Spill the Tea: Tea Elle C Garden Cafè Review

So I have been wanting to do this for a while, a looong time! It’s been on my to-do list to incorporate tea shops and tea places reviews, but I just haven’t had the time. It seems I have a thousand different things I want to write and review and just no time to do them all.

So I ended up telling myself that when my tea photos popped up on my “on this day” part of Instagram or timeline it would be time to actually start reviewing them.

Last September, I had to go to Los Angeles to visit with my grandfather who was seriously declining. It was a good visit, and while we were in L. A., I suggested to my mom that we should try a high tea place before we left. She agreed, as long as it wasn’t far out of our way. Right before we headed back home, we stopped at Tea Elle C Garden Cafe.

Tea Elle C is located in Santa Clarita, CA and the idea of it is based on when the Dutch would serve portable teas outside in the garden. This tradition spread from Holland to England as both ladies and gentlemen enjoyed it. The tea garden allowed women and men to socialize “alone”, as since they were in an open public space, they were in no need of a chaperone. Tea gardens were also open to people of all classes.

Because of COVID-19, we weren’t able to eat inside, which was a shame as if looked super cute and they also sold loose leaf tea for purchase and other tea items. But we were unable to browse as we were quickly shuffled through the resturant coming in and going out. I did snap this picture quickly of the inside.

I so wanted to sit inside!

To be compliant with the COVID-19 policies of the time we were seated outside in the garden. The garden was extremely beautiful, full of twinkly lights and tea decorations. I wish I had taken a picture of it, but unfortunately I didn’t.

One of the nice things about this tea place was that it blended a regular cafe menu with high tea being offered all day. So if you have one person who loves High Tea but their partner isn’t in to it-or if one of you wants high tea and the other wants regular cafe food; this is a perfect compromise and a place you both will love. I of course wanted High Tea while my mother wanted a regular breakfast. She ordered a delicious Paris Tea and a Benedict breakfast bowl: a sourdough bowl filled with hash browns, Canadian Bacon, two-over easy eggs, and topped with hollandaise sauce. She loved her food and couldn’t stop raving about it.

I, of course, ordered the high tea (that being the reason I wanted to stop there) and was given a choice of six finger sandwiches (you choose two flavors), your choice of one scone, three desserts, and either one two-Cup teapot or a half carafe.

They offer many choices and I decided on a: Cranberry scone; a cucumber and herbed cream cheese, and a pesto & turkey sandwich . For desserts they gave you whatever they chose to serve and I had a lemon bar, and another crumbly dessert on top. And I, of course, had Earl Grey tea.

Everything was amazing, and it was a good amount of food for a good price. Sometimes high tea places will serve you too much food, or too little, but this was just the right amount for me.

Cranberry Scone

If I were to make a complaint, the only thing I would change would be that they did not offer an endless pot of tea, which a lot of places do (and I love), but each pot or carafe were separate orders. I would have liked an endless pot of tea, but my two cups were the perfect amount as most bathrooms were not open at the time I visited (including the resturant and most gas stations.)

This place was a win and I would most definitely go back again. If you are in the Santa Clarita area, I highly recommend that you drop by.

For more tea posts, go to Marmalade Rolls

Book Club Picks: The Masterpiece

So as you all know I started a book club last year. I have fallen behind with my posts, but I was catching up.  I am for sure only one behind now. 🙂

No I’m serious! This time I am really only one behind!

We’ll see.

Every month we read a book and I do a little post on the book we read and discussed. What can I say, I just love books.

There is no theme, other than with each month, a different member gets to pick a book, whichever one they want.

The Masterpiece by Francine Rivers

So Francine Rivers is a favorite author of mine. I’ve read everything of her Christian fiction, except one, The Last Sin Eater. So when the book club member suggested us reading it, I was totally down and excited.

Grace Moore has been through a lot in her life. A painful childhood, growing up with a cold and emotionally separated aunt. She put her dreams on hold for her husband, had a disastrous marriage, lost her job, and is now a single mom.

She was going to give her child up for adoption, living with the potential family but changed her mind. Now she is trying to figure out how to take care of her son and make enough money to move out as the family is trying to take her child. Everything seems to be a big no, until she finally gets a job as a assistant to temperamental artist Roman Velasco. He’s never been able to keep one as he is too out there and hard to work with, but Grace is hoping to stick it out until she can find something else.

Roman Velasco has his own hard life. He lost his mom years back, was put in foster care, and sent all over San Francisco as they just kept moving him on. He joins a gang as a runner but then becomes the tagger, graffitiing the gang everywhere. He ends up being sent to a ranch, but as soon as he is old enough takes off.

He has always been interested in painting and art, and ends up becoming a very rich and profitable one. But he has a secret. At night he runs around Los Angeles, creating graffiti art going under BRD-Billy Ray Dean, his real name. He also has been growing ill, and not feeling good-but keeps that and the BRD secret.

Grace is instantly attracted to him, but knows she needs to stay away as she has bad choices in men, he has a lot of issues, and is not a Christian.

Roman tries to leave Grace alone, but is attracted to her. He ends up letting her in more than any person in his life has been let in. But then something happens that changes their relationship forever. Will things work out or will this masterpiece go through several changes before it is completed?

This was a fantastic book and a real page turner. I never wanted to put it down, and just had to find out what happened next.

Defintely worth a read! Check it out today!

The cover of the book comes from a real graffiti painting. It is called Time Flies by artist Camer1. For more about it, check out Francine Rivers blog. Our book club member who chose the book actually was able to go to San Francisco and see it in person.

For more book club picks, go to Book Club Picks: O Pioneers!

For more books by Francine Rivers, go to Book Club Picks: A Voice in the Wind

For more Christian works, go to Who Says I Have to Stop: Fireproof (2008)

For more bible verses, go to Book Club Picks: This Present Darkness