and a joy to work with…our site host, Marianne with Goin Native, offers a special environment which was beautifully set up for our guests.  Our chef, Kevin Montoya of Carley Cakes was all I had hoped he would be and more.  It was magical.  In the end…there were scores of tea converts too.  I know this to be a fact in that our local tea retail shop was “wiped out” next day of the varieties of teas we tasted and didn’t know why until someone explained to them about our class.  They happily have more Jasmine Downey Pearl, Masala Chai, Ceylon, Ti Kuan Yin Oolong and Assam on order.

Set up went smoothly.  One little glitch with the electrical for the three hot water kettles was quickly resolved by my able team and Marianne.  As we set the tables, the place took on an air of beauty, peace and calm.  A perfect environment to experience the “being” part of tea.  I will need to share this experience in two posts…this one is about the setting…next will be about the food pairing.

Below are photos of the set up and Goin Native garden ambiance.

Setting up…place settings included a hand-out reflecting menu for the day, info about tea & how to make a good cup & my favorite scone recipe – this photo is just prior to the guests arrival…Hils is insuring everything is in it’s place

As you can see, the environment was just beautiful.  So relaxing.  So conducive for learning, sharing, and having fun…and feeling special for a few hours….a good thing in this often harsh world we live in.

Tea making occurred on the porch…we felt like we were “perched” above the crowd while steeping away…my daughter, sister, and Hilary (my editor, agent, and inspiring hype girl), delivered perfect tea… 5 times over x 50 each day…whew!

Tea making station…perched on the front porch… 4 hot teas and one iced organic Ceylon Kenilworth Estate grown -  Mighty Leaf Teas were tasted – organic and single estate grown varieties…prepared using spring water.

It was interesting that on day 1…we went through less than one dispenser of iced tea; yet on day two, we went through 2 1/2 …had to quickly make up another batch.  It was just a tad warmer on day two.  The Ceylon tea works sooooo well iced.

On the back wall…we had instructions and timing noted for when, how much, and how long to prepare each tea.  It was quite a feat and well accomplished thanks in particular to my daughter.

Tea making schedule & instructions posted on wall behind the table

The setting is a relaxing, sophisticated rustic environ…where “vignette” seating areas abound.  The retail area integrated seamlessly into the setting.

Goin Native retail area, integrates with the environment

Marianne’s raised vegetable beds were abundantly growing and enjoyable to peruse while sipping an iced tea.

Goin Native’s raised vegetable garden in back yard

I had a lovely spot to greet guests to answer questions, discuss, and sign Tea With Betty books…

Book signing area…
Also, we gave each guest a few Mighty Leaf tea pouches to take home to try …organic black and green teas in the cello gift bags

The crowd was lively, yet seriously attentive.

Seriously attentive audience…yet fun and lively too -

In the end, it was motivating, inspiring and remarkable — my call to action for guests is to “Drink Tea”…it’s delicious and good for you…but don’t settle for anything less than quality, whole leaf, fresh tea…it’s taken a long time to get to America…we need to keep consuming to keep it coming.

Next post….will be all about the food we paired with the tea by our Chef Kevin Montoya of Carley Cakes.

All Set For The Big Day…

I was so rushed getting ready for our tea tasting that I didn’t get this post out before the events…am sharing it with you tonight and will fill you in on how things went over the next few days…am working on the photos now.  I will say that from the wonderful response,  there will be many more tea drinkers after seeing how much the attendees enjoyed the Mighty Leaf whole leaf, single estate and organic teas we consumed during the tasting and pairing with recipes from Tea With Betty.

Going back to the night before the event days…Written Thursday night – May 9:

The car is loaded…and I mean loaded…with a plethora of tea paraphernalia…ready for day one of our two tea tasting events this weekend.   Over 90 guests have registered (45 attendees each day)…we’ll be preparing a lot of tea.

I have …

120 tasting cups, three electric kettles, five infusers, 4 clear glass pots, timers, teaspoons, pounds and pounds of teas, handouts, pitchers, dispensers, dump buckets, 20 gallons of spring water,  even a Kitchen aide stand up mixer with whisk (for our pastry chef catering the event to be able to make meringue on site for the lemon meringue tarts), my mise en place for demonstrating how to make a biscuit scone, and of course, Tea With Betty books too…whew…I can’t get one more thing into the car.

We are ready to go!  Check out this car…

Car ready and loaded to go to the event site…tea tasting cups, Kitchen aide mixer, bottles of spring water, and more

Box filled with my “miss en place” for demonstrating how to make a quick bread – my favorite biscuit scone – dry ingredients are sealed with plastic wrap and butter and milk are in a cooler container ready for tomorrow

I went by our site to check out the set up with Marianne of Goin Native.  It feels good…cozy for such a big group.  We will put table cloths, table runners, and place settings out the morning of …it will transform the area into one of grace and beauty …  seriously…it will look beautiful thanks to others (I am not the best at decor…but have enormously talented people around me who are).

U shape set up for class – located in the unique, relaxing, historic area of San Juan Capistrano…on Los Rios Street at Goin Native garden.

Set up view from the other direction

This is the table where I will be setting up for signing Tea With Betty books after the class…a lovely location

Marianne / Goin Native has beautiful herbs and succulents for sale displayed in these rustic cabinets…a living keepsake from one’s time in this relaxing historic garden

I am just about finished with my prep of my presentation…  What a challenge to distill seven years of research about tea and tea time activities and foods into 40 minutes of discussion…but it’s done..”follow the”KISS” method of presenting” is what my good buddy Hils says… (K.I.S.S. stands for keep it simple stupid (or “silly” would be a nicer way to put it I suppose

Tomorrow morning  my crack team of helpers will meet two hours before the tea tasting starts to help set up.  I am a lucky girl for sure to have family and friends who volunteer to pitch in whenever I need them…it’s wonderful.  I did bribe them with food and drink though  I will certainly be posting photos when we are done.  It will be interesting to see how day one goes versus day two…a bit like the movie “ground hog’s day” I suppose.

Am off to bed now hoping to get at least 6 hours of good sleep…will update  this weekend as soon as I catch my breath.

Oh, one more thing for those of you who were following my 12 week challenge to lose weight so my blood sugar would drop to a “non-diebetic” level…which was extended for another 12 weeks-so really it was a 24 week challenge…which just ended today…  drum roll please….

Hurray… I did it!  Got those numbers down to a “boring” level as my doctor said today…Yay…I actually feel better…it’s amazing what losing 10 pounds and eating a balanced diet of carbs, proteins and fats will do for you…that along w/ a bit of exercise… and I even had a couple of scones (petite though they were) now and then…thanks for all your support.  Now I am not going to go crazy and ruin this good state I am in…However, I do plan on having one of my scones at the tea tasting tomorrow and the rest of the menu (as it is small plate, small bite oriented…and who can resist a lemon curd tartlet)… this along with a bit of pure healthy tea is a good thing.

Enjoy and I look forward to sharing photos of my first tea and food tasting from Tea With Betty…

Getting Ready For Upcoming Tea Tasting Events…It’s A Party :-)

My life has been consumed with preparation for my first ever “public” tea tasting.  I posted about these May events I was asked to do in my April 9 “Join us” post…

It has been quite a fun journey to get to this point…items on my enormous check list are being accomplished (including a day of shopping with my sister to find something to wear,  a fun trip to the Container Store to find suitable carrier bags for my 144 tasting cups, and an internet search to see if we could get an “actual” Camellia Sinensis tea plant (yay, and yes we did!!!  well, it’s on the way, in the mail).

We sold out the Saturday event weeks in advance and are just about there for the Friday class too…I am so thrilled to be able to introduce this audience to some of my favorite pure, organic and whole leaf teas .. the ones that drive me to be so passionate about the subject…and over a setting that gets at the “being” of tea time…sharing it with friends, family, or as a break for yourself.

Our awesome chef, Kevin Montoya, who owns Carley Cakes has extensive training in New York and San Francisco culinary and baking schools. He did a delightful tasting for us last week.  This so we could tweak the menu and presentation where necessary (which very little was necessary…he prepares my recipes from Tea With Betty so well…how fun to see someone else’s take on recipes you’ve lived with for so long).

Here are some of the photos from that practice set up and tasting morning last week…the setting is outdoors, in Goin Native’s front yard garden.  This is in the historic district of San Juan Capistrano…the Mission church bells will be sounding during the tea tasting, as will a few trains rushing by…creating a unique, rustic, and gorgeous natural setting.  Marianne, Goin Native owner, offers beautiful native plant garden ideas and items.  She is brilliant at potting and planting and heads up our volunteer garden angel group.

Tasting items…on a full sheet pan…

Savory tasting items and the most delightful vanilla cinnamon butter (for the pancetta cheese biscuits) Wow, the flavors just “pop”

More of the setting…

savory tasting plate…roasted tomato with fresh mozzarella, smoked salmon mousse in crispy wonton cup, polenta with roasted shitake and crimini mushrooms, creamy goat cheese drizzled with Napa Valley honey…tiny cups showing our rare Oolong tea, dry and unfurled after steeping…these four items will be paired with two rare and pure organic teas from Mighty Leaf Teas

Kevin’s scones and desserts were spot on (actually so much better than I can even make them…)  So…we worked on the rest of the table setting, set up, tea making area, check in and all…gorged ourselves on the samples (as I was ensuring not only quality, but also…was there enough food per person to be a lunch like meal since the event runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m…. we all agreed we were fully satiated and hadn’t even had the teas with this tasting…

Next…my husband and I ran up to East L.A. to my wonderful printer, Rich, owner of El Sereno Graphics, and picked up an order of books to have available for signing at the events… I love going up to his print shop… and popping the top off a box of Tea With Betty books….

Picking up Tea With Betty book order from El Sereno Graphics…there is even a cool 55 Chevy in the print shop (my husband loves this car)…

I have been sitting on my library floor, wrapping up individual tea gifts we are going to give to guests as they leave … while watching season 3 of Downton Abbey (oh my…have you seen it yet? … )  If watching…
“Don’t you just love how everything happens over having a cup of tea?”

Look at all the Mighty Leaf Tea I have ready for the tasting…pounds and pounds of wonderful tea…we are tasting five different pure, organic and fragrant teas

Will let you know how it goes…am practicing making 50 to 100 cups of tea at a time this weekend to get the timing exact…

Life’s short…drink tea…and enjoy

What Are The “Best Before” Dates In Your Pantry?

My friend V. asked if I could show her how to make a scone, I said, “of course…  it’s quick and easy and your family will think you are the greatest.”  Well, life got in the way and months went by without seeing each other…then, via a chance meeting she attended that my sister happened to be at…we reconnected via text messages and finally calendared the time to make scones together –with lunch– at my house.  We invited a few other friends we had been “meaning to get together with for awhile too”,  making a girlfriend’s lunch out of it.  We’d catch up, bake, eat, and relax over a cup of tea.  It turned out to be totally fun with non-stop talk while chowing down roasted chicken salad, savory and sweet biscuit scones, jasmine pearl tea, and awesome Dove Chocolate peanut butter cookies made by our friend, A.  – we vowed to do this again in a few months.

I had everything prepared before my friends arrived except the scones.  Those we made together.  It took all of 15 minutes for two batches, savory and sweet.  I always make petite scones using a small cutter (1 ½” round) – and serve them hot out of the oven with various accompaniments.  That way, you get to have more than one and vary the topping…yet don’t feel like a little piggy while gulping three or four down

While my friend A. watched me demonstrate how to make the first batch, showing how I barely touch the dough to bring it together, ensuring a more tender product after baking…she exclaimed, “oh, that’s what you mean by dont overwork the dough’‘, mine always come out like hard little lead balls”…she went to say she uses my recipe from Tea With Betty and has this happen every time she makes scones (which she does often).  Well, being the conscientious cookbook author that I am, I probed as to what she actually did …and questioned her about the recipe …and worried over this for a few days until my sister and I were over at A.’s house for a quick cup of tea (for me) and wine for them the other day…sleuthing a bit, this is what I found out about her scones….

A. had made my cheddar chive scones for a lunch she had the day before.  She pulled out a few leftover ones for a snack with our tea and wine… they looked like little doughy leaden hardballs…and these she made AFTER participating in our joint scone making the week before.  I asked laughingly “what the heck did you do to these?”  She said she followed my instructions completely (and she is meticulous about things like this so I fully believed her)…I kept looking at these things she called my cheddar chive scones with puzzled exasperation.  My dough comes out pillowy …like this…

Soft, pillowy, tender, cheddar chive scone dough…how it should look

I asked how fresh her baking powder was, she said, it is fresh.  She bakes all the time and I believed her.  We sat down to our  beverages, but I couldn’t get this lumpy ball she called a scone made from MY recipe out of my mind.  I probed more and asked, “where do you keep your baking powder?” ( The doubting Thomas side of me emerging)…I went to her cupboards opening doors…found her baking powder…her fresh baking powder (so she claimed) and here is what she was using…remember, we are in the year 2013…..

Baking Powder tin, reflecting expiration date of…Sep. 2009 — oh, my

These are what her lumps she called cheddar chive scones looked like….

Dense, lump of a cheddar chive scone…it tasted good, just chewy

Needless to say, I confiscated this can and A. has purchased new baking powder. Amazingly, her next batch came out spectacularly light, flaky, and delicious!!

Check your code dates folks…FRESH, quality ingredients make a huge difference…while this story is something she will laughingly share with others for ages…or at least my sister and I will…A’s guests who experienced her old scones will be pleasantly pleased with the new batches.

Here is how flaky and light my biscuit scones should look…rustic, reflecting layers.

My basic, biscuit scone…rustic, easy to split and slather with butter, creams, curds, jams…whatever…using fresh baking powder

Enjoy with a cup or two of freshly steeped whole leaf tea….the best!

A Week Of Giant Birthday Cakes and A Giant Teacup…

It’s been a busy couple weeks around here between Easter, Spring planting, and birthdays.  Easter dinner normally takes place at our house…over the years, it has become a large family affair of about 30 guests.  Since the advent of  Spring and Easter usually occur near each other on the calendar, readying the house for the holiday  is a great excuse for me to get a kick start on bringing my yard back to life after months of laying dormant…and, living in Southern California, the weather almost always cooperates  for an outdoor start to the day, including an egg hunt—so the backyard is a focal point for the celebration.  This year, we decided to improve our raised herb and veggie garden and put in a new framework…it was much more work than it originally looked like….but we did it.   Yay…now we need more veggie mix soil…but that’s a whole other story

Below are photos of some of the color coming through in the yard that we had for Easter, including replanting my GIANT ornamental teacup —

Spring planting around my Mom’s garden statue

A good use of a wine box…the wine is gone, now a planter

But the best planter is my GIANT teacup…given to me as a thank you from a friend who knows I love tea…(I am so lucky, friends find me the most interesting tea themed items).

Giant teacup planter….

We even put up a small hot house and planted seeds….this done before putting in the new vegetable beds…

Our new petite hot house…my husband did a great job assembling this…

Our first seeds planted are two heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, jalapenos and Genovese basil….all organic from Seeds of Change (also a Mars company, fyi).

after one week…the tomatoes popped….

Our 20 year old Wisteria vine cooperated beautifully for the day and bloomed profusely while permeating the air with the most wonderful fragrance.

Wisteria in bloom, it’s fragrance wafted over the entire yard like a soft perfume

On top of the convergence of spring and Easter…my two young grandson’s birthdays both fall in the first week of April…this is the third year that I have been in charge of the birthday cakes – I am not a great cake decorator, but I try. The cake making used to be the job (and joy) of my dear friend, Pat, a fabulous, “almost famous” cake maker… and one of the most generous and awesome persons I’ve ever known…sadly, she passed away three years ago.  Aside from breaking all our hearts that this joyful, loving person left us…my family’s cake making got handed to me.  This year the boys made very specific requests of me as to what they wanted their cakes to look like..a “whodunit cake” and a “knight cake”.

The “Whodunit Cake” was a challenge as it required  large decorator items… so I ended up having to make a half sheet cake to fit all the stuff going on top of the cake…our 8 year old loved it!

The Whodunit Cake…
including “caution tape, magnifying glass, glasses, lipstick “pen”, and binoculars…not pretty but impressed the kids…

Then there was the “Knight Cake” for my 5 year old grandson…it came out great due to the expert help of Grandpa…

I was asked to have two knights, jousting… AND have other knights, a canon and a dragon on this cake…it was a hit

I will say, all this cake washed down nicely with a few cups of lovely, organic, whole leaf teas…Jasmine pearl with cake is a favorite of mine.

Join Us For A Tea Tasting Event…@ Goin Native May 10 and May 11

Once or twice a month, I volunteer garden in the historic Los Rios area of San Juan Capistrano (California).  My “gardener” sister got me hooked on this about a year ago.  It feels good to contribute to the beauty of this historic site, where we are working to make it a destination for more and more Monarch butterflies.  The leader of this “Gardening Angels” group, Marianne Taylor, heard I wrote a book about tea and got this idea…”would I consider doing a  tea tasting for Goin Native Gardens , her incredibly neat garden business and personal home, also located in this historic area of San Juan Capistrano.   Goin Native is situated on an 1887 property and is a wonderful site for a tea tasting…the outdoor setting is under shade trees and umbrellas, in the midst of gorgeous vegetable and native plant gardens weaving themselves around their historic home.

Owners since 1990, Marianne and John Taylor restored this historic site and it’s gardens to reflect beauty and functionality.  The raised bed vegetable garden is easy to work and manage.  There are multiple garden retreat areas, along with fruit trees, native plants, and relaxed, cozy sitting areas throughout the property.

I am excited to introduce our guests to wonderful Mighty Leaf organic, whole  leaf teas – perfectly paired with savory and sweet bites from my Tea With Betty recipes …prepared by local pastry chef, Kevin Montoya, owner of Carley Cakes.

While guests will primarily eat, drink tea, enjoy the gardens and converse;  I will also briefly touch on: what tea IS …versus what it isn’t;  demonstrate how to make a good cup of tea;  and demonstrate how to make a delicious quick bread (my favorite little biscuit scone.)  We will be serving a three course menu paired with five fine teas.  It should be a fun lunchtime event with time to walk around the gardens and relax.   Check out the invite  GoinNative_invite   .

Below is our menu reflecting tea pairings and the flow of the class.

Goin Native presents EAT. BE. TEA … 

Tasting Menu for May 10 and May 11 event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Gathering Time

• Organic Ceylon Iced Tea from Kenilworth Estate
• Spiced Roasted Pecans

Tea Making (How To) and Tasting Time with The Savory Plate….

•  Smoked Salmon Mousse in Crispy Wonton Cup
• Polenta  Square Topped with Roasted Mushrooms
• paired with RareTieguanyin Jade Oolong Tea
• Roasted Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil on Crostini
• Creamed Goat Cheese drizzled with honey
• Paired with Organic Assam Tea from Rani Estate

Intermezzo…Biscuit Making Demonstration with Petite, Warm Biscuit Scones…

•  Savory Pancetta Cheese Biscuit & Linda’s Favorite Biscuit Scone
• with Vanilla Bean & Cinnamon Butter
• Paired with Masala Chai Tea

Sweet Finale

•  Decadent Dark Chocolate Brownie Bites
• Lemon Curd Tartlet with Toasted Meringue
• Paired with Jasmine Downey Pearls Tea  (Rare)

Relax and walk about the gardens and shop

Author book signing of Tea With Betty Tea Manual & Memoir

Reserve your seat by going to…. http://www.GoinNative.net

 photos of a few of the petite bites to be served are:

Pancetta biscuit with vanilla bean & cinnamon butter

Roasted tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil on crostini

Lemon curd tartlets with toasted meringue

Come join the fun if you can.  We are hoping this is just the first of many tasting menus to come…we are planning on doing video of this event & photos, and post them soon on this site or my new, soon to be released blog site which I will fill you in on in the next three weeks.   (It is currently under construction right now…fyi…all of Tea With Betty info will transfer to the new site…but we will have ability to do more things, such as videos on the new site…more on this subject later).

Enjoy and Drink Tea  :-)