Chocolate Lover's Tea at the Mansion!

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the Inaugural Tea, A Chocolate Lover's Tea, at the Frederick Stegmaier Mansion.

The mansion will now be hosting several Themed Tea's throughout the coming year. All of this is the idea of The Passion Projects.
The Passion Projects is the company formed by my dear friend, Lisa Lewis, Victoriana Lady, and John Grant.
To access The Passion Projects Facebook page, please Click HERE

Lisa and John


And to really add excitement to this new venture, one of our local TV stations, who has a show called Home and Back Yard, featured the Stegmaier Mansion and Victoriana Lady on Saturday evening's program! To see the show, please click HERE Play the video from 2/12

To see the Blooper that ocurred while filming the show, please click HERE
I think you will get a good laugh!



To read the article that appeared in the local newspaper, please click HERE



The Frederick Stegmaier Mansion, Wilkes Barre, Pa.
Photo Courtesy of John Grant, photographer


The event started with Victoriana Lady , greeting everyone at the front door of the mansion .
She then checked the seating chart and informed each guest where they would be sitting for the Tea. The Ladies and Gentlemen's Parlors, the Dining Room and the Library were all set with tables to acommodate the 50 guests that attended Saturday's Tea. There were such a response that a second Tea was added on Sunday and both Tea's sold out and each had a waiting list!!

Our Victorian Society Group would be seated in the Library.

This is what our tea cups and china looked like.
See the rose petals scattered on the table???


Here is the mansion's owner, Joe Matteo , serving the first course of our Tea.


Sorry it is a bit blurry but will you look at this?????
That is Devonshire cream in the crystal glass ( shot glass!) in the center of the plate. To the right is strawberry cream and to the left is apricot jam. There is a chocolate dipped chocolate chip and cranberry scone and what you can't see is a heart shaped cookie.


Then we were served a salad which I forgot to take a pic of.

This is the light streaming through the stained glass window that we were seated by....


This is the reflection of the ceiling and chandy is the mirror above the fireplace in the Library....


Next comes the soup which was a potato soup and our Tea Sandwiches....
Don't you just love how it was served on the silver platter.....


Okay, I am not sure of the exact names of the sandwiches but in front of the soup was a baked bread which various cheese on top. to the right was chicken salad ( which melted in your mouth) sprinkled with bacon on a heart shaped piece of bread. Behind the soup was a cucumber and butter sandwich and to the left was salmon salad rolled in chocolate bread.
All were to die for!



During our Tea, Victoriana Lady visited each room and first told us about the history of Afternoon Tea. Then she presented us with several items of the Victorian Era and we had to guess what they were used for.

Victoriana Lady is well versed in Victorian mourning and the glass vial that she is holding up is a Tear Catcher Bottle. You would catch the tears you shed for a loved one after they passed on. She also told us that they were used by the wives of soldiers who were gone off to war. When they returned, the wives would show their soldier husband's how many tears they shed for them...

Next on the menu came what essentially was a Chocolate mousse type creation topped with cream and shavings of chocolate served in a demitasse cup!!

Check out the chocolate covered strawberry....... wearing a tuxedo!!!


I love the pattern on the china!!


This 2 tiered silver caddy hold these delicious creations and served 2 of us. on the top tiers were 2 types of Chocolate Truffles.
On the bottom tier , were the strawberries and a Godiva Chocolate Pecan Caramel cookie.


Then we were served Spiced Hot Chocolate Tea!

Look at that beautiful Chocolate Pot!!


For the recipes for the Godiva Chocolate Pecan Caramel cookie and the Spiced Chocolate Tea, you can click HERE
This will take you to Chef Jody Klocko's site on the Food Network.com.

These recipes were his gift to us and when he visited each room after this last course was served , he received a huge round of applause!

Chef Jody Klocko also made two chocolate gift creations that we were free to buy to take home.
The boxes were filled with Chocolate truffles.


I bought a Chocolate Heart shaped box filled with truffles.


May I add that Chef Jody Klocko has been featured on the Food Network, worked for Godiva Chocolates and is an award winning Chef!

This is the amazing trio that make a visit to the Frederick Stegmaier Mansion such a fantastic experience!

Jody Klocko, Lisa Lewis and Joe Matteo, owner.
I am so proud to call them my friends!
Congrats to all of you, including John Grant, for a magnificent job of orchestrating such a wonderful event!!

The mansion is also a B&B. This is the Amelia Suite which has it"s own Sitting Room!

Photo Courtesy of John Grant, photographer

Upcoming Tea's at the Mansion will include:

A Civil War Tea

An Antique Appraisal Tea

A Titanic Tea

A Mother and Daughter Tea

I want to wish my good friend, Lisa, good luck as she is traveling to Manhattan this week to film for the Discovery Channel's Show Oddities. She is going to be featured in an upcoming show!!
How exciting!!

For info on the Stegmaier Mansion, please click HERE for the web site.

I am linking up to these parties:

Tea Cup Tuesday

Tea Time Tuesday

Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday

TableTop Tuesday

Thanks for stopping by today and every day that you take the time to visit me!

Hugs,
Debbie