It was a proper English afternoon.
The guests arrived, wearing hats and gloves. Honestly, you would have thought you were in the tearoom at London’s ritzy Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Patricia Shields, violinist in the Santa Maria Philharmonic, had been high bidder for an authentic English tea at a recent Philharmonic fundraiser. She invited Diane Borad-Mirken, Melissa Wineman, Michele Neuhauser, and Caroline Reid to be her guests for the event, presented Saturday, June 9, at the home of Judge Jed and Diane Beebe and co-hosted by Diane and Dr. Lynda Gantt.
In the spirit of true English chic, Caroline visited local craft shops and fashioned for herself one of those thingamabobs that British ladies attach to the side of their heads. We all know these sculptural, free-form headpieces from the photos of princesses Beatrice and Eugenie at the royal wedding last year.
Before tea, the ladies enjoyed the piano styling (don’t you love that word?) of Judge Beebe in the “drawing room.”
As an English-born clinical psychologist, Dr. Gantt is well acquainted with the beneficial and restorative effects of perfectly brewed tea served with a light repast. Gantt thinks hosting teas for nonprofits is a right-on thing to do, and once you’ve been to a Beebe-Gantt production, you’ll think so, too.
“Diane and I have done this so many times, we have it down to a system,” said Gantt, who’s devoted to the authenticity of the experience.
The table in the very large dining room was beautifully set, with everything matching a black-and-white theme: place cards, napkin rings, and appliquéd placemats.
Each guest went home with a favor: large black-and-white teacups (technically breakfast cups) that went perfectly with the table décor. Inside each cup was a small jar of preserves, a packet of shortbread, and—oh my goodness—earrings
from the studio of jeweler Jerry Stinn, who is married to Gantt. So many oohs and ahs over that lovely surprise.
The hostesses served four kinds of home-made scones with home-made lemon curd, clotted cream (yes, the real thing), and jam; and tasty tea sandwiches (cucumber mint, tomato garlic, chicken curry, and the oh-so-English staple: watercress—jazzed up with sliced olive). Sweets included pistachio cream tartlets, lemon tartlets, and shortbread.
There were also English pickled onions, a must-have at tea in England, according to Dr. Gantt. And what, perchance, is a proper tea without champagne? A lovely bubbly was served with the sweets.
I had been observing Diane Beebe in her large, cook-friendly kitchen as she shuttled food in and out of the oven, beat up a batch of meringue without measuring anything, and confidently applied finishing touches to some of what she had prepared earlier.
“Did you use Bisquick?” I asked as I bit into one of her wonderful scones. Truly, she should have bopped me on the head with a wooden spoon for being so cheeky. But she shook her head no. These scones were the real deal—made from scratch.
The moral of the story is, if you have mad money stashed in your cookie jar, use it to bid on the next Diane-and-Lynda Tea that comes up on the auction block. You will not be disappointed.
If you want to hobnob with Helen, you may contact her at helenthom232@yahoo.com.
This article appears in Jun 14-21, 2012.