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| North Park homeowner provides old-fashioned Craftsman bungalow tea service |
TEA SOCIETY BRINGS A TOUCH
OF DOWNTON ABBEY TO NORTH PARK
Editor’s note: This blog article first appeared in
Southparkscribe.com on June, 25, 2013.
Reprinted with permission of the writer.
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| Tea served on antique china Photo: Bonnie Nicholls |
GUEST BLOG—By Bonnie Nicholls,
SouthParkScribe.com--We didn’t feign British accents nor did we wear
fascinators, but we did raise our pinkies in Downton Abbey fashion during a
traditional afternoon tea hosted by the North Park Bungalow Tea Society.*
How
traditional? We’re talking finger sandwiches, such as cucumber and egg salad,
for the first course, scones with butter and jam for the second course, and
cookies and fruit compote for the third course, accompanied by oodles of
caffeinated and herbal tea. All served
in beautiful china at the lovely Craftsman home owned by proprietress Phyllis
Shess.
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| Tea for ten bungalow style Photo: Bonnie Nicholls |
I
joined eight other ladies who had volunteered for the South Park Old House Fair
and Historic Home Tour on this delightful outing that began with us chatting in
the living room while sipping a little bubbly (juice was optional for mimosas).
Note to old home fanatics: Famed artist Laird Plumleigh designed the ceramic
field tiles and the large landscape tile on the fireplace facing.
When
we sat down to tea, Phyllis gave Maureen Ceccarelli of Studio Maureen a silver
bell to ring whenever we needed service. This tickled Maureen, whose face lit
up each time she rang the bell, as if she were the mistress of the house.
If
you think such light, tiny fare wouldn’t fill you up, you’re wrong. Notice the
three tiers for those sandwiches in the photo above. We did a fairly good job
of leaving them empty, and there were two trays with three tiers each.
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| The Sweets Photo: Bonnie Nicholls |
Is
this for ladies only? Not necessarily; I doubt Phyllis would mind if a group of
men wanted to book a tea. Actually, she said gentlemen’s afternoon teas are
gaining traction in the U.K. and New York (read a snarky blog in The Guardian
about this new rage).
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| Fruit compote Photo: Bonnie Nicholls |
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| Delicious tea sandwiches |
*By
the way, I wrote this review because I thought it was cool, not because anyone
paid me to do it. Just so you know.
News source: http://southparkscribe.come/2013/06/north-park-tea.html
About the Author:
Bonnie Nicholls is a
freelance writer and blogger based in the historic South Park neighborhood of
central San Diego. She specializes in
business success stories and web content.
You may find her on Google+ and Twitter.
Ms. Nicholls is an
accomplished photographer as well as having many years experience as a writer
and editor with Beach and Bay Press
and the La Jolla Light, the latter,
where she was employed as the newspaper’s editor.
From Pillar to Post:
For more information on the
North Park Bungalow Tea Society:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Park-Bungalow-Tea-Society/163186367073967
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| Laird Plumleigh designed tiles and centerpiece on this North Park Craftsman bungalow fireplace Photo: Phyllis Shess |
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