by Laura Childs
Pumpkin-Pecan Dump Cake
1 can pumpkin (29 oz.)
1 cup sugar
1 can evaporated milk (13 oz.)
3 eggs
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spices
½ tsp. salt
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup pecans, chopped
¾ cup butter, melted
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees. Combine pumpkin, sugar, evaporated milk, eggs, pumpkin pie spices, and salt in a mixing bowl. Beat well. Pour pumpkin mixture into a 9-by-13-inch glass pan that has been greased and floured. Sprinkle cake mix over pumpkin mixture; then sprinkle on pecans. Pour melted butter over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Take care toward the end of baking; this cake can burn easily. Yields 12 pieces.
TEA TIME TIPS FROM
Laura Childs
Victorian Tea
With harpsichord music filling the air, this tea party can be as much of an extravaganza as you wish. Just like at Theodosia and Drayton’s Victorian Tea, lavish decor should adorn your tea table—think candles, floral nosegays, strands of pearls from the craft store, fans, feathers, and even a top hat. Use fancy place cards and stack a few books by Victorian authors (Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning) on your tea table. Serve cream scones or crumpets with rose petal jam to start with, then cinnamon cream cheese and raisin bread tea sandwiches. Your entrée could be apple-chicken salad in pastry cups. For dessert, delight your guests with poached pears and almond macaroons. The perfect tea, of course, is Adagio’s Queen Victoria Blend.
Candlelight Tea
Late afternoon, when the sky turns purple and shadows lengthen, is the perfect time to hold your Candlelight Tea. Make your tea table moody with linens and china in hues of blue, purple, and rich burgundy. Pillar candles, small tea lights, and even a candelabra are a must, with silver candleholders and crystal glasses to enhance the sparkle. Serve buttermilk scones with Devonshire cream and lemon curd. Pesto-chicken tea sandwiches and Camembert-fig tea sandwiches are showy and delightful, as are pumpkin-leek tarts for your entrée. Dessert could be chocolate-dipped strawberries. For the perfect pour, choose Fireside Chat Black Tea (with chocolate and walnut) from Plum Deluxe.
Honeybee Tea
Salute our hardworking pollinators with a Honeybee Tea. Decorate your table with white and yellow flowers and tuck in some fuzzy little bees sourced from your favorite craft store. Kick off your menu with cream scones dripping with honey butter; then segue to a second course of honey-and-apple-cheese flatbread or grilled bruschetta with pears, blue cheese, and honey. Your entrée could be honey-garlic chicken or even honey-ginger-glazed salmon. For dessert, serve cake with fresh berries drizzled with honey. Serve jasmine tea with honey sticks or honey pops for a sweetener. And don’t forget small jars of honey as guest favors.
Nutcracker Tea
A Nutcracker Tea is a perfect lead-in to the holidays. Drape your table with a white linen tablecloth; then lavish on the decor. Think bright red nutcrackers, sugarplum fairies, and all the pink-and-white whimsy you can find at your local craft store. Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite is the obvious musical background as you serve candied ginger scones with Devonshire cream. Then delight your guests with tea sandwiches of smoked salmon, capers, and cream cheese on rye, as well as tea sandwiches of honey-baked ham and caramelized onion on brioche. Dessert might be fig macarons or walnut-banana tea bread. Celestial Seasoning’s Sugar Plum Spice is the perfect tea.
Harvest Tea
Host a sit-down tea or a buffet tea—whatever works for you. Just be sure to decorate your table with bountiful baskets filled with apples, pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn. Fall flowers such as mums and black-eyed Susans are perfect adornments, too. Serve a rich Darjeeling tea and cheddar cheese scones for your first course. Then follow with pumpkin soup garnished with crème fraîche and turkey, apple, and goat cheese tea sandwiches. Think individual chicken potpies for your entrée. Blackberry or apple cobbler would make a lovely dessert.
Rhapsody in Blue Tea
Drape your table in white linen, layer on some blue place mats, and add a pretty crock filled with delphiniums or blue hydrangeas. This is also the perfect time to use all your favorite blue-and-white dishes. Never mind if the patterns don’t match; it’s more fun that way. Start with blueberry scones and Devonshire cream. Your assortment of tea sandwiches might include shrimp salad, cucumber and cream cheese, and ham with country mustard. Serve Adagio’s Earl Blue tea (with lavender blossoms), and for background music, what could be better than Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue?
TEA RESOURCES
TEA MAGAZINES AND PUBLICATIONS
TeaTime—A luscious magazine profiling tea and tea lore. Filled with glossy photos and wonderful recipes. (teatimemagazine.com)
Southern Lady—From the publishers of TeaTime with a focus on people and places in the South as well as wonderful teatime recipes. (southernladymagazine.com)
The Tea House Times—Go to theteahousetimes.com for subscription information and dozens of links to tea shops, purveyors of tea, gift shops, and tea events.
Victoria—Articles and pictorials on homes, home design, gardens, and tea. (victoriamag.com)
Fresh Cup Magazine—For tea and coffee professionals. (freshcup.com)
Tea & Coffee—Trade journal for the tea and coffee industry. (teaandcoffee.net)
Bruce Richardson—This author has written several definitive books on tea. (elmwoodinn.com/books)
Jane Pettigrew—This author has written seventeen books on the varied aspects of tea and its history and culture. (janepettigrew.com/books)
A Tea Reader—By Katrina Avila Munichiello, an anthology of tea stories and reflections.
AMERICAN TEA PLANTATIONS
Charleston Tea Garden—The oldest and largest tea plantation in the United States. Order their fine black tea or schedule a visit at bigelowtea.com.
Table Rock Tea Company—This Pickens, South Carolina, plantation is growing premium whole leaf tea. (tablerocktea.com)
The Great Mississippi Tea Company—Up-and-coming Mississippi tea farm about ready to go into production. (greatmsteacompany.com)
Sakuma Brothers Farm—This tea garden just outside Burlington, Washington, has been growing white and green tea for over twenty years. (sakumabrothers.com)
Big Island Tea—Organic artisan tea from Hawaii. (bigislandtea.com)
Mauna Kea Tea—Organic green and oolong tea from Hawaii’s Big Island. (maunakeatea.com)
Onomea Tea—Nine-acre tea estate near Hilo, Hawaii. (onotea.com)
Minto Island Growers—Handpicked small-batch crafted teas grown in Oregon. (mintogrowers.com)
Virginia First Tea Farm—Matcha tea and natural tea soaps and cleansers. (virginiafirstteafarm.com)
Blue Dreams USA—Located near Frederick, Maryland, this farm grows tea, roses, and lavender. (bluedreamsusa.com)
Finger Lakes Tea Company—Tea producer located in Waterloo, New York. (fingerlakestea.com)
Camellia Forest Tea Gardens—This North Carolina company collects, grows, and sells tea plants. It also produces its own tea. (teaflowergardens.com)
TEA WEBSITES AND INTERESTING BLOGS
Destinationtea.com—State-by-state directory of afternoon tea venues.
Teamap.com—Directory of hundreds of tea shops in the US and Canada.
Afternoontea.co.uk—Guide to tea rooms in the UK.
Teacottagemysteries.com—Wonderful website with tea lore, mystery reviews, recipes, and home and garden.
Cookingwithideas.typepad.com—Recipes and book reviews for the Bibliochef.
Seedrack.com—Order Camellia sinensis seeds and grow your own tea!
Jennybakes.com—Fabulous recipes from a real make-it-from-scratch baker.
Coz
yupwithkathy.blogspot.com—Cozy mystery reviews.
Thedailytea.com—Formerly Tea Magazine, this online publication is filled with tea news, recipes, inspiration, and tea travel.
Allteapots.com—Teapots from around the world.
Fireflyspirits.com—South Carolina purveyors of Sweet Tea Vodka.
Teasquared.blogspot.com—Fun, well-written blog about tea, tea shops, and tea musings.
Relevanttealeaf.blogspot.com—All about tea.
Stephcupoftea.blogspot.com—Blog on tea, food, and inspiration.
Teawithfriends.blogspot.com—Lovely blog on tea, friendship, and tea accoutrements.
Bellaonline.com/site/tea—Features and forums on tea.
Napkinfoldingguide.com—Photo illustrations of twenty-seven different (and sometimes elaborate) napkin folds.
Worldteaexpo.com—This premier business-to-business trade show features more than three hundred tea suppliers, vendors, and tea innovators.
Fatcatscones.com—Frozen ready-to-bake scones.
Kingarthurflour.com—One of the best flours for baking. This is what many professional pastry chefs use.
Californiateahouse.com—Order Machu’s Blend, a special herbal tea for dogs that promotes healthy skin, lowers stress, and aids digestion.
Downtonabbeycooks.com—A Downton Abbey blog with news and recipes.
Auntannie.com—Crafting site that will teach you how to make your own petal envelopes, pillow boxes, gift bags, etc.
Victorianhousescones.com—Scone, biscuit, and cookie mixes for both retail and wholesale orders. Plus baking and scone-making tips.
Englishteastore.com—Buy a jar of English Double Devon Cream here as well as British foods and candies.
Stickyfingersbakeries.com—Delicious just-add-water scone mixes.
Teasipperssociety.com—Join this international tea community of tea sippers, growers, and educators. A terrific newsletter!
Melhadtea.com—Adventures of a traveling tea sommelier.
PURVEYORS OF FINE TEA
Plumdeluxe.com
Globalteamart.com
Adagio.com
Elmwoodinn.com
Capitalteas.com
Newbyteas.com/us
Harney.com
Stashtea.com
Serendipitea.com
Bingleyteas.com
Marktwendell.com
Republicoftea.com
Teazaanti.com
Bigelowtea.com
Celestialseasonings.com
Goldenmoontea.com
Uptontea.com
Svtea.com (Simpson & Vail)
Gracetea.com
Davidstea.com
VISITING CHARLESTON
Charleston.com—Travel and hotel guide.
Charlestoncvb.com—The official Charleston convention and visitor bureau.
Charlestontour.wordpress.com—Private tours of homes and gardens, some including lunch or tea.
Charlestonplace.com—Charleston Place Hotel serves an excellent afternoon tea, Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 3.
Culinarytoursofcharleston.com—Sample specialties from Charleston’s local eateries, markets, and bakeries.
Poogansporch.com—This restored Victorian house serves traditional low-country cuisine. Be sure to ask about Poogan!
Preservationsociety.org—Hosts Charleston’s annual Fall Candlelight Tour.
Palmettocarriage.com—Horse-drawncarriage rides.
Charlestonharbortours.com—Boat tours and harbor cruises.
Ghostwalk.net—Stroll into Charleston’s haunted history. Ask them about the “original” Theodosia!
Charlestontours.net—Ghost tours plus tours of plantations and historic homes.
Follybeach.com—Official guide to Folly Beach activities, hotels, rentals, restaurants, and events.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank-yous all around to Sam, Tom, Elisha, Brittanie, Stephanie, Sareer, Talia, M. J., Bob, Jennie, Dan, and all the amazing people at Berkley Prime Crime and Penguin Random House who handle editing, design, publicity, copywriting, social media, bookstore sales, gift sales, production, and shipping. Heartfelt thanks as well to all the tea lovers, tea shop owners, book clubs, bookshop folks, librarians, reviewers, magazine editors and writers, websites, broadcasters, and bloggers who have enjoyed the Tea Shop Mysteries and helped spread the word. You are all so kind and you help make this possible!
And I am forever filled with gratitude for you, my very special readers and tea lovers, who have embraced Theodosia, Drayton, Haley, Earl Grey, and the rest of the tea shop gang as friends and family. Thank you so much and I promise you many more Tea Shop Mysteries!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Laura Childs’s next Tea Shop Mystery . . .
A Dark and Stormy Tea
Available soon from Berkley Prime Crime!
1
At five-thirty on a Monday afternoon it was full on dark when Theodosia Browning, proprietor of the Indigo Tea Shop, stepped out the back door of the Heritage Society. Pushing back a lock of curly auburn hair, she scanned the western sky, hoping for a faint smudge of orange to light the way home. When she didn’t find it, she set off at a fast clip, chiding herself for staying so late.
Still, Charleston’s venerable Heritage Society was sponsoring a Maritime History Seminar this Wednesday and, as luck would have it, Theodosia and her team had been tapped to cater an afternoon tea for visiting scholars.
Gotta hurry back, Drayton will be waiting, Theodosia told herself as she snugged her coat collar up against a cold wind. Overhead, trees thrashed as rain began to pelt down, stinging her face like icy needles.
Awful weather for early March. Especially when Charleston should be bursting with azaleas and pink camellias.
Now thunder rumbled overhead, low and slow, as if pin after pin was being knocked down in a cosmic bowling alley.
Theodosia hurried across King Street and hesitated. She glanced around at enormous two-hundred-year-old homes that sat on their haunches like nervous cats; then she shivered as sheets of rain slashed down. Because the shortest distance between two points was a straight line, she knew a shortcut down Gateway Walk, a tangled trail that wound through the backside of the Historic District, would save her an entire block of slopping through puddles. And with this weather system blowing in so hard and strong, the decision was a no-brainer.
Of course, Gateway Walk was probably deserted right now, Theodosia told herself as she hurried through a pair of ancient wrought-iron gates and headed down a narrow, winding path. With this foul, unseasonable weather there’d be no tourists snapping photos, none of the usual ghost walk tours with guides spinning eerie tales about haunted graves and wafting white specters.
Tall boxwood hedges closed in as Theodosia skimmed along slippery cobblestones. Great gray wisps of fog rolled across her path like ghostly ocean waves, driven in by wind off Charleston Harbor a few blocks away. Charleston, a city that was already slightly ethereal due to high humidity, salt-laden sea air, and antique glowing street lamps, became positively spooky when the fog swirled in.
Of course it’s spooky, Theodosia told herself. Even this pathway is purported to be a prime viewing area for ghostly phenomena. Which, by the way, I don’t happen to subscribe to.
Theodosia had traveled these hidden paths and walkways dozens of times, always reveling in their sumptuous gardens, Greek statuary, hidden grape arbors, and pattering fountains. But tonight she had to admit the atmosphere did feel slightly different.
And for good reason.
Always a gracious and posh dowager, Charleston was on edge right now. A dangerous killer the local press had dubbed Fogheel Jack had been skulking down its hidden lanes and alleys. After a seven-year hiatus, this madman had suddenly reappeared in Charleston to str
angle an unsuspecting young woman with a twist of sharp wire.
Now, residents hurried home from work in a wash of blue twilight and locked their doors before total darkness descended. Visitors who’d come to languish in luxury at Charleston’s historic inns and feast at four-star restaurants that specialized in grilled redfish, blue crab, and fresh oysters were warned not to wander too far from the relatively safe confines of the Historic District. Around the City Market, Waterfront Park, and White Point Gardens, Charleston police had stepped up patrols and officers rode two to a cruiser.
No. Theodosia shook her head to dispel the notion of danger and told herself she’d be fine. Better than fine. Even though she was surrounded by live oaks, palmettos, and crumbling stone walls, she was only three blocks away—actually, make that two and a half—from busy Church Street and the welcoming warmth of her tea shop. And once she reached the front door of that cozy little establishment, she’d be perfectly safe. Drayton Conneley, her dear friend and tea sommelier, would be waiting with a fresh-brewed pot of Darjeeling, eager to hear final details about their catering job. Haley, her young chef extraordinaire, would probably be tucked upstairs in her apartment along with Teacup, her little orange-and-brown ragamuffin cat.
Theodosia could almost feel the warmth of the Indigo Tea Shop settle around her shoulders like a cashmere blanket, could practically inhale its rich aromas. So nothing to worry about, right?
Then why do I feel so unsettled?
