A few of the Jane Austen Society of North America – Indiana Region members met up for lunch yesterday at the English Rose Tea Room in Kokomo, IN. It’s an 1.5 hours drive from Franklin and it was a lovely morning stopping at antique malls along the way…

The owners are fun & easy-going and accommodated our request for afternoon tea. The house is a lovely Victorian mansion (read more about the history on the menu). We really enjoyed the food and conversation and plan to return for another meeting in the future, hopefully! The entire first floor with outdoor seating can fit about 30 people. There’s a small boutique room with comfortable seating and tea and tea products are for sale. Also — the property has a renovated garage/carriage house that can be rented through AirBandB.

Savories:
– cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches
– chicken salad sandwiches

Scones:
– everything bagel scone with butter
– apple spice scone with clotted cream

Sweets:
– a rose-cut strawberry
– caramel brownie
– pistachio (or vanilla) macaron

2nd Dessert:
– an order of sticky toffee pudding with warmed cream (but now that I look at it again, it sorta looks like spotted dick pudding more than sticky toffee)

Shared Teas:
– Earl Gray Supreme (typical Earl Gray — my good ol’ standby for afternoon tea)
– White Peach (very light black tea — but I may have poured it way too early)
– Spiced Plum (herbal – lovely scent and very tasty)

Cost: Afternoon tea is a bargain at $15. Additional dessert was $6. I’ll definitely be back!

At this year’s museum tea, Tina Jesson of www.TinasTraditional.com was the presenter to discuss the history of tea. She mentioned her PowerPoint was several years old and probably had outdated statistics about the tea lesson. But Tina’s personal story of growing up in England (she moved to Indiana in 2008) and owning a wonderful tea shop for many years was still worth listening to a lecture with old info.

Lisa joined this afternoon tea with JASNA-Indiana pals Lisa Whitaker and Mary Miller (and Mary’s cousin Maria!) and it was a fun treat. At a price of $15 per person, we thought this would be more like cream tea, but were surprised to see some finger sandwiches included.

Sassafras Tea Room provided the yummy chicken salad sandwiches. The cucumber sandwiches maybe had a tiny bit too much horseradish or something twangy in there. Katsu teas provided a nice loose-leaf tea in bags of Jasmine green tea, Honeybos (honeybush and red rooibus) and Katsu’s favorite blend: a mix of chamomile, red rooibus and peppermint.

The scones were small, American-style with a sweet sugar glaze – so I opted for no butter or jam.

Sweets were yummy macarons (I had strawberry) and madelines. The madelines were interesting similar to sweet cornmeal cakes, so I added butter to them.

Museum volunteers brought around plenty of hot water and extra sandwiches and sweets.

We appreciated the nice touches with the sweet nameplates and favors of tiny hat fascinators.

Cost: $15 per person

Our second scheduled afternoon tea in Austin while we were visiting Irene was at the elegant Hotel Ella. Goodall’s Kitchen dining room was a lovely space for the tea. We needed to purchase the teas at $25 per person in advance and afternoon tea was served only on weekends between 3-5 p.m.

We chose a 4:00 p.m. sitting. After a bit of fun trying to find parking near the hotel, we arrived 15 minutes early and sat in the small bar while we waited only minutes to be seated. Our prompt server explained the tea service at Hotel Ella, and tactfully mentioned that we could also order additional food from the menu, which was our first clue that the food served was probably not enough for a proper meal.

We selected our tea (Austin based Zhi teas). Nick chose Turkish Spice Mint, Lisa chose Ginger Peach Oolong and Irene chose Earl Grey. Each of us had a generous pot of tea and they made us more after Nick and Lisa drank their 2.5 cups.

The three-tiered stand arrived and while the food looked lovely, the amount of food was a bit of a disappointment. The items on the plates were about the size of a quarter or smaller. Savories were h’or d’oeuvres-sized chicken salad, salmon, tomato and basil treats. They made Nick a special mushroom with avocado puree canape since he’s allergic to salmon. Sweets were tiny cream puffs, teeny macarons (chocolate, strawberry and coffee flavored) and a blackberry tart (yummy bite).

And to Lisa’s heartache — no scones, no jam, no clotted cream. It’s a bit sad, but we had to go get Whataburgers after the meal as we left hungry.

Each canape and small sweet did taste very good, hence the three-starred review. But unless you eat like a bird, think of this as a long, pre-meal appetizer.

Cost: $96.17 US for three people including gratuity.

Lisa’s 50th birthday is fast approaching and there are two afternoon teas planned, both in Austin, Texas. Lisa and Nick are visiting Lisa’s daughter and her friend Mary for the first time since their daughter moved to Texas in March 2021.

Lisa is soooooooooooo glad that she was able to get a reservation at Fluff Meringues & More for a birthday tea. On a Friday at noon, we had the place to ourselves — but it deserves to be bustling with business — as the tea, food and service were AMAZING! 

Nick wasn’t feeling well that day, so Lisa and Mary went on their own. Poor Irene had to work!!

Tea: We shared a pot of Earl Grey Blue Flowers, a traditional Chinese Earl Grey blended with real blue mallow blossoms and natural oil of bergamot. Wonderful flavor and scent — excellent with milk when the brew got a bit strong!

Savories:

• rosemary and sea salt crackers
• three types of cheese (lincet, rosemary manchego, Humboldt fog) – all yummy with the crackers!
• mushroom and swiss hand pies (amazing)
• sweet/salty mixed nuts
• cured salami

Scones: huge plain scones with clotted cream and two jams: (strawberry-rhubarb and balsamic razzleberry). The razzleberry jam went with the cheese plate, but was also incredible with the scone! This whopper of a scone had a wonderful texture and was served warm. So big, you had to eat it with a fork. Delish.

Sweets:

• two marshmallows – mango and vanilla (heavenly!)
• three macarons – spiced mango, lemon basil and watermelon (gave them to Irene as we were stuffed!)
• two madeleines – lemon honey cardamom and a dark chocolate madeline with sea salt (bitter flavor — but was good after so much sweet)
• amaretto olive oil cake (also gave to Irene)
• cloud meringue – vanilla pistachio

Cost: $95.52 including tax and gratuity for one service of “full afternoon tea.” It would have easily served three people. Mary and I had so much food left over from this tea!
*completely worth it*

Box Hill picnic takes place in Jane Austen’s Emma — and every year in June, the Jane Austen Society tries to have a picnic in the story’s honor — and there’s usually strawberries to acknowledge the party that Knightley has at Donwell Abbey to taste his strawberries.

Since we were unable to meet for our regular Irish Tea at Maura’s house for a book discussion in February/March this year due to COVID19…this outdoor afternoon tea was a lovely way to celebrate being able to meet in person for the first time since March 2020!

Maura’s Marvelous Afternoon Tea Menu:

Savories:

• sausage rolls
• cucumber sandwiches with butter
• Swiss cheese with with butter and smooth tomato relish from Ballymaloe (Irish!)

Sweets:

• plain scone with lovely strawberry jam and clotted cream
• cream slice (puff pastry with cream and jam)
• heavenly chiffon cake with cream and raspberries
• melt-in-your-mouth shortbread
• Maura’s daughter, pastry chef DEIRDRE OLSZEWSKI, made some amazing decorator cookies with an Austen theme — you’ll see a whole tray of them in the photos! Check out her amazing talent!

Tea:

• Barry’s Tea from Ireland

We opted for an easy-peasy afternoon tea at home to celebrate Valentine’s day this year. It was pieced together from our local gluten-free restaurant: 1823 Bakehouse (banana bread and sugar cream pies), and Kroger grocery store (Private Selection eclairs from the frozen foods, Fisher scone mix, and Kroger brand quiches). The scones are wonderful — I’m really happy with this ‘just add water’ mix…so very easy and wonderful right out of the oven. The other savories I made were simple roast beef, cheddar and stone-ground mustard sandwiches shaped with a biscuit cutter and topped with another thin slice of cheddar with a sprinkle of dried rosemary. Another sandwich was a lemon-artichoke cream cheese on toast heart shaped bread. Very tasty! I found that recipe in a Tea Time book on afternoon teas.

I splurged on this meal after eating a low-carb and low-sugar diet for several months. The scones and eclairs were worth falling off the diet wagon for…really tasty! I used low-carb bread on the sandwiches. The quiches were really tasty, but I felt they were too sinful to eat too many.

Our tea was Black Cardamon from Westholme Tea Company from our trip last year. Yes, it’s over a year old and it was still deeeeeeelicious this afternoon! As the pot brewed it stronger, I added half and half and it gave it a mellow flavor that was different but still divine.

This was the last outing to Tina’s before it closed in 2020. JASNA-Indy informally met for a last hurrah. I ordered Her Majesty’s afternoon tea at $38 and Nick had the Sausage Rolls at $15 which they served with a side of potato chips. They accidentally also gave him a nice soup and salad, which he also enjoyed.

Lisa’s Tea: Lady Grace Afternoon Tea

Bottom Tier: 4 tea sandwiches: chutney & Irish Cheddar (fabulous), egg salad, coronation chicken salad (always good), and cucumber sandwiches.

Middle Tier: Cranberry scones with lavender jelly (yum!) and raspberry jam

Top Tier: London Fog chocolate cake (good), shortbread (couldn’t finish it!) and Bakewell tart (Nick ate) and an unidentified spice cake with buttercream frosting.

Total cost with tip: $68.17 US

Tina’s Traditional Tea Room is one of my favorite places to have tea in Indiana. I was so sad when they closed their Columbus Tea Room – as it was much closer to us. But this wonderful tea room is worth the 45 minutes drive. Due to the Coronavirus – the shop has recently been reopened – and in order to serve guests, their staff followed all suggested precautions. They offered two dine-in options…The Celebration High Tea (Lisa ordered) and The Lady’s Lunch (Nick bravely received). This was a perfect afternoon date-day treat for a belated Mother’s Day gift. It was an expensive lunch – but it was worth to help get this restaurant restarted after a long closure with only curbside pickup due to COVID-19. Our server was wonderful and the kitchen crew served us a fabulous meal!

Teas: Lisa – Earl Grey Creme (her all-time fav at Tina’s), Nick – The Secret Garden (black tea with mango, papaya, rose petal, cornflower and elderflower)

Lunch for Nick – “The Lady’s Lunch” ($25) consisted of 4 delicious egg salad sandwiches, chips, and a lemon poppy seed scone with raspberry jam.

Lisa’s Afternoon Tea – “The Celebration High Tea” ($45)

• Specialty drink: mock-mimosa
• First course: Mulligatawny soup – not as spicy as I’ve had in the past at Irish pubs – liked this version much better!
• Bottom tier: 4 tea sandwiches – Coronation Chicken Salad, egg salad, White Irish Cheddar with green tomato chutney, and cucumber and cream cheese. There was also a 3-cheese mini quiche included. I’m a big fan of the Coronation Chick Salad, and I often re-create it at home. The egg salad was very fresh and the white bread made a perfect tea treat. I gave the cheddar and chutney sandwich Nick – but I suspect I would have liked it much better than he did. The cucumber sandwich was also a staple delight. The quiche was a wonderful couple of bites.
• Middle tier: 2 lemon poppy seed scones with raspberry jam and vanilla chai preserves. Both were very freshly made and the raspberry had a tiny edge for the tastiness of the two. The clotted cream seemed suspiciously close to a tablespoon of cream cheese – but it honestly tasted really great on the scones with the jam.
• Top tier: the Bakewell tart and the Scottie shortbread are the winners of the sweet treats – both homemade and fresh. The chocolate opera cake, pistachio macaroon and the white chocolate and strawberry petit four appeared store-bought – frozen and defrosted. But I understand — they are coming out of a long disruption that most likely affected their staff and their supplies.

Total cost with tip: $96.30 US

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Another fabulous afternoon tea in the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of good conversation. The Jane Austen Society of North America – Indiana Region meets every February/March at the well-appointed home of member Maura H. – who lays out the most scrumptious homemade tea. Huge thanks to Michele who brought the lovely regency hats, and Mary M., our illustrious leader, who had JA gifts for absolutely everyone!

The Tea – a wonderfully strong Irish blend that took two lumps of sugar and a splash of milk deliciously. 

The Savories 

• Sausage rolls (one of my afternoon tea favs to make)
• Cucumber sandwiches with butter, salt & pepper and cream cheese on white bread
• Sharp white cheddar with homemade tomato relish on wheat bread

The Sweets 

• Cream Slice – puff pastry with gobs of whipping cream
• Chocolate eclairs – homemade and perfect!

The Scone 

• A traditional-style scone with strawberry jam and cream

The Book – the unfinished novel (?) The Watsons. Member Mary Helen T. researched the incomplete work by Austen and shared many probable reasons why the novel was never finished (or was it!?!?!??). 

The White Heather Tea Room was by far our favorite tea house in Victoria, with Pendray Inn coming in second. We look forward to visiting Victoria in the fall of 2022, where JASNA will hold their annual regional meeting. We’d like to try tea at the Butchart Gardens, Teahouse at Abkhazi Garden and Point Ellice House. I think we’ll skip the Empress – as the cost is nearly double what most tea rooms charge. 

Back to the White Heather Tea Room — while parking was a challenge, we found a spot and still made it in time for the reservation. The experience was fun – choosing your tea from tiny tubs so you could smell them if you like…and the types of afternoon tea food offerings had fun names. 

Teas: Lisa – The Balmoral, Nick – The House Blend

Lunch for Nick – tea sandwich plate (same sandwiches as the afternoon tea) and salad with mango dressing. He loved everything!

Afternoon Tea for Lisa:

“The Big Muckle” 

Bottom Tier: , mini-sconewich with smoked salmon and cream cheese (yum!) pimento cheese crustado (?), a savory tart and a scone – homemade preserves, lemon curd and cream (served on a separate plate).

Middle Tier: a ‘to-die-for’ ham salad sandwich, cucumber-cream cheese-radish sandwich,

Top Tier: lemon tart (divine), coconut bar, and another bar I cannot remember (but it was tasty)! We took home the chocolate cake and the shortbread because we were too full – but never ended up eating them. >sad face<

We’ll come back again when we’re visiting Victoria – hopefully in 2022!

Cost: $60.61US

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