Steampunk tea and Clockwork Alchemy in San Jose

 

Photo: MorgueFile.com

Clockwork Alchemy, the Steampunk convention associated with FanimeCon, has returned to San Jose’s DoubleTree Hotel for the second year.  Featuring dance, art, crafts, writing, music, fashion and food within the Steampunk aesthetic, because the genre is tied to Victoriana, tea will always be available whenever convention attendees want a cuppa.  Not only will the DoubleTree Hotel’s restaurant offer its usual hot tea on the menu, but the convention is setting up its own tea room, called The Alchemist’s Tea Parlour, where guests can get not only a nice hot cup of tea and a biscuit, but even have their fortunes read in their tea leaves.  The Tea Parlour will be open from Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Riesling Room.

Other occasions for tea include a writers’ gathering and reading, called “Tea and Trumpets”, on Friday from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Monterey room.  On Monday at 11 a.m., there will be an interesting class called “Stocking the Steampunk Pantry, Equipping a Steampunk Kitchen, & Setting a Steampunk Table” in the San Carlos Room.  The class will explore the relationship between the Industrial Revolution and agriculture in changing how people got the food they ate and what was available to various locations.  Class attendees will use this information to imagine the tools, gadgets, and ingredients appropriate to a Steampunk kitchen.  There might also be an episode of “Tea Dueling” in and among the other activities!

Admission, or Membership, to Clockwork Alchemy costs $65 for the weekend (and includes free admission to FanimeCon, also in San Jose this weekend), but you can also buy a Membership for each day on its own.  Just go to the At-Con Registration line in the Bayshore room at the DoubleTree Hotel; Friday, the opening day, costs $35 to attend, Saturday and Sunday each cost $40, and Monday is $30 for a general admission Membership.  Children are welcome to attend with an adult, and have a discounted rate.

_Tea Lands of China_ featuring San Jose’s Victoria Boyert

Satori Tea Bar sign. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach.

When do you get to see someone you know in a PBS documentary? This week, that’s when. Victoria Boyert, owner of Satori Tea Bar in San Pedro Square, downtown San Jose, was chosen to represent the tea world on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to China last year, resulting in Tea Lands of China, which will air on local PBS stations this week.

The documentary follows Boyert and Mark Rozell, a manager with Verve Coffee Roasters in Santa Cruz, on their journey to Hangzhou and Yunnan in China to learn about Longjing and Pu’erh teas. Longjing, better known by its English name, Dragonwell, is a type of green tea, and pu’erh is an aged green tea that is pressed into discs and stored in caves to develop its characteristic earthy flavor and aroma. Boyer and Rozell learned how to pick, process, and brew these teas, tasted food made with tea, and met the people who have cultivated and processed these teas for generations.

The one-hour long documentary will broadcast at 9 p.m. on Channel 200 in the South Bay, and PBS’s KRCB 22 in Sonoma County on Tuesday, May 7, and at 2 p.m. on KQED World on Saturday, May 11.  Local public television stations may re-play the program repeatedly, so check your local listings, and the PBS website for re-play links.  Keep your eyes on this blog, as well, for the results of a personal interview with Tori Boyert about her experiences!

Copyright 2013, Elizabeth Urbach

Like what you read? Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, read my other blog, The Cup That Cheers, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea or Pinterest!

For more information:
“Tea Lands of China” documentary web page
“Tea Lands of China” on the KQED website
“Tea Lands of China” trailer on YouTube
“Tea 101: what is pu-erh tea?“
“Tea and the mold-free diet”
“Where to buy Chinese tea in the San Jose area”
“Tea-tasting San Jose area day trips: San Francisco’s Chinatown”
“San Jose’s newest tea shop: Satori Tea Bar”
“An overview of Chinese teas available in San Jose”
“Review: afternoon tea at Satori Tea Bar”
“Tea bricks: what are they and should they be used?”
“San Jose’s Satori Tea Company going to the World Tea Expo”

Enjoy some tea and treats with the Eta Aquarid meteor shower

The constellation Aquarius. Photo: Till Credner, Creative Commons 3.0

San Jose has seemingly skipped from spring to summer lately! One way to stay cool through the evening is to open up the windows of your home, and spend time outdoors as the sun goes down and the air cools off. What better way to enjoy the cool of the evening than with some tea, treats, and a meteor shower overhead? The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower is supposed to be at its most intense beginning around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, continuing until dawn, but shooting stars could be visible to the east/southeast on the horizon as early as 9 p.m. Pacific time. A spot on the eastern side of the foothills near Berryessa or Evergreen would be an ideal place for meteor-watching, early Sunday and Monday morning.

Halley’s Comet leaves a trail of dust in its wake, littering its orbit with debris. This debris falls to Earth twice a year, when our orbit gets near enough to the comet’s orbit and some of the dust gets pulled in by Earth’s gravity. The other meteor shower caused by this debris is the Orionid meteor shower in October. Ideal conditions for viewing meteor showers include dark, moonless skies, and clear weather. Look for the meteors to originate from the constellation Aquarius, which should be visible above the horizon between midnight and 3 a.m. You can also wait until 6 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday for NASA’s live webcast.

As for tea and treats, it’s warm enough to enjoy either iced tea, or hot tea, as you choose. A hearty black tea will help you stay awake and focused in order to see those meteors. Keep up your energy with a buffet of treats from the tea party pantry that will pair well with your choice of tea. You can even add some tea ice cream from the grocery store.  If you have a good view of the eastern and southern sky from your yard or windows, you may not even have to leave the comfort of your own home! Pull up some lawn chairs to support your back, or spread out some beach towels, and enjoy your midnight tea picnic while gazing up at the stars this weekend!

Copyright 2013, Elizabeth Urbach.

Like what you read? Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, read my other blog, The Cup That Cheers, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea or Pinterest!

For more information:
“Meteor Shower Created by Halley’s Comet Peaks This Weekend” from Space.com
“LIVE WEBCAST Sunday 9 p.m. ET: See Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower”
“Look Up! Stargazing events for May 2013”
“Eta Aquarid meteor shower to peak this weekend with 20 to 40 meteors per hour”
“Be inspired by Halley’s Comet with a viewing of the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower”
“What should I keep in the pantry for tea parties?”
“Bring along a tea party as you watch the Orionid meteor shower in October”
“Greet the summer in San Jose with iced tea during Iced Tea Month”
“Now is the time for garden parties and picnics in San Jose”
“Give an open house with a tea buffet for your favorite graduate”
“Fill the time waiting for your Twilight Saga: Eclipse tickets with a midnight tea picnic”
“Iced tea and how to make it”
“Cool off with tea ice cream”
“Meteor-watching in San Jose? Keep warm with tea and snacks”
“Tea and food pairings for black teas”
“Here’s how to put on a Twilight themed midnight tea picnic”
“Stay up late with tea on New Year’s Eve”
“Review of Haagen-Dazs Green Tea ice cream”

Fifth Annual Cat Rescue Tea another success!

“Downton Tabby” place setting.  Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

The 5th annual Cat Rescue Tea fundraiser for the 13th Street Cats nonprofit, dubbed the “Downton Tabby” Tea, returned to a historic Victorian home in San Jose’s Hensley District over Tax weekend. Both days sold out well in advance, with 44 guests the first day and 42 the second day for afternoon tea. New for 2013 was the “V.I.P. Table” – the best seats in the house at a cozy table for two in the velvet-curtained bay window, and the “Champagne Upgrade” available to all guests, which added 2 glasses of good-quality champagne for an extra charge – a very popular novelty with the guests. Satori Tea Company’s Earl Grey Creme blend and a spiced rooibos blend called The Cat’s Pajamas from Thompson Tea Company were donated and paired really well with the food. This year’s menu was also completely homemade; even the gourmet packaged cake and cookies from previous years were replaced with homemade treats:

Fig, bacon and cream cheese tea sandwich
The Kittens’ Favorite egg salad tea sandwich
Pear, bleu cheese and walnut tea sandwich
Cucumber and herbed cream cheese tea sandwich
Goat cheese and sun-dried tomato tea sandwich
Curried chicken salad tea sandwich
Olive tapenade on a cracker
Currant scone with orange zest
Meyer lemon curd
Butter
Spiced plum, summer strawberry, and apricot jam
Fresh grapes
Nut cup
Chocolate-dipped almond shortbread cookie
Chocolate fudge

The coveted V.I.P. table. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

Instead of ordering from the menu as is done at a tea shop, each guest received a plate with all of the above – except for vegetarians and people with nut allergies, who were served a variation of the standard plate — as well as bottomless pots of tea, and two tea favors. Homemade cat paw-shaped chocolate lollipops, and “Cat Whiskers”, a blooming tea from Thompson Tea Company, were the tea favors. Everyone seemed to have a great time, as well as enjoying the beautiful surroundings of the Victorian house where the event was located, and the raffle and silent auction items. While the date is not set for next year’s event, and tickets will go on sale in early 2014, the next Cat Rescue Tea will be located at an even bigger restored Victorian mansion on North 3rd Street! Mark your calendars and buy your tickets soon after they go on sale next year, if you want to attend!

Copyright 2013, Elizabeth Urbach.

Like what you read? Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, read my other blog, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea!

For more information:
13th St. Cat Rescue
Cat Rescue Tea event webpage page
13th Street Cat Rescue Facebook page
Thompson Tea Company, Ltd.
Satori Tea Company
“Tea party for a cause”
“San Jose’s Cat Rescue tea party: a fundraiser you can put on for your favorite non-profit!”
“San Jose’s Cat Rescue Tea raises over $4,000 for local nonprofit!”
“13th Street Cats wraps up another afternoon tea fundraiser in downtown San Jose”
“Chocolate and tea: the perfect match?”
“Tea 101: what do we mean when we talk about tea?”
“What you need to make a good pot of hot tea”
“San Jose’s newest tea shop: Satori Tea Bar”
“Tea and food pairings for black teas”
“Are tea-drinkers automatically ‘teatotallers’?”
“Review: afternoon tea at Satori Tea Bar”
“Review: Twinings Earl Grey tea”

Italian Easter Bread: food to eat with tea

Italian Easter Bread, delicious with a cup of black tea

Many Western cultures have special recipes that only come out on certain holidays, especially Christmas and Easter. Sweet and savory dishes pair well with tea, and a hot cup of tea alongside a special holiday treat can be the perfect way to enjoy the temporary calm on the morning of a busy day. San Jose’s Italian residents have several bread and cookie-type Easter treats, but the most famous one is probably Italian Easter Bread, which goes by as many different Italian names as there are regions in Italy. Here is a fairly easy recipe, which originated on The Italian Dish blog:

Italian Easter Bread
1/3 cup butter
1 ¼ cups milk
1 envelope instant yeast (2 ¼ tsp.)
pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup sugar
3 ½ to 4 ½ cups flour
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
4 to 6 uncooked Easter eggs
multicolored round sprinkles

Melt the butter with the milk in a saucepan or the microwave, then remove from the heat and let cool for 15 to 20 minutes (temperature should register between 115 and 130 degrees Farenheit on a food thermometer). In a large bowl, combine the yeast, salt, beaten eggs and sugar. Add the warm (not hot) butter mixture, and then beat in 2 cups of the flour until smooth. Add the remaining flour in ½ cup increments, mixing well in between additions, until the dough is stiff enough to pull away from the sides of the bowl as you mix it. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead the dough until it is smooth and doesn’t stick to your hands. Place in a greased bowl and let rise, covered, in a warm place for about an hour, until the dough is doubled in size. Punch the dough down, divide it into three equal pieces, and roll each into a rope approximately 2 inches thick. Braid the ropes together into a single loaf, pinching the ends of the ropes together to keep the braid from coming undone. Cover and let rise in a warm place for another hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit, and line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Place risen braided loaf on the prepared sheet, brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with multicolored sprinkles. Nestle the raw Easter eggs in the folds of the braid, spacing them evenly along the loaf. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden, and cool on a wire rack. Eat while warm, or refrigerate, wrapped in plastic, when cooled, if you want to eat the Easter eggs, which will now be hard-cooked. Discard the Easter eggs if left at room temperature more than a few hours. Makes 1 loaf.

You can dye the Easter eggs and make the dough ahead of time, up to the first rising, and refrigerate it, covered, overnight, to bake the next day. The first rising should happen in the fridge, so you should only have to let it come to room temperature, punch it down and shape it, let it rise the second time and bake it in the morning. Or, you can leave off the Easter eggs, and bake the loaf on its own the day before, and have it ready for breakfast with a hearty black tea, and perhaps some chocolate from the Easter bunny, in the morning!

Copyright 2013, Elizabeth Urbach.  

Like what you read? Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, read my other blog, The Cup That Cheers, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea or Pinterest  

For more information:

The Italian Dish blog
“How to give an Italian Tea”
“Easter tea party ideas and tips” 
“Chinese black tea in San Jose”
“Chocolate and tea: the perfect match?”
“What you need to make a good pot of hot tea”
“How to make holiday orange spice tea”
“Cinnamon-raisin tea bread pudding with cream cheese filling”
“Aztec chocolate bread pudding to eat with tea”
“Tea and food pairings for black teas”
“Enjoy traditional Irish seed cake with a nice cup of tea”
“Pan-Pacific Expo Canapes for the tea-table” 

2nd Annual San Francisco International Tea Festival comes to the Bay Area

San Francisco International Tea Festival welcome banner

The San Francisco International Tea Festival, open to tea lovers outside the professional tea trade, has succeeded for the second year in a row. Housed in the historic Ferry Building in San Francisco, the festival sold out before the event began, in its first year (2012), and was similarly popular this past weekend. Attendees received a small bag of promotional handouts, a few samples of tea, and an official tasting cup, at the festival entrance.

Tea vendors from all over the United States, and some international tea merchants, set up exhibits of their newest and most popular products and offered tastings of their teas to the attendees. Experts, including San Francisco’s Roy Fong of Imperial Tea Court, and James Norwood Pratt, author of The Tea Lover’s Treasury and other books, gave lectures and hosted private tea tastings. Various vendors downstairs in the Ferry Building Marketplace featured tea-related products as well, and tea books and magazines were offered for sale in the festival area as well as the Ferry Building Marketplace’s permanent bookstore. Authors James Norwood Pratt and Babette Donaldson, author of the Emma Lea’s Tea series of children’s books, were available for autographs.

While the festival was a really fun and interesting event, it is still in its “baby” phase when it comes to certain aspects, like pricing and tickets. It cost $20 per person to attend, but the attendance fee didn’t cover any of the lectures or private tea tastings, which were $5 each, and then a $5 processing fee was added to each ticket, and a $2.50 processing fee added to each lecture or tea tasting cost. Paying $25 to get in to see 16 exhibitors and vendors – and do nothing else but shop – is a bit steep for a lot of those who aren’t making money from tea! People were also disappointed that it cost a minimum of $32.50 just to get in and attend a 30-minute to one-hour lecture or tea tasting, because the increased cost wasn’t publicized until you got to the online ticket order form.

Tickets were sold through an online service from the San Francisco International Tea Festival website, and the service had several bugs in its workings that made it difficult for some people to purchase their tickets: it wouldn’t process some credit card transactions, and charged some people twice for the same event. The service also wouldn’t accept PayPal or any other type of payment, and it prevented me from purchasing my own ticket! Last year they only provided for 1,000 tickets – and had to turn some people away – and this year’s attendance seemed about the same or a bit less.

All in all, however, the San Francisco International Tea Festival is a great event for Bay Area tea-lovers, and it’s small enough that you can see everything in about 2 hours. It is easily accessible by BART (Embarcadero station) and MUNI, and while it takes 2 hours to get there from San Jose on public transportation, the festival makes for a fun day out in The City, meeting and chatting with other local tea lovers. The festival is expected to return to The City in 2014, and it looks like the organizers are limiting attendance to 1,000 tickets, so buy yours as soon as they go on sale next year!

Copyright 2013, Elizabeth Urbach

Like what you read? Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, read my other blog, The Cup That Cheers, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea or Pinterest!

For more information:
San Francisco International Tea Festival website
Ferry Building Marketplace website
2012 San Francisco International Tea Festival
James Norwood Pratt website
Imperial Tea Court website
Babette Donaldson website
“San Francisco International Tea Festival happens this Saturday!”
“San Francisco International Tea Festival – accessible to San Jose tea lovers”
“San Francisco International Tea Festival: Feb. 25”
“Where to buy books about tea in San Jose”
“5 books that should be on the tea-lover’s bookshelf”

Have a Valentine’s Day tea for two

“I’m all ‘steamed’ up over you my Valentine — you suit me to a ‘TEA’!” Image: Denise LeCroy/Tea in England

Tea shares a few qualities with some popular aphrodisiacs, like chocolate: it’s got antioxidants that are good for you! It’s not too late to put together a romantic tea-for-two for your sweetheart. You can do a high tea instead of going out to an expensive and crowded restaurant for dinner, or have tea and sweets for dessert afterwards. Pull your nicest things out of the tea party pantry, cozy up with a pot of tea, and you’ll be well on your way to a private little tea party.

First, choose a tea: both Satori Tea Bar and Lisa’s Tea Treasures sell rose-scented and other floral loose tea blends that would be perfect for a Valentine’s Day tea. Or, you can get some rose water or orange-flower water from the Middle Eastern food section of many local grocery stores, and add a teaspoon of that to your favorite black tea.  Next, put together some treats.  You can stir some chopped chocolate and dried cherries into your favorite scone recipe, or go to Nob Hill in Milpitas, or other higher-end grocery store and get a packaged scone mix, refrigerated pre-made scone dough, or even (at Bay Area Whole Foods stores), pre-made scones, as well as some cherry or raspberry jam to accompany them. Savories that include red foods, like roasted red peppers, are both tasty and festive. Chocolates, red velvet cupcakes (you can even buy red velvet cake mix in local grocery stores these days) and any other luxurious desserts are also welcome additions. Try making your own truffles, and infusing some chai spices in the cream, for a tasty twist!

Copyright 2013, Elizabeth Urbach.

Like what you read? Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, read my other blog, The Cup That Cheers, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea or Pinterest!

For more information:
“Surprise your loved one with tea and romance”
“What should I keep in the pantry for tea parties?”
“Chocolate and tea: the perfect match?”
“How to use edible flowers for tisanes”
“Review: Vital Tea Leaf Angel green tea and Siberian Rose tisane”
“Tea-table recipe: rose-petal jam desserts”
“Tea 101: what do we mean when we talk about tea?”
“Review: the Royal Wedding tea from Lisa’s Tea Treasures”
“What you need to make a good pot of hot tea”
“Tea 101: How to brew a pot of hot tea using loose tea”
“Bottled tea may contain fewer antioxidants than freshly brewed tea”
“San Jose’s newest tea shop: Satori Tea Bar”
“What is chai and where can I get it in San Jose?”
“How to make masala chai at home”
“Aztec chocolate bread pudding to eat with tea”
“Making the most of a cup of restaurant tea”
“Tea and food pairings for black teas”
“Review: Orange Blossom 100% White Tea from The Republic of Tea”
“Review: Passion blend from SerendipiTea”
“Shrewsbury Cakes: a Regency recipe to eat with tea in San Jose”
“Practice good manners in San Jose at the tea table”
“6 points of proper tea etiquette for San Jose”
“Review: Original English Tea Scones from Sconehenge Bakery”
Homemade truffles for Valentine’s Day

Tea savories are at home on the Super Bowl buffet table

Gingerbread football cookies. Image: MorgueFile.com

All of San Jose is excited for Super Bowl XLVII because local favorites, the San Francisco 49ers, are playing for the championship! While tea-lovers who aren’t also football fans may want to escape to another room, or to another building altogether – such as one of San Jose’s tea shops – when the game starts, there are many tea table savories that are equally suitable for the game day buffet table;  look in your tea party pantry and see what you can use!  Tea-loving football fans can brew up a sturdy black tea like an English Breakfast, or even add tea leaves to their barbecue spice rub, that will pair well with the strongly-flavored foods on the buffet table, and enjoy one of San Jose’s unofficial holidays, “Super Bowl Sunday.”

Show your support for the San Francisco 49ers with red and gold-colored foods, as well as the themed napkins, paper plates and team memorabilia that decorate every fan’s home. For example: make a chicken salad with honey mustard, and serve it in mini red Bell pepper cups. Make grilled cheese and bell pepper finger sandwiches on sourdough bread. Make a fruit salad with lots of bananas, oranges, pineapples, strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate seeds, or maraschino cherries for color.  Or, try an old California recipe from 1915, invented for the San Francisco Panama-Pacific Exposition. If you have a food processor, it’s a really quick addition, too:

CANAPE A L’EXPOSITION
Fry six thin rounds of bread. Chop three tablespoons of cold chicken or ham and two anchovies, and pound to a paste. Add a tablespoon of thick cream and season with chile powder. Then spread on the toast. Sprinkle with grated cheese and brown in the oven.
– from The Pan-Pacific Cookbook: Savory Bits from the World’s Fare by L.L. McLaren.

In more modern terms the recipe could look like this:

6 slices sandwich bread
1 cup cooked chicken or ham, chopped
2 anchovies, boned
1 tablespoon heavy cream, plus extra
1 teaspoon chile powder
grated cheese, to taste

Toast or pan-fry the bread on both sides until browned and crisp. Use a 1-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter to cut at least 2 rounds from each slice of bread. Set aside. Add chicken and anchovies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until ground to a paste. Add a tablespoon of cream and the chile powder to the meat and process, adding more cream as necessary to make a spreadable, but not runny paste. Spread the meat paste on the toast rounds. Sprinkle with grated cheese and broil until the cheese is melted and browned to your liking. Makes about 6 servings.

This makes a quick, easy, and slightly healthier addition to all those hot wings, jalapeno poppers and chips that will be on your game day buffet table. If you use cheddar cheese, and garnish with paprika or roasted red pepper, it will even be a red-and-gold colored appetizer! Other traditional tea savories like sausage rolls and smoked salmon finger sandwiches would also appeal to the beer-drinkers, and you can make iced tea punches and spritzers with fruit juice and carbonated water for the kids and those who want an alternative to beer. Go ‘9ers!

Copyright 2013, Elizabeth Urbach.

Like what you read? Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, read my blog, The Cup That Cheers, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea or Pinterest!

For more information:
“How to incorporate tea into your Super Bowl party”
“Super Bowl Super Fan: New Orleans Tea cocktail from The Spice and Tea Exchange”
“Super Bowl ‘tea’”
“What should I keep in the pantry for tea parties?”
“Chinese black tea in San Jose”
“Give an open house with a tea buffet for your favorite graduate”
“What you need to make a good pot of hot tea”
“Tea 101: How to brew a pot of hot tea using loose tea”
“Bottled tea may contain fewer antioxidants than freshly brewed tea”
“Barbecue with tea”
“Tea and food pairings for black teas”
“Menu tip: 5 teas for San Jose’s beer fans”
“Use tea in refreshing fruit spritzers”
San Francisco 49ers Menu from Epicurious
Super Bowl recipes from the NFL blog
Easy Bacon Cream Cheese Roll-ups recipe
San Francisco recipes from Allrecipes.com

Downton Abbey Season 3 comes to the Bay Area

Highclere Castle, the setting for _Downton Abbey_ Series 3. Photo: John James. Creative Commons 2.0

The BBC’s hit Downton Abbey returns to PBS on January 6th, and will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on Sundays until February 17th. Local tea and history-lovers are planning to make a special event of watching the first episode of Season 3, and today KQED is holding a free preview and tea at their headquarters in San Francisco, which is about 45 minutes northwest of San Jose.

The KQED website reads: “You’re invited to join KQED and Downton Abbey fans on Saturday, January 5, 2013 for tea and an exclusive sneak preview screening of Season 3, Episode 1. Celebrate the return of the Grantham clan as the English country estate enters a new era post-WWI.”

What: KQED Downton Abbey Season 3 Preview
Where: At the KQED headquarters: 2601 Mariposa St, San Francisco, CA
When: Saturday, January 5, 2013, 2pm (2pm Tea, 3pm Screening) – RSVP
Cost: FREE, but Space is limited. RSVP required for you and one guest; R.S.V.P. by visiting their Eventbrite page.

If you miss the KQED event today, next weekend there will be a lecture and tea in Woodside, at the Woodside Library, which is about 35 minutes northwest of San Jose. The library website reads: “Come learn about the world of Downton Abbey! In a fascinating illustrated lecture, DiAnn Ellis covers everything from the real Highclere Castle where the popular PBS series is filmed; to the beautiful Worth gowns; to the real work day of a person in service. Questions and tea and cookies will follow the program.”

What: Downton Abbey Culture event
Where: at the Woodside Library, 3140 Woodside Rd., Redwood City, CA 94062. For more information or to R.S.V.P., call (650) 851-0147
When: Saturday, Jan 12, 2013 1 p.m.
Cost: FREE, but space is limited. Please R.S.V.P.

If you can’t make it to San Francisco or to the Woodside Library, plan your own get-together in the comfort of your own home. Click here for a proper English tea menu.  Perhaps you’d like to try a recipe that Downton’s Mrs. Patmore might have made; here is a recipe from Warne’s Model Cookery and Housekeeping Book by Mary Jewry, from ca. 1891. Maybe it is the Apple Charlotte recipe that Mrs. Patmore refused to make for Sir Anthony Strallan?

A Charlotte de Pommes.
Time, three-quarters of an hour to one hour.

The crumb of a stale loaf; apple marmalade; apricot jam.

Butter a plain mould, and line it with thin slices of the crumb of a stale loaf dipped into clarified butter, joining each slice neatly to prevent the syrup from escaping, which would spoil the appearance of the Charlotte when done. Then fill the mould with apple marmalade and apricot jam; cover the top with slices of bread dipped into butter, and on the top of the bread put a plate with a weight on it. Set the mould in a quick oven from three-quarters of an hour to one hour, according to the size. Turn it out with care, having drained any butter from it before it is taken from the mould. Sift loaf sugar over it, or cover it with clear jelly, and serve it hot.

A Charlotte is a variation on a bread pudding, so it will be a moist dessert with browned top and crispy edges, that should be eaten hot or warm with whipped cream, custard or some other sweet sauce, or ice cream. Although the recipe doesn’t call for it, you could add a teaspoon of spices or flavoring to the filling; cinnamon and nutmeg would be nice. For the “pudding mould” you should use an oven-safe baking dish like a Pyrex bowl; coat it with softened butter so that you can get the Charlotte out after it’s baked; you can also line the bowl with aluminum foil, and then butter it and fill it, in order to make it easier to unmold your Charlotte for serving.

The “crumb of a stale loaf” is basically a loaf of country-style white wheat bread – you could use a sweet French or Italian bread – with the crusts cut off, and the rest of the bread sliced into ¼- to ½-inch thick slices. Make sure to use day-old or slightly stale and dry bread, so that it won’t get soggy as it absorbs the juice from the fruit and jam; the amount will depend on the dish you intend to bake your Apple Charlotte in. The “apple marmalade” could be apple cider butter, which can be found in most grocery stores in the San Jose area, or sweetened applesauce. Again, the amount depends on the size of your baking dish and how thick you want to make the layers of apple and apricot; I’d guess for a 1-quart Pyrex bowl or an 8-inch square glass baking dish, you’d need 4 cups of fruit filling – about 2 cups of apple and 2 cups of apricot. A “quick” oven is about 400 to 450 degrees Farenheit, so preheat yours to 425 and see if that’s hot enough to bake your Charlotte in 45 minutes to an hour. The Charlotte should be browned on top and should hold together in the shape of the bowl when you turn it out onto a platter for serving. The “loaf sugar, pounded” is granulated white sugar, and the “clear jelly” is apricot jelly or apple jelly without any fruit pulp in it, brushed on the Charlotte to glaze it.

Make yourself a proper pot of black tea, get yourself a plate of treats, and settle down to find out: will Matthew and Mary finally get married? Will Bates and Anna ever be free to open that hotel they talked about? And, will Thomas and O’Brien succeed in messing things up for the family and the rest of the staff?

Copyright 2013, Elizabeth Urbach.

Like what you read? Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, read my other blog, The Cup That Cheers, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea or Pinterest!

For more information:
Downton Abbey, Season 3 webpage
“Curl up with a cup of tea: Downton Abbey season 2 comes to San Jose”
“Have an English tea and Royal Wedding-viewing party!”
“Tea and food pairings for black tea” 
“What you need to make a good pot of hot tea”
“The Food of Downton Abbey: Petite Butter High Tea Cakes”
“The Food of Downton Abbey: Abbey High Tea Vanilla Butter Thins”
“The Food of Downton Abbey: Crepes”
“The Food of Downton Abbey: High tea with Pate Sablees”
“Downton Abbey’s Bonneville gets death threats from fans; season 3 spoiler alert”
“A ‘Downton Abbey’-watching fete begins with tea”
“Tea, treats requisite for watching ‘Downton Abbey’.” 
“Downton Abbey Cooks Online Guide to Afternoon Tea”
“Goodwill takes you to Downton Abbey” YouTube video
“Dishes inspired by Downton Abbey”

Have a tea brunch while you watch the 2013 Rose Parade!

festive cup of tea. Image: MorgueFile.com

The Tournament of Roses, or as it’s known locally, the Rose Parade or the Rose Bowl Parade, begins at 8 a.m. on January 1st and will be broadcast on ABC, Hallmark Channel, HGTV, KTLA (Tribune), NBC, RFD-TV and Univision. It is a New Year’s Day tradition in California to watch the event in your pajamas with a hot drink and a plate of food.  Why not extend your New Year celebrations with a brunch while you watch the Rose Parade? Include any leftover champagne, and check your tea party pantry for usable items, as well.  Anything tasty and easy will do.

The parade theme for 2013 is “Oh, the Places You’ll Go”, so whimsical Dr. Seuss-style foods like Green Eggs and Ham can make an appearance at this brunch.  Of course, rose-flavored and rose-scented items would also be appropriate; rose-flavored Turkish Delight can sometimes be found in the Middle Eastern food section of local supermarkets like Nob Hill, and bottles of rose water are on the shelf even in Target’s food section.  Add a teaspoon of rose water to a cup of hot black tea, and you will have a fragrant and delicious treat. If you have any last leftovers from Christmas dinner, or even New Year’s Eve party appetizers, pull them out and put them on the table, or make them into a new treat for your brunch buffet. Then settle down and watch San Jose’s Valley Christian HS East-West  Fusion All-Star Band, who will be marching in the parade, and Stanford University, who will be playing the University of Wisconsin later that day.  Happy New Year!

Copyright 2012, Elizabeth Urbach.

Like what you read?  Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, read my other blog, The Cup That Cheers, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea  or Pinterest!

For more information:
2013 Rose Parade website
Tournament of Roses Wikipedia page
“Tea can help you keep your New Year’s resolutions”
“Stay up late with tea on New Year’s Eve” 
“Use tea as a holiday champagne substitute”
“What you need to make a good pot of hot tea” 
“Tea 101: How to brew a pot of hot tea using loose tea” 
“What should I keep in the pantry for tea parties?”
“Give an open house with a tea buffet for your favorite graduate”
“Are tea-drinkers automatically ‘teatotallers’?”
“Tea and San Jose’s Christmas in the Park”
“Review: Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea”