This weekend we held a Halloween tea and perfume celebration, with guest appearance of the great and terrible pirate Blackbeard, and his bearded lady friend (BTW - she has a goatee and loves the new oil!).



Featured Interactive Presentation: The Nearly Non-Existent Grooming Lives of Pirates, and demo by the Bearded Lady - and a special appearance by Blackbeard himself!


Menu:
Heavy spices will mask the rotten foodstuff at sea, and lemons in all shapes and forms will take care of scurvy... Enjoy!


Tea Sandwiches:
Apple + Smoked Cheddar
Pickled Lemon + Tuna
Fennel + Orange
Marinated Eggplant + Pomegranate


Scones:
Seabuiscuits (weevils optional), served with clotted cream, blackberry jam & honey




Desserts:
Lemon Tarts
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Chocolate Ships Cookies
Fudgey Brownies with Blueberry Chocolate Sauce


Teas & Libations Served:
- Ayala Moriel's Espionage Tea(Lapsang suchong, Assam tea, vanilla, jasmine and rosebuds).
- White Wolf (white tea with vanilla, peppermint and licorice)
- Hot Tea Toddy (shot of whiskey added to your Espionage tea!)
- Blackbeard Cocktail (Assam Tea, Raw Sugar and Rum)


This was the very last tea party that I would be hosting at my home studio on 1230 Haro street. I've been hosting these sensual gatherings since 2009 (and hosted 30 parties so far, all with original menues and recipes). They were a wonderful way to build a community and nurish (the barely-existent) scent culture in my city, and encourage people get in touch with their senses, in particular the sense of smell.

The side effects of this wild venture included (but were not limited to): making new friends, enjoying fine teas, brewing wild cocktails, perfume indulgence, outrageous menues and orignal recipes of hand-made pastries made by hand by yours truly.

 
It's sad to bid farewell to what has become a huge part of my life - planning, baking and hosting parties. But this is a necessary change so that I can focus on completing the 2 books I've working on (one of them being a recipe book for many of my tea party favourites!), and to move towards a better future for my business as well as family. Think of it as pruning that will allow for new growth...

For more pics from the party, please visit my Flickr album!