Yep I finally set up and posted on my new tea-devoted blog Once Upon an Afternoon Tea. I’m giddy like a child over this blog! I love the concept, I love the design, I love the potential, but most of all I love the field research 
So start checking it out and be front and center to watch it grow: http://www.onceuponanafternoontea.com
Yayyyyyy!
Joseph had a day off today. And I don’t mean a day off as in a “day off but really still working on things like acting and writing and errands” but like a legitimate day off. No obligations, no appointments, just plenty of time for him to unwind both alone and with me, his fiance. Remember we’re engaged? 
We started off our lazy day with hot yoga. Okay so that isn’t like super lazy since it is a workout and you do sweat like a pig (again, irony because pigs don’t sweat! I think…) but we’ve wanted to go for ages and finally had the time to. And somehow we found a studio right down the street from us and are officially obsessed. I love it!!! I’ve gone three days straight and am going tomorrow after work. And it was fun to do something together that we’ve wanted to do since we met and started dating all those months ago. Success.
Then after a much needed shower, I went to another tea room with my mom while Joseph went to the chiropractor (it was a spur of the moment thing so it wasn’t a planned appointment to break his day off). That review will be on the new blog (launching soon hopefully), which I’m really excited for 
Mom and I are having a blast setting it all up and have so many articles and columns planned. I’m like a little kid, but with more sophisticated inspirations. And more caffeine. And bigger words.
And tonight we went on a date. Like an actual date! Ate sushi with chopsticks and acted all couple-y and sickening sweet. Normally I’m a bit anti-PDA, but I haven’t had a date in so long that I didn’t care what anybody thought. I wanted Joseph-Jenna time and if that means we sit on the same side of a booth as each other than so be it.
So just quickly checking in and trying to get back into a regular blogging routine. Happy Wednesday. Almost the weekend, I promise. Hang in there! Some really exciting things are in the works right now with this new blog growing daily and commercial headshots on Monday.
First of all, I’ve been getting questions about the tea room reviews (for those of you who didn’t know I have been continuing my “afternoon teas” with Mom since that review) and apart from being busy and forgetting to write the reviews timely, I am still trying to figure out a name for the new blog where I’ll be doing to tea room reviews, scone and dessert recipes, bakery reviews, and fun tea facts. We had almost decided on The Crumpet Strumpets, but we learned today that there is an inappropriate saying in Australia regarding crumpets, and well we know the definition of a strumpet so as cute and clever as it may be, The Crumpet Strumpets might not be the best bet. So the front runner right now is Once Upon an Afternoon Tea. Thoughts?
Back when I first started being a server, I made a decision to keep work separate from this blog. But I’m going to break it today, because I had an experience that not only reminded me why being a server can be so great, but also just shows that there is some kindness and good people out in the world. Being a server you see a lot of cranky, crabby, and just plain rude people, and there are just bad things going on in the world all the time, so I like sweet little stories of decency.
I had an overly full section today: nine tables. And they were all full at all times. And people were getting a bit impatient (I totally understand) because we were a lot busier than we expected–come on it’s a Tuesday! The hostess told me to be careful as one of my tables was not in a good mood and may be difficult customers. Always appreciate the head’s up.
I went over, greeted them, took their tea order, and then one of the women apologized to me for being so indecisive about her tea. She told me that on her way over to our restaurant she had gotten in a car accident. The accident wasn’t bad, but the person who hit her was uncooperative and just made the experience even worse. Well that explains the bad moods. (Proof also that you never really know what is going on with someone.)
After giving her my dad’s information (since he is a lawyer), I made sure I took the best and kindest service I could give with my packed section. Over the course of the meal, the women seemed to start smiling again and began to relax; I hope they were able to take some time away from the car accident and to enjoy each others’ company and their teas. I talked to our manager and asked if I could give the car woman a little dessert on a “feel better” plate. I was more than prepared to pay for the petit four, but one of the wonderful things about my job is how understanding and people-oriented my employers are. They care more about our guests than the nitty-gritty of the bottom line. They are the most decent employers I have ever had. Anyways, the manager waved my offer away and told me that the petit four was on the restaurant and that he hopes everything works out for her.
I made the plate and delivered the dessert when the lady was in the restroom, so I didn’t get to see her reaction. Seeing that wasn’t important to me, I just wanted to make her feel a little better. Based on her attitude when I dropped off the check, it was successful and I know she appreciated the gesture.
What shocked me was the closing out of her check: when I picked up the checkbook, she blew me a kiss and told me that there was no need to bring any change back. I have never felt so sincerely thanked at my job than I did in that moment. And she and her friends left me an incredible tip. When I saw it, I will admit I nearly cried. Not from the money–I’m not shallow enough for the money to really matter–but from the gesture, the unsolicited thank you from a woman who had been having a terrible day that I was able to make just a little better.
So to that customer: I know you will probably never read this, and I will probably never meet you again, but I hope somehow you know that as much as I helped you, you helped me even more. You reminded me that people are kind, that people are generous, and that essentially people can be good. You embraced and raised my spirits as much as I did yours, and I am very grateful for your sweet gesture.
Thank you my random customer. You reminded this server why she chose this job in the first place.
I’m still kind of bouncing around the thought in my head of starting a new blog devoted to afternoon tea, scones, treats, and fun facts about afternoon tea, scones, and treats. It sounds like a fun little side project particularly since I’ve stopped doing my book review blog (just not enough traffic to really make the time writing reviews worth it). But the hardest part is coming up with a name. I have some ideas…
The Crumpet Strumpet
The Clotted Creamery
Tea and Crumpets
The Cream Tea Dream
Any thoughts? Any more ideas?
I feel like my blog is having an identity crisis. It started out because I was going to England and needed a way to keep everyone back home updated easily and in a mass quantity. But I’ve been back from England for nearly a year, and sometimes I go for longish gaps without posting because, well, I’m not in England anymore. There are no new experiences every day, no traveling nearly every weekend, no crazy study abroad stories. There is just life.
Now life has some fun updates right now: engagement, new job, business, and birthday fun stuff coming in a later post (this one has a very specific purpose). But can these kinds of general life updates sustain a blog’s popularity? Am I too scattered to engage readers? Is it harmful that when you come to my blog you aren’t sure what kind of post you are going to get, or is that part of the charm? I’ve been wondering this a lot lately and since I don’t know a ton of bloggers–and the blogs I read myself are very specific topics like baking and cooking–I don’t know who to ask for their opinions. So if you have any feedback, I’d appreciate it. After all you are my reader and you are the best one to tell me whether or not you enjoy reading whatever I write. Let’s get interactive people!
In the meantime, I wanted to harken back to the England days with a cream tea review. I haven’t done one in a while because, again, not in the UK anymore and until recently I didn’t think there were a lot of tea rooms out here beyond where I work. It’s tough also when you have had the best cream teas ever in the UK and you make really good scones yourself to enjoy American style cream teas. Maybe that will be some of the fun of my new quest: the Quest for the Best Southern California Cream Tea…QBSCCT if you will.
First up: Chado Tea Room in Hollywood, CA
Opening statement: If it wasn’t for having a Groupon, I would have been more upset about my experience here. I have really high standards for afternoon teas, but I knew going in that Yelp reviews were mixed so I went in with automatically lower expectations, thank goodness.
Made a reservation easily for mid week, and when we arrived there was a table set for us, but we had to find the ONLY WAITER in the whole restaurant and ask if that was our table. This was their biggest problem I thought. The restaurant isn’t huge, but it’s enough tables and enough work per table to justify a minimum of two servers on the floor. A great server could handle the whole restaurant by himself/herself with only the two bussers but unfortunately today’s server couldn’t handle it. As a server, I felt bad for him so I didn’t deduct his tip because it isn’t his fault management understaffs.
The decor isn’t like a typical quaint tea house. It’s very minimalistic with a twinge of Asian (I’ll update with pictures soon). At least there were white tablecloths (funny story I saw one of the bussers “clean” a table by literally flipping over the tablecloth) and the place was very clean. Not overly girly either which can sometimes get to be too much.
Tea menu is overwhelming, but the overwhelmingness doesn’t come from it being extensive (because plenty of tea rooms have 100+ teas on their menus and are manageable) but from it being disorganized. Six different sections for Darjeelings, Assams, tisanes and the teas that most people are ordering were in the back, and the descriptions all said “a perfect breakfast tea” without much else to tell me. Plus, every tea was “tippy”…uh okay. The waiter gave me a weird look when I asked to smell the tea before choosing it, a pretty standard practice for those who know tea and I had told him upfront that I work at a tea room. I eventually chose the Raijin (Indian tea with lavender and roses) which was great plain, but my mom ordered Lavender Earl and it was too much lavender and it was overbrewed. Aisha got the Sencha Rose and she seemed to like it. Plus the teas were cold by the end of the service. And they were out of a lot of teas. Which was a problem when we went to order our loose leaf teas and they were out of our top three choices. We settled for the Raijin that I had and then Sencha Cherry that has a promising smell for an iced tea to break in my new iced tea maker (thank you Joseph!).
Groupon was for afternoon tea for 4 and $25 of loose leaf tea. As we only had two people eating afternoon tea, we wanted to know if there were any alternative options. The waiter was very courteous and after he stopped being confused as to why we had a coupon for four people but there were only two of us, offered to package up the rest to take away. Great idea. Great point for service.
Food
Finger sandwiches were the best part. I liked how the bread was slightly toasted and the smoked salmon sandwich was awesome. Chicken and cranberry also good. Cucumber was odd since it was made with butter and a cream cheese/onion garnish. But butter can be traditional British.
Scones were somehow simultaneously sweet and flavorless. I’m used to the only scone flavor being plain or currant from my time in England, but Yelp reviews say that they offered flavors like blueberry or ginger, but I guess not for us. They were average sized. Unfortunately after eating the finger sandwiches, the scones had cooled and were hard as stale biscuits. Previous reviewers said to just eat the scones first while they were still warm and fluffy, but you shouldn’t have to eat the scones before the sandwiches. To me that says the scones are either not fresh or not properly stored. “Cream” was whipped cream (no idea why people keep calling this stuff Devonshire cream since it isn’t) and apricot jam. Had to ask twice for strawberry jam.
Desserts were dense and not tasty (mini carrot cake cupcake, pineapple upside down cake, two plain cookies). We left them there.
I also think that since they are located in California and more Americans are choosing gluten-free diets, I think they should have offered some gluten free options. The place I work does. Of course I’m only aware of this today because Aisha is with us and she doesn’t eat gluten so she had to have a salad.
Overall, I won’t go back there on my own dime, but with a Groupon deal it was worth trying. They really need to properly staff the place so that the poor service can give better customer service and not look like he wants to cry. I felt guilty asking for anything beyond placing our order because he looked that overwhelmed (and the restaurant wasn’t even full).
Pictures coming soon.
It’s a well known element of the restaurant industry: you never have or really want a weekend free. Weekends are prime time for the rest of the world eating out, so we humble waiters accept that we will be spending our Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays by our customers’ sides and at their service, rather than with our friends or family.
Sometimes, however, something glorious will happen and a server will get a “weekend” midweek. I was lucky to have Tuesday and Wednesday off this past week and it felt like a true weekend. Immediately I called up Mom and asked the most important question any person ever asks another…
“Do you want to go to Disneyland?”
Answer: Duh.
Disneyland recently removed the Carnation Plaza Gardens, an area…a restaurant…a garden…a stage for not Disney sponsored entertainment…you know what, I’m not really sure what CPG was to begin with, but I know what it is now. It has become a mecca of Disney Royalty, the Fantasy Faire.
The area is so well-decorated and quaint that not only does it blend in perfectly with the neighboring castle and Fantasyland, but it feels like you are straight out of Tangled or Beauty and the Beast. Which is fitting since the shows are based on those movies, but more on that in a minute.
The square is dominated by a twenty foot stone maypole carved into Rapunzel’s tower. It’s definitely a picture spot, probably the best outdoor spot for a photo, but other than architecture it doesn’t really serve a purpose, yet. I think they are planning on adding some type of maypole show eventually, but it isn’t on the Fantasy Faire schedule yet. Behind the pole and up against a stone wall is a little framed bench, another great photo opportunity for kids who want to feel like the characters and couples who want to look all cutesy. Next to the bench, though, is what I thought was the highlight of Fantasy Faire’s exterior look: Clopin’s Music Box.
Clopin is the gypsy from Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the favorite Disney character of Fantasy Faire creative director Michel Den Dulk (well, he is French). His music box has a wonderful hidden surprise beyond the crank and dancing Clopin and gargoyles. The background of the crowd is all Disney characters from other films! See if you can name them all becomes a cute little distracting game for us older children when there isn’t a line of kids behind you waiting for their turn to crank the box.
There is also the requisite princess dress gift shop and a snack cart called Maurice’s Treats, presumably Belle’s father selling French pastries that are really just chocolate, strawberry, or cheddar twists. And some slushy juicy thingy.
The Royal Hall is to the right of the entrance, basically a covered queue to meet three of the Disney princesses at a time. Apparently the princesses stand inside this ballroom and little girls get to meet them and take pictures. It’s a good idea, except I know that if I had been a little girl I would’ve been upset not seeing the princesses I wanted and the princesses can sometimes change during the 45 minute wait.
The highlight is really the shows. Based on Tangled and Beauty and the Beast, the shows feature two characters from the movies and Mr. Smythe and Mr. Jones narrating and playing the remaining supporting characters. There are actually a lot of funny “older” references that keep the adults laughing (more in the Tangled show which I felt was far better) and go straight over the kids’ heads. No worry. We all know they are just there to see Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, and Belle.
Mom and I went first thing to Fantasy Faire, and saw the first Tangled show, then walked around the Main Street shops and Downtown Disney before making it back for the Beauty and the Beast show. And then we left. We have passes after all and the whole point of going was to check out the new area. I may also have been more tired from my five straight days of waitressing than I had thought. At times it felt like I could barely move my feet!
Basically, you won’t spend a ton of time in Fantasy Faire unless you are waiting in line to see the princesses, but it is a must see destination on its quaint merits alone.
I can’t believe I missed Pi Day. March 14, 3.14, the ultimate math and nerd holiday, and I just let it pass by without a note. And I didn’t eat any pie! I ate pie the night before when Joseph and I visited his aunt and uncle’s, but none on the actual day where it is practically a requirement to indulge in a slice of warm, round, mathematically correct pastry and filling.
And especially when you consider how many different kinds of pie there are, and therefore how many different opportunities I should have had to make or eat a pie, the fact that I completely neglected it is borderline disgraceful. There are quiches–I consider them a type of pie–that could be consumed for breakfast. apple pies for your 5-a-day fruit consumption, butter pies, meat or vegetable pies (I’m thinking about you Pieminster at The Covered Market) for lunch, chicken pot pies for dinner, and then the dessert pies: fruit, cream, meringue, whipped, mini, cuppies (my just coined word for pies the size of cupcakes, it’ll be a thing eventually), cheese, mud pies, tarts, cookie pies, cake pies (real thing I swear!)…and I could go on.
Anything round could’ve been called a pie yesterday, and I’m pretty sure nothing I ate even fell into that category.
I’m ashamed. I should relinquish my baker title. Just kidding, Joseph would never let me do that after those cookies.
But I must move on, and wait until next year to redeem myself. I’ll set an alert on my calendar so that this tragedy doesn’t happen again.
Anyways, I started my new waitressing job last week (just in time too, as an evil tea latte spilled on my laptop keyboard and the repairs needed a new paycheck to cover them) at a local tea shop and cafe. I adore it. I’ve been a regular at this place since they opened years ago, and to get to work there is as close to a serving dream come true as I had. And I’m around tea all day, which for an Anglophile is basically akin to heaven. I’m getting to try a new tea, sometimes more than one, every shift and love coming into work each day. It’s a change from all my other serving jobs, but I have a really good feeling about it and am excited for a weekend of shifts.
They didn’t do anything special for Pi(e) Day either…hmmm…
And I got my ring back from the jewelers! It fits perfectly and is so beautiful. I kind of can’t stop staring at it catch the light and I get easily distracted. I love how official it feels now. I’m getting married!! So cool!!
To celebrate (or more like to use up something I bought at the Farmer’s Market a few weeks ago) I made Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Bites. Healthy, with no added sugars, processed foods (unless you consider extracts to be processed), and they taste EXACTLY like oatmeal raisin cookie dough. Oh, and did I mention they are vegan and no-bake? And addicting as all heck. I’m usually really good about exercising self control, but these killed even me. I might have eaten the whole batch…second time this blog I am hiding my head in shame.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Bites
Ingredients
Blend dates and extracts in your food processor until they form a sticky ball, about 4-5 minutes. Add almond butter, and continue to process until combined. Add almonds, salt, cinnamon and oats, and process for 1-2 more minutes, until everything is sticking together.
Remove dough from food processor. Use you hands to fold in raisins.
Roll dough into 1″ balls. Refrigerate for about an hour so they can harden a bit. Otherwise they are super gooey.
Technically they will probably last in the fridge for a week or so since there are no perishable ingredients, but as the recipe only makes about 9 bites, they definitely won’t last that long. Mine last…one night…
As always, I added more vanilla and cinnamon than the inspiring recipe, because I love vanilla and cinnamon, and I seem to be unable to make a recipe completely following it. Or at least that is really difficult for me. Ooo! Brilliant idea…try making these with peanut butter and peanuts instead of almonds and chocolate chips instead of raisins. Deadliness just got deadlier.
