Perhaps one of the most vivid memories I have of childhood are the afternoons I spent with my grandmother having tea parties with the little China set that had been passed down, broken pieces and all to me. I had many fun hours with grandma pretending to have tea with the Queen of England. Suffice to say, I have always had a soft spot for all things tea whether it is a mini tea set, a tea cup, or a box of tea. 
So when I was visiting the Pasadena Langham Hotel (think fancy) and spotted all these ladies having tea I knew I must go sometime. 
So flash forward a year and me being bored, I thought to myself, "Hey, maybe it's time for a little indulgence," maybe it's time for tea. So I made a reservation this past week. On Saturday, we put on Sunday best and hubby and I set forth to afternoon tea at the fancy Langham Hotel. The lounge at the Langham Hotel was much fancier than the little wooden table and chairs that Grandma and I used to have our parties. 
This party featured big, fluffy, plush chairs elegantly decorated in an old world pattern. The view from our window table offered a panoramic view of the hotel's Horseshoe Garden and surrounding San Marino county. Besides being beautifully decorated, there was a baby grand piano and a woman playing tunes that most everyone would recognize. My heart delighted at the scene. My grandma would love this place. The waitress sat us down and explained we could either have the traditional tea or the royal tea which included all the same items as the traditional tea but included champaign and strawberries with cream. After reviewing the menu and the amount of items that came with just the traditional meal we choose the traditional. For my tea, I ordered something new, a vanilla bean tea and the hubby ordered a pot of blackberry tea. href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1SmWwUXz7i8hdRcpFLmbZne_LgM4Or724vV_wtnJI2YMfM01XIVF2jF3IFABZpSIm-XuGQkqyBlv8EyUaI0E1DNgQ1uru2ynW1uK9Mr2lMXUCyRe5GxBMwSWaqLHmmiqINEUbjQ/s1600/IMG_6624.JPG">
The key to a good tea is quality and having the perfect brew and the Langham complied in both instances. We both added a sugar cube and a little bit of cream. You know not because we prefer it that way but so we could play with all the little intruments that involved picking up a cube of tea and stirring cream. 
After our first cup of tea the waitress brought us a beautiful three tiered platter of prepared sandwiches, scones, cakes and tiny little deserts. a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwXjUdeC5eJjUMqgqykTPoGYHegp3Gm3SpHSIvmxlTcHCMe61vLLVwymcYd9oTKZHncwg2xNEjKD1nJLP2vmrIBeCgyLYXN03vK8kvwPuj0IwWoyM8BNWfVOZ6Qg0XUBMf05VbHA/s1600/IMG_6622.jpg">
The presentation was absolutely gorgeous!! Grandma would have really loved this tea party. I am afraid most of our tea parties involved the imagination and no actual tea nor treats. So we started with the first tier which was the sandwiches. The waitress was very accomadating to hubby's no seafood needs and gave him extra egg and cucumber sandwiches. That was very nice. The sandwiches were very tasty. I was trying to figure out which was my favorite from the egg salad, cucumber, bruchetta w/ caviar, and shrimp but I couldn't find one as they were all delightful. After the sandwiches we moved onto the scones and cakes. This is where the devonshire cream and fresh raspberry and blueberry jams and honey came in. I had several mouthfuls of all this yummy goodness!! As if that wasn't nice enough we had a third tier left full of some very yummy deserts. I loved the little creme brulees, french macaroons and the raspberry and lemon tarts. 
By the time we were done we were completely stuffed!!! Everything was so very good. We had a very pleasant time and I especially loved the piano player who played so many good songs like "Somewhere in Time." I want to go back and try the Royal Tea and also the Sunday Tea. On Sundays they have a chocolate tea. Can you imagine Chocolate?? Yum! It was a great afternoon. My soul needed this little indulgance.
So when I was visiting the Pasadena Langham Hotel (think fancy) and spotted all these ladies having tea I knew I must go sometime. 
So flash forward a year and me being bored, I thought to myself, "Hey, maybe it's time for a little indulgence," maybe it's time for tea. So I made a reservation this past week. On Saturday, we put on Sunday best and hubby and I set forth to afternoon tea at the fancy Langham Hotel. The lounge at the Langham Hotel was much fancier than the little wooden table and chairs that Grandma and I used to have our parties. 
This party featured big, fluffy, plush chairs elegantly decorated in an old world pattern. The view from our window table offered a panoramic view of the hotel's Horseshoe Garden and surrounding San Marino county. Besides being beautifully decorated, there was a baby grand piano and a woman playing tunes that most everyone would recognize. My heart delighted at the scene. My grandma would love this place. The waitress sat us down and explained we could either have the traditional tea or the royal tea which included all the same items as the traditional tea but included champaign and strawberries with cream. After reviewing the menu and the amount of items that came with just the traditional meal we choose the traditional. For my tea, I ordered something new, a vanilla bean tea and the hubby ordered a pot of blackberry tea. href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1SmWwUXz7i8hdRcpFLmbZne_LgM4Or724vV_wtnJI2YMfM01XIVF2jF3IFABZpSIm-XuGQkqyBlv8EyUaI0E1DNgQ1uru2ynW1uK9Mr2lMXUCyRe5GxBMwSWaqLHmmiqINEUbjQ/s1600/IMG_6624.JPG"> The key to a good tea is quality and having the perfect brew and the Langham complied in both instances. We both added a sugar cube and a little bit of cream. You know not because we prefer it that way but so we could play with all the little intruments that involved picking up a cube of tea and stirring cream. 
After our first cup of tea the waitress brought us a beautiful three tiered platter of prepared sandwiches, scones, cakes and tiny little deserts. a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwXjUdeC5eJjUMqgqykTPoGYHegp3Gm3SpHSIvmxlTcHCMe61vLLVwymcYd9oTKZHncwg2xNEjKD1nJLP2vmrIBeCgyLYXN03vK8kvwPuj0IwWoyM8BNWfVOZ6Qg0XUBMf05VbHA/s1600/IMG_6622.jpg">
The presentation was absolutely gorgeous!! Grandma would have really loved this tea party. I am afraid most of our tea parties involved the imagination and no actual tea nor treats. So we started with the first tier which was the sandwiches. The waitress was very accomadating to hubby's no seafood needs and gave him extra egg and cucumber sandwiches. That was very nice. The sandwiches were very tasty. I was trying to figure out which was my favorite from the egg salad, cucumber, bruchetta w/ caviar, and shrimp but I couldn't find one as they were all delightful. After the sandwiches we moved onto the scones and cakes. This is where the devonshire cream and fresh raspberry and blueberry jams and honey came in. I had several mouthfuls of all this yummy goodness!! As if that wasn't nice enough we had a third tier left full of some very yummy deserts. I loved the little creme brulees, french macaroons and the raspberry and lemon tarts. 
By the time we were done we were completely stuffed!!! Everything was so very good. We had a very pleasant time and I especially loved the piano player who played so many good songs like "Somewhere in Time." I want to go back and try the Royal Tea and also the Sunday Tea. On Sundays they have a chocolate tea. Can you imagine Chocolate?? Yum! It was a great afternoon. My soul needed this little indulgance.
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