Italian Picnic in San Jose!

While Italy is better known for its love of coffee, the country has a long history with tea, too.  Many Italian foods, especially pastries and sweets, go really well with tea.  Since October has been declared National Italian American Heritage Month, the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild will be celebrating Italian contributions to the culture and life of the Santa Clara Valley with a picnic and a game or two of bocce.  

Vin santo with biscotti in Milan.  Wikimedia Commons

Italian Bocce Picnic: let’s celebrate Italian ingenuity and culture with an Italian picnic and game or two of bocce.  Italian picnic food and iced tea will be provided, as will a set of bocce balls for all of us to share. Gentlemen and children welcome!
    Date: Saturday, October 16, 2010, 1 p.m.
    Location: Backesto Park, N. 13th St., San Jose.
    Food Fee: $20 (Ladies' Tea Guild members)/ $25 (non-members)
    Suggested costume: summer/autumn day dress from 1870 to 1950, or modern dress.

R.S.V.P.s and food fees are required at least 48 hours in advance of the event, with the deadline being Thursday, October 14, 2010.  Reservations and cancellations cannot be accepted after that date.  Payments by PayPal and personal check can be accepted.  For more information or to reserve a spot, e-mail the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild. 

National Italian American Heritage Month
An Italian American Dinner Party
Slitti Italian Chocolate with Earl Grey Tea
"Tea's popularity grows in Italy" by Jane Pettigrew
"Tramezzini: Italian tea sandwiches"
The Foods and Wines of Italy

Why not throw a Tour de France tea party?

French macarons. Image from www.pachd.com.
The Tour de France: beginning in Monaco last Saturday, international cycling teams will race through France, Spain, the small principality of Andorra, Switzerland and part of the Italian Alps, before they return to France for the final section, ending in Paris on the 26th of July. While San Jose’s bicycling and cycle racing scene is not what it once was – it was a wildly popular sport in the late 1889, when San Jose’s first bicycle club was founded – there are still a good number of cyclists and bicycle clubs in the city.

While I’m not a cyclist I know people who are, whose eyes are glued to the Tour de France reports on the television! In honor of my favorite cyclists, I’ve come up with a tea party menu, featuring foods from all of the countries that the Tour de France participants will ride through, as a way of celebrating their effort and the dedication it’s taken them to get this far! While many of these countries don’t have a long-standing tea tradition, they all have traditional appetizers, desserts, and other dishes that can be added to a tea party menu, and be accompanied by a nice cup of tea. So here it is -- my (American-style) Tour de France Tea menu:

Lapsang Souchong black tea
Green tea with mint and honey (Spain)
Tila tisane (Spain)
Verbena tisane (France)

Earl Grey-scented jelly (France and Italy)
Maria galletas (Spain)
Croissants with Creme Fraiche (France)

Barbagiuans (Monaco -- pan-fried vegetable-filled pastry)
Beignets de Sauge (Swiss sage fritters)
Bread with Mushrooms and Alioli (Spain)
Pa amb tomaquet (Andorra -- toast with tomato)
Petite Crustless Quiches with Fines Herbes and Chevre (France)

Getränker Zitronencake (Switzerland -- lemon cake)
Les zestes d’orange confites (France -- candied orange peel)
Prince Albert Millefeuille Pastry with Strawberries and Pastry Cream (Monaco)
Macarons (France)
Madeleines (France)
Spitzbuben (Switzerland -- jam cookie)
Sorbet au champagne (France)
Tea Cake with Pignoli and Almonds (Italy)

Of course, the cyclists will be working out in hot summer weather and will need lots of cold beverages to keep them going. You can sympathize with them and drink your tea iced! I wonder which team and which cyclist will win?

“Mariage Freres: charming tea in Paris”
Laduree’s “Story of the Macaroon”