Surprise! Suddenly High Tea

So, my long-time friend, Author Debra Brown, called me yesterday and asked if I would like to attend High Tea with her at 11am the next morning?  Oh my!  High Tea.  What do I wear?  How do I act?  What IS High Tea, anyway?

To find out, we would be going to a lovely little spot in Junction City (Oregon) called "Scatter Joy."  First stop was their Facebook page to check out what folks wear to such an event.  Turns out it's pretty much whatever you want, so we opted to dress up nicely in skirts, and wear hats - not something one gets to do in everyday life  :)  This certainly would be an awesome place to hold a Steampunk Tea, though.  Amazingly nice folks, and wonderful food!

Debra pointed out later that there was a video, "The Etiquette of Afternoon Tea," on Scatter Joy's FB page, which I didn't watch until I got home.  Very informative! 

What was High Tea like?  We started out with our choice of two good-sized pots of tea from their generous Tea Menu; we chose to start with a wonderfully fragrant "Creme Brulee" sweet tea, and switched to "Earl Grey Cream" later in the meal.  Just after our tea arrived, our server brought the first course, a delicious mesclun salad with bits of orange, good Greek olives and a sprinkling of Feta - a real mouth-pleasing combination!

Next she brought an elegant 3-tiered stand with a variety of tiny sandwiches, scones, bruschetta and tartlettes.  At first glance it may not have looked like much, but believe me it was plenty!  Debra even took a nice little assortment home to her hubby, who had wished to attend but could not.

One of the items I enjoyed most was the scones - because I had always wanted to know what "lemon curd" was like.   Mmmmmmm!!  So smooth and rich and lemony, spread with just a tiny bit of whipped cream onto a bite of freshly-baked scone.  It was so yummy I forgot to take a picture before I started eating it!

Our little meal ended with sweet slices of triple-layer brownies, complemented perfectly with our second pot of tea, the Earl Grey Cream.  Then we spent our last few moments wandering through the shop looking at all the lovely items for sale.  It reminded me of what a French flea market must be like!

So, thank you SO much Debra for this special invitation, and a big thank you, as well, to the lovely ladies at Scatter Joy for a much-needed break from the ordinary!