Saturday, July 23, 2005

Tea at the Nutmeg House

I had tea today at the Nutmeg House. I was eagerly awaiting this excursion, because it has been since April that I've visited a tea house. I've been hostess to a few tea parties, but I was definitely ready to relax and just take in the tea and company. Friend Sukie joined me in the tea excursion.

The Nutmeg House sits prominently in the small Midwestern town of Ellettsville, IN, just off the main street called Sale. It's a light yellow two-story house. The old kind with all the charm. Sukie and I had a table by the window. She ordered the Blackberry tea and I ordered the Sugar Plum Spice. The tea itself was the Celestial Seasonings bagged variety. (I prefer loose tea, but my tea was pleasant.) The tea was served in pretty teapots with matching cups.

The afternoon tea meal started with a delicious cranberry and walnut scone, served with plum butter and whipped cream. For the second course, we actually nibbled on part of dessert, before it dissolved in the Midwestern summer humidity! It was a shortbread topped with lemon curd and whipped cream. After taking dessert a little early, we enjoyed the savories: a spinach and water chestnut mix served in a philo tartlet, a yummy chicken salad on croissant, a crab salad turnover, a cucumber dill sandwich, and a salmon patty. Dessert (aside from the aforementioned lemon treat) included fruit (grapes, honeydew melon, and a peach slice), zucchini bread, and chocolate dipped strawberries.



The food was very fancy and tasty; also very sweet. Both of us came home with many leftovers. It was a very nice trip, and I am grateful for Sukie's company!

Of course, any tearoom that I visit has an unfair benchmark in the St. James Tearoom, in Albuquerque, NM. I really think the St. James may be one of the top 5 tearooms in the entire USA! (And I visit as many as I possibly can!)

I know for certain I will definitely be visiting the Nutmeg House again. Maybe I can even convince them to carry some loose teas! Or, perhaps we can partner to offer my tea class from there. (The tea class is called "The Art and Etiquette of the British Afternoon Tea.") I may have to check out the tearoom on a number of occasions! :-)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos! You should definitley revive your course - it's wonderful!

Anonymous said...

I have had a hard time finding good professional company since moving to the great state of Indiana. Stephanie is was a pleasure spending time with you. I had a great afternoon! We'll have to do it again soon.