What a Wonderful Day!

ometimes, when planning a get-together with friends, it just seems the right time to go the extra mile. That's exactly what the Frienzies did today.

We arranged a special outing to Lucy and Ethel's Country Tea Room, located just outside of Wilmington, OH. Bobbie, the 'Lucy' of the business, was the greatest hostess, pampering us with gorgeous yet comfortable surroundings and an incredible multi-course meal with a variety of teas.

Just try to keep your mouth from watering as you get a glimpse of all these delicacies!

First course: Little short breads and wedges of blueberry scones. On the table was clotted cream and lemon curd.

The table was beautifully set; this is Noritake China; Camelot design.

A green tea with a hint of jasmine; blooming tea is fascinating ~ can  you see the pretty bloom on this?

Second course: Mild, delicious quiche with heirloom tomatoes. Check out that garnish! Scrumptious!

Third course: Soup. We had choices!! I selected the smokey cheese soup.

 A second soup choice was this warm tomato soup with a dollop of sour cream.  I had a taste - so, so good!

A third soup choice was this gazpacho. Since no one ordered this, she allowed us each to sample it. See the little container of tasting spoons?  We each took a spoon and passed the soup around ~ it was fantastic.

Fourth, fifth and sixth courses: top, middle and bottom tiers, respectively. Just look at how pretty it all is! Those gorgeous cosmos flowers in the center of the top two tiers along with the doilies just make it look so special!

Presentation is everything!
 Fourth course/top tier: Skewered fruit and a bite-size brie in a phyllo crust topped with blueberry and sauce.

How can I describe the taste of this brie topped with blueberry? I hope the picture does it for me!

Fifth course/middle tier: right, fruited chicken salad with a pita wedge; top, delicate cucumber sandwich; left, egg salad in bread, shaped and garnished to resemble a calla lily.

I must have been talking because I didn't get a close up picture of the sixth course. This is the best I can do. Desserts!! In the tiny demitasse cup, we had a spice cake with topping; in the ramekin, we had a most delectable creme brule; and in the cupcake paper, we had a chocolate-dipped strawberry. Oh my goodness! The flavors were incredible!

You probably think we are done, right?? We sure thought so. By this time, we were full and quite sufficiently satisfied! But no, no, no!!! Lucy had an extra-special treat to finish off our tea party.

Final course: Homemade lemon-vanilla ice with mint garnish. So light, so lemony. A perfect ending.

Now, I did not mention all the tea varieties that were offered. The teas served were Harney and Sons. Along with the green tea pictured above, we also had a black tea called Paris. I really liked its flavor. And the story behind it was so sweet. We were also offered the ever-popular Hot Cinnamon Spice. In addition, there was an iced tea, but I do not recall the flavor, unfortunately.

This was such a special day. We Frienzies have a long-standing tradition of getting together once each month, and I think I speak for everyone: we look forward to seeing each other! So every lunch or dinner is wonderful, but today's event was even more special because we were so magnificently pampered! We celebrated Pam's birthday. One of our group was unable to attend today, and she would have loved it. I don't think it'd be difficult to schedule a return trip to Lucy and Ethel's!