A Queenly Quiz

The Queen of England lives her life very structured and has the same routine everyday. She has breakfast at 9 a.m., lunch at 1 p.m., and tea at 5 p.m. with dinner served at 8:15 p.m. She brews her own tea for her family with her Georgian silver teapot. Here's your trivia question:

What is the Queen's tea blend of choice?

Remember, when you comment your name is entered in our "Teas"day drawing every Tuesday! This week's drawing will be for a sample of our newest tea.

Cheerio for now!

Lori

Introducing Give-away "Teas"day!"

We had soo much fun with our sample tea give-away that we decided we would have a give-away each week! Every Monday we will take all the comments for that week and randomly choose a winner. Every Tuesday ("teas"day) we will announce a winner and start all over again! This should be a lot of fun so tell your friends to stop by and comment too. The give-away starts now! It doesn't matter which post you comment on. Come and visit us over a cup of tea each week and you will find tea tips, recipes, newly arriving teas in the shop and more. We look forward to seeing you there!

We also just added our Tea of the month club to our etsy shop. Please click on our etsy store link on the left for more information. We are so excited to offer this service.

Also, I wanted to display some of Elaine's gorgeous fine china from her private collection. Here's another interesting tip from Elaine: the thinner the china, the more expensive and high quality it will be. That's a great tip for when you are antiquing.

With joy,

Lori

Dans le Jardin~

We had a wonderful Memorial Day today. I hope you did too. We are soo thankful to our servicemen and women and we truly honor them today. We are proud of our country and what they have sacrificed for us. We owe them dearly! The very least we can do is show them our love and gratitude.

As we celebrated Memorial Day with family, we spent time relaxing and just being together. I took a walk through my little garden and thought I'd share some with you. Boy, I really need to spend some time there weeding etc. but some of my blooms were so pretty I thought I'd post them for you to enjoy while you have your tea with me. It can be our small tribute to take the time to simply stop for a moment, pray and thank God for our soldiers past and present. We are especially thankful to those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. They are our heroes.

With a grateful heart,

Lori

A little tea history~

~A brick of tea~





**************************************************

Here's something interesting that I just recently learned from Elaine. She purchased a "brick of tea". As recently as 200 years ago, tea was accepted as currency. It was made into "bricks" with a logo on top (hers is a train). I knew that it was valuable and used this way, but I didn't know it was made into bricks like this. Every time I learn something new about tea, I'm always fascinated. It's history is so vast, you could never learn all there is to know.
Also, I wanted to mention again the new flavor at the Ivy Leaf called, "Morning Sunshine." I had some today and it is absolutely heaven! I can't even describe it to you. You need to try it for yourself. It has hints of citrus, but it also has a unique flavor all it's own.
I wanted to share with you a delicious recipe I found in Tea Time magazine. I have a little herb and vegetable garden where I have baby carrots. They are so tender and delicious that I thought this would be the perfect way to use some of them. It's called,
"Cumin cream cheese crudites."


You need 12 baby carrots
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1. In a large saucepan, cover carrots with water and bring to a boil; cook for 3 minutes. Drain and place carrots on a baking sheet to dry and cool. Slice cooled carrots in half lengthwise.
2. In a medium bowl, and using an electric mixer at medium speed, blend the cream cheese, cumin, chives, lemon juice, and salt.
3.Place the cream cheese mixture in a pastry bag, and pipe down the centers of the sliced carrots. Sprinkle each carrot with toasted pine nuts, and serve.

If you're using garden fresh carrots, leave on some of the green stem for a beautiful presentation.

Wishing you joy,

Lori

~The Grand Tour ~

I was fortunate to have tea today at the Ivy Leaf Tea Parlor with my precious Mom. As promised, I am giving you a tour of the inside of the shop. Like I said on the previous post, you really do make a lasting memory when you take the time to have tea with someone special. It's just not the same as having lunch. It is an event. You feel like you really have taken the time to "smell the roses." I highly recommend it to anyone.





Beautiful gift items in the shop.



This is a new tea called Morning Sunshine. It has a smooth citrus flavor and has hints of passion fruit. It is an Earl Grey base. The scent is heavenly!



The other new tea, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. I had this one today and it was so delicious I had to buy some to take home. The name says it all with this fabulous tea. It has a smooth, velvety chocolate character with an underlying hint of raspberry. It is a black tea and works very well with cream. Definitely a new favorite!

Elaine Broom~lovely owner of The Ivy Leaf.
She has created a beautiful and serene tea parlor that is soft, inviting and luxurious. She and her staff are the epitome of graciousness and southern hospitality. You instantly feel welcomed the minute you arrive.



Our beautiful table for Light Afternoon tea.


delectable desserts with fresh flowers......


chicken salad croissants, cucumber sandwiches etc.


fresh fruit, scones with clotted cream and lemon curd...



Beautifully decorated nooks with vintage hats, gloves and boas are in each tea room.




A beautiful room in the shop located in the front of the store where you can purchase tea impedimenta as well as lovely gifts.


A vignette of antique suitcases.....


Antique sofa in the tea shop.


Robin serving tea in one of the tea rooms.




I hope you enjoyed coming along with me on my tour of the Ivy Leaf Tea Parlor. I will regularly feature new teas and gifts in the shop, my favorite picks, interesting facts about tea and more.

I would love to hear your comments and welcome your tea questions. I enjoy learning about tea and would love to post information here for others to learn as well.
Thank you for visiting!




Have a beautiful week~

Lori

Welcome to the Ivy Leaf Tea Parlour

The charm of this 1940's tea shop is endless. I am starting with the outside view and will be giving you a detailed inside look on the next post. I will also show you the wide selection of teas and beautiful accessories in the shop. My favorite tea is French Creme Brulee'. I never run out of this tea. It is absolute heaven.

If you have never been to tea at the Ivy Leaf, you are missing a beautiful experience. It is a delightful, charming shop with a wonderful staff. They make you feel like you're an honored guest. Call a friend and invite her to tea. You will experience beautiful, relaxing music in a gorgeous setting with every attention to detail. They serve delicious teas, scones, croissant sandwiches and dainty desserts on china, lace and linen. Afterwards, browse the shop for all your tea impedimenta and unique thoughtful gift ideas. It will be an afternoon you will treasure each time you visit.

Until next time,

Lori

Living a beautiful life~

As this is the first post of this blog, I want to offer you a warm welcome. Here you will find a small place to celebrate the joys of taking tea and all the attributes of this delightful tradition. It's more than tea; it's the simple pleasures of life and that can make us most content. To live a beautiful life means to find the beauty in life. It's all around you in this wonderful world God created for us to enjoy.

This blog is all about tea, enjoying & appreciating the simple things, and in particular, The Ivy Leaf Antique & Tea Parlor located in Crestview, Florida. We hope you'll enjoy your time here and be inspired.