Julia Slaughter

Posts Tagged ‘Pralines and Cream Scones’

Before I roll up my sleeves and get into this, I should tell you – I’ve never been to England, or anywhere else where they have teatime in earnest. I’ve always liked the way it sounds though. I imagine lovely teas with dainty sandwiches and small but decadent desserts, served on beautiful and elegant dishes. I don’t know that I was much on Tea Parties when I was a little girl but as I’ve grown up to appreciate food and the insight it offers to different cultures, I’ve always thought it would be interesting to participate in tea time.

Over the weekend, I got my chance as there was a celebration at the Shamrock, Rose, and Thistle Tea Room. Ironically I drive by this little gem several times a week and I had no idea where it was until Saturday! However, it’s a lovely little building set back off a busy road and when you pull back into the parking lot you feel like you’re crossing a threshold where all of life’s problems are left behind, it’s lovely.

The table I sat at was beautifully set, but I was thrilled to notice that each place setting was very distinctive and though they weren’t all uniform there was a certain beauty in the mismatched place settings. I liked my place setting the best!

We tried an iced tea and a hot tea, and sadly I’ve already forgotten the name of the hot tea. For the iced tea we had a white tea called Strawberry Seduction. We got it sweetened and I was pleased to discover despite the fact that we were in the South, it wasn’t Southern sweet tea where there is so much sugar in it that it almost overpowers the taste of the actual tea. It was light and refreshing, absolutely wonderful.

Just as we were settling into our teas, they brought out the tea fare or as I liked to call it – the Tower of Treats!

On the bottom level, they had scones – a traditional raisin and pralines and cream for the other two. I went for the traditional raisin with the lemon curd on it, it was amazing. I felt that the scones were heavier and more dense than biscuits, but in a wonderful and pleasant way. I also used the lemon curd on it and thought that was amazing! I loved the light lemon taste and the gentle creamy texture.

I sadly cannot tell you what a single of the savory sandwhiches were in the middle were, I should’ve been paying closer attention I suppose. There was a quiche with broccoli and cheese which I passed on (I’m not one for broccoli) but my companions found delightful. There was one sandwhich with Roast Beef and Cream Cheese on it, that I tried and enjoyed. There was a third sandwhich which had three pieces of bread and colorful spreads in between each layer. I think one of the layers was something with a beat. The flavor was so delicate I couldn’t really place it. The final tier was desset, and I’m a total loss for what I ate! There was something with puff pastry and a delicate shell with some sort of mousse in it. Quite frankly, I could’ve just had scones and been perfectly satisfied. (Clearly since I paid very little attention to anything else!)

I know growing up in New Orleans there were places that had high tea, but I was too young to appreciate that kind of thing, I wish I had taken advantage of those places now. I wonder if there are places like this all over, but I just never noticed them until now? I also wonder how authentic my tea experience was. I did like the slogan of Shamrock, Rose, and Thistle – British Tradition with a Southern Accent. If you’re ever in my neck of the woods – you should check them out!

http://www.shamrockroseandthistle.com/index.asp