2017 is up and running, and the 2017 Cat Rescue Tea Fundraiser was a success!

Alexander Hamilton vs. Aaron Burr (1804), from a painting
by J. Mund ca. 1904.  Wikimedia Commons.

Hello everyone!  I hope you've found a lot to be thankful for in this new year!

I am one of those people who didn't have high hopes for the outcome of the recent U.S. presidential election (no matter who won), and I am also thoroughly sickened by the way Americans have turned on one another with the arrogance, entitlement (as if one candidate or the other -- and their ardent supporters -- "owned" the votes of all decent people), snobbery, and elitism that has been (to some extent) hiding under the surface of public life for decades. It is not the fault of one candidate or the other that these things have come to the surface -- it is the fault of the American people (in general) who are so wrapped up in our own likes and dislikes, needs and wishes, that we can't see that other human beings feel and think differently, and are no less decent or respectable for having different values.  Over many years, the American people -- of all political parties -- have thrown decency, neighborliness, and good citizenship out the window, and brought the political life of this country to this place.  It reminds me a lot of the state of political life at the founding of the United States, where political enemies ended their disagreements in pistol duels!

Since I believe that individual Americans have influenced each other in putting political ideals and goals above the needs of others (especially those who hold different opinions), I believe that the way out of this mess needs to start with the individual American.  This is not about ignoring reality and going back into our own personal "bubble", but it is about resisting the very real urge to "go with the flow" and bully others, under the name of "political discourse" or whatever the media are calling it.  A lot of good things have been happening, which have successfully brought together people of different political opinions and social values!

Changes, good and bad

Image by Joy Coffman.
Wikimedia Commons.

Well, I haven't fallen entirely off the face of the planet, but it feels like it.  Some dramatic changes have occurred, including the changing of my career (for the present), and moving to another house.  I have left the history museum where I worked for 14 years, and I'm currently working at an elementary school while I plan for graduate school, which is what I had planned to do before beginning work at the museum.  I'm working more hours than I used to work, which is both a good thing and a bad thing: I'm glad for the extra wages, but I am so exhausted that I have very little energy, even on weekends, and none during the week, for sewing and cooking like I used to.  I hear that my energy level will change as I get used to it, but we'll see.  I am so behind on my writing, sewing, and historic cooking!  The new living situation doesn't allow for much, if any, cooking, unfortunately.

Clothing the Californio, Part 1 -- 18th century Spanish California background

giving tours at work, with a visiting "Chinese clay soldier".

So, I'm preparing to attend an event with my costume guild (The Greater Bay Area Costumer's Guild) next weekend, and it just so happens to coincide with one of my main areas of costume history research and interest: 18th and 19th century California women.  Since I work at a historic site (History San Jose) that incorporates two buildings that date from that time period, and since I dress in costume for some of my work there, I was asked to write an article about clothing from that time period, for my costume guild's member newsletter.  I'll be posting some of the article here in the following days, as I put together (hopefully!) a new costume to wear to this event.

Antique Autos returns to History Park!

Vintage car in the park in 2012.  Photo: Elizabeth Urbach.

Some of my costume group in 2009.
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

 I've been getting ready for the 14th Annual Antique Auto event at History Park, where the tea guild will be joining me for a picnic tomorrow afternoon.  It's such fun to research recipes and costumes -- because I always want to do something slightly different from what I did last year -- that I often find myself hurrying the morning of the event, and not finishing whatever costume or recipe I'd been working on, and pulling out something wearable from the costume closet, or something ordinary from the pantry, and going with that.  I'm hoping that this year will be different, since -- at the request of one of the guild members -- we are having a potluck picnic, and at least I don't have to make all the sandwiches.  I have decided to bring dessert -- a cake and some strawberries that I got at the farmer's market yesterday -- as well as the iced tea.  Then there's my costume; I could wear the 1920s frock that I've worn before, but I don't have a hat to go with it, or I could wear one of my Edwardian skirts, although I don't really have a good blouse to wear with them, or a proper hat, either -- just a modern straw hat with a ribbon on it.  I have all these plans to make blouses, and even some fabric to do it, and I want to make a tailor-made suit, and - and - and ... 

Anyway, while I decide, and work on my things, here are some suggestions from the readers of the _Woman's Home Companion_ magazine from 1916, so you can put together your own "motor picnic" in the next month or so: 

Upcoming interview and the Cat Rescue Tea approaching!

2013 Downton Tabby Tea place setting.
Photo: Miranda Von Stockhausen.

There are two little tidbits of information to share today:

Tidbit #1: tickets to the Downton Tabby Tea benefit for 13th Street Cats are selling like hotcakes!  Or would that be tea cakes? Or catnip mousies?  Anyway, I understand that Sunday, March 30th is sold out, and that there are only 3 or 4 seats left for Saturday, March 29th, so buy yours TODAY before they're all gone!  It will be a really fun event with delicious food and tea (if I do say so myself ...).

Tidbit #2: I was contacted a few months ago by Stephen Nelson, who produces and hosts the podcasts at Tea Rage.  He wanted to interview me for a podcast, and I thought that would be a great idea.  It's always fun to meet other tea people, and the idea of sitting down and geeking out about tea is just so much fun!  We finally met and recorded the podcast this afternoon at Satori Tea Bar in San Jose, and after some editing (lots of background noise and, I suspect, rambling on my part) the recording will be up on Tea Rage in the next few months!  I'll post the link when it's up, but I encourage you all to pop over and listen.  Despite the "rage" in the title, and the fact that Stephen proudly categorizes himself as a "tea snob" he's not snobby or full of rage in real life, and we had a really interesting "chin-wag" over pots of tea.  We talked, not only about our mutual love of tea, and the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild, but also about ideas for future tea research and projects.  He might be buying a tea plant in the future and experimenting with growing and processing his own tea, so keep your eyes on this blog and I'll let you know when he does!  He also told me about another tea podcast series, called Leaf and Let Die, which I had never heard about; that's more of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 approach to not-so-good teas ... I'll have to give the podcasts a listen and see what it's all about.  

Cat Rescue Tea 2014 tickets are on sale now!

Downton Tabby Tea 2012.
Photo: Miranda Von Stockhausen 

It's that time again: the 6th Annual Downton Tabby Tea fundraiser is scheduled for March 29 and 30 in San Jose, and tickets have just gone on sale!  They sell out quickly, so be sure to buy yours as soon as you can.  Feel free to dress up for this event, in keeping with the Downton Abbey theme and the opulence of this restored Victorian mansion!

*NOTE: If you have a group of people attending, and you would like to be seated together, you must buy the tickets for your group at the same time (in one transaction), or we cannot guarantee your seating.  If ticket sales go like they have for the past few years, there won't be any available to buy at the door, or in the days leading up to the event!  Only tickets that have been paid for can be considered "reserved"!

Here is the vital information:

Fundraising organization: Friends of 13th Street Cats/13th Street Cat Rescue (www.13thstcats.org)

Dates: Saturday, March 29 and Sunday March 30, 2 to 4 p.m.

Location: a restored Victorian home in the Hensley District, downtown San Jose.  The address will be sent privately to those who purchase tickets.

Event details: prix-fixe afternoon tea plate includes homemade scone, lemon curd, jam, tea sandwiches and savories, nut cup and fresh fruit, tea cake and chocolate, as well as bottomless pots of tea (Satori Tea Bar's Earl Grey Creme or Smitten Kitten herbal tisane from Thompson Tea Co.).  There will be a silent auction and a raffle of a variety of wonderful items; in the past these have included: timeshare vacations, to bottles of wine, to tea baskets, to gear for your pets.  Self-guided tours of the mansion may also be available at the discretion of the owners.

Tickets:

• $40 per person, for a full afternoon tea, Veggie or Regular options; 
• $50 per person, for the full afternoon tea, Veggie or Regular options, plus 2 glasses of champagne; 
• $150 for the Countess Package, full afternoon tea (Veggie or Regular) for 2, champagne for 2, VIP table for 2, 2 VIP badges, 2 tea favors, and advance entry at 1:30 p.m.;
• $300 for the Grantham Package, which is everything included in the Countess Package, but for 4 people.  

Where to buy your tickets: the 13th Street Cats website at http://www.13thstcats.org/info/display?PageID=14639   Tickets on sale NOW!

See you there! 

A Raspberry Bread Pudding and a Viennese Tea!

Raspberry Jam Bread Pudding.  Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

I've had these croissants taking up space in my freezer for a few months, and with all the fruit I've been bringing home from the farmers' market -- for making jam and freezing for next year -- I needed to get the croissants out.  Then they sat in my fridge for a month; they were wrapped in plastic, but still ...  Then, I got a bunch of raspberries at the farmers' market, intending to make jam with them, but a week went by and they were still there, looking at me sadly every time I opened the fridge!  After spending a lot of time looking through recipes for the perfect ones to use, I finally got the croissants and raspberries out the other day and did something with them!

Originally I was going to make bread pudding with the croissants -- I had been looking for a Victorian recipe (that I never did find) that called for grating the bread before adding the custard -- and jam with the raspberries, but as I was mixing the custard for the pudding, with the jam simmering in a saucepan nearby, I got a brain flash: why not put some of the jam *in* the bread pudding, and have a sort-of-raspberry-cream bread pudding?  I checked the fridge: no cream, but I did have some half-and-half.  Maybe white chocolate chips instead?  Checked the pantry: no white chocolate.  So, it will just be raspberry, or maybe Raspberry Jam-and-Bread Pudding ...

Rose, White & Blue Parade -- another fun way to spend the 4th of July!

The tea guild and GBACG members before the parade.  Photo: Laura Jimenez.

The South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild and the Greater Bay Area Costumers' Guild got together again to dress up and walk in San Jose's only 4th of July parade, the Rose, White & Blue Parade that travels through the historic Rose Garden neighborhood.  As with last year's parade, there was a lot of standing around and waiting -- even though we arrived at the staging area only 30 minutes before the parade was supposed to start (instead of 1 1/2 hours early as they suggested!).  We did have the opportunity to chat with some of the other parade participants, and had several people come up to us and ask to take pictures of and with us.  We were also approached by campaign workers to ask if we would be photographed holding various politicians' campaign posters, which we politely declined to do ...

the tea guild at GBACG members in the parade.  Photo: Laura Jimenez.

The parade route was lengthened this year, from 1.5 miles to 1.7 miles, and I don't know if we really noticed the difference because, just like last year, we all had sore feet by the end of the parade anyway!  The parade audience was great, though, and it is always fun to chat with them as we walk and wave.  We kept getting asked "How are your feet doing in those heels?" and "One lump or two?" (I was carrying our tea guild's banner).  The streets are so small that people can call out to you and you can hear and call back.  I wish we could have taken advantage of the glasses of cold beverages that were (somewhat jokingly) offered to us along the parade route, though!  On the way to a friend's house in the neighborhood (where we were invited to stop for some ice water and air conditioning) we started talking about next year's parade and how we should plan costumes that call for flat shoes!  So far, we've settled on Victorian and Edwardian bathing costumes (with ballet flats tied on with ribbons) and 1920s/1930s poolside and beach play suits and coverups (with espadrilles and sandals).  We'll see what we end up wearing when next year's parade rolls around!  

July!

"What dreadful hot weather we have!

It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance."
- Jane Austen 

July has arrived, and brought unusually high temperatures with it!  Parts of the garden are doing well -- the pumpkins and zucchini are sprawling all over their space -- but the tomatoes in the clay pots keep wilting if I don't water them every day.  Only one of my heads of lettuce is doing well, but I've already cut from it twice and it looks like it's about to go to seed.  It looks good for the cherry tomatoes and the other tomatoes in the ground, though and it looks like I'll get a good amount of basil, too.  Hopefully this next week of really high temperatures won't kill everything!

The tea guild is getting ready to walk in the Rose, White & Blue Parade through downtown San Jose on the 4th, so that should be fun.  It's the third year we've walked in the parade and we're glad to have been invited back!  We had a lot of fun waving to the crowd and being in the parade.  Here is one of the photos from last year:          

The parade starts at 10 a.m. and runs through the Rose Garden neighborhood in San Jose, so come out and see it!  We can always use some fans in the audience ...

Clockwork Alchemy comes to San Jose this weekend!

Image: MorgueFile.com

Clockwork Alchemy, the Steampunk convention associated with FanimeCon, has returned to San Jose’s DoubleTree Hotel for the second year.  Featuring dance, art, crafts, writing, music, fashion and food within the Steampunk aesthetic, because the genre is tied to Victoriana, tea will always be available whenever convention attendees want a cuppa.  Not only will the DoubleTree Hotel’s restaurant offer its usual hot tea on the menu, but the convention is setting up its own tea room, called The Alchemist’s Tea Parlour, where guests can get not only a nice hot cup of tea and a biscuit, but even have their fortunes read in their tea leaves.  The Tea Parlour will be open from Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Riesling Room. 

Other occasions for tea include a writers’ gathering and reading, called “Tea and Trumpets”, on Friday from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Monterey room.  On Monday at 11 a.m., there will be an interesting class called “Stocking the Steampunk Pantry, Equipping a Steampunk Kitchen, & Setting a Steampunk Table” in the San Carlos Room.  The class will explore the relationship between the Industrial Revolution and agriculture in changing how people got the food they ate and what was available to various locations.  Class attendees will use this information to imagine the tools, gadgets, and ingredients appropriate to a Steampunk kitchen.   

Admission, or Membership, to Clockwork Alchemy costs $65 for the weekend (and includes free admission to FanimeCon, also in San Jose this weekend), but you can also buy a Membership for each day on its own.  Just go to the At-Con Registration line in the Bayshore room at the DoubleTree Hotel; Friday, the opening day, costs $35 to attend, Saturday and Sunday each cost $40, and Monday is $30 for a general admission Membership.  Children are welcome to attend with an adult, and have a discounted rate.

Steampunk costume is not required to attend, but if you've got a cool piece, why not wear it?  I think I can pull together something from my costume closet, although I will probably have to make a hat or headdress of some kind ... 

Copyright 2013, Elizabeth Urbach.

For more information:

Clockwork Alchemy 2013 webpage

“Bring a ‘steampunk’ tea to Santa Clara’s SteampunkExhibition”

"What you need to make a good pot of hot tea"

"Tea 101: How to brew a pot of hot tea using loosetea"

“Making the most of a cup of restaurant tea” 

“Crash course in Steampunk” 

“Make your tea the steampunk way” 

The St. Clair Aeronauts 

Steampunk Cookery blog

“Time Travel Kitchen: Worm Castles” 

Chrononaut Cookery (sans gluten) 

“Steampunk” Wikipedia article

Steampunk tea dueling YouTube video

Announcing _Tea Lands of China_ tonight on PBS

Victoria Boyert at Satori Tea Bar.
Photo: D3 Productions

The documentary Tea Lands of China follows Victoria Boyert, owner of San Jose's Satori Tea Bar, and Mark Rozell, a manager with Verve Coffee Roasters in Santa Cruz, on their journey to Hangzhou and Yunnan in China to learn about Longjing and Pu’erh teas.  Longjing, better known by its English name, Dragonwell, is a type of green tea, and pu’erh is an aged green tea that is pressed into discs and stored in caves to develop its characteristic earthy flavor and aroma.  Boyer and Rozell learned how to pick, process, and brew these teas, tasted food made with tea, and met the people who have cultivated and processed these teas for generations.

The one-hour long documentary will broadcast at 9 p.m. on Channel 200 in the South Bay, and PBS’s KRCB 22 in Sonoma County on Tuesday, May 7, and at 2 p.m. on KQED World on Saturday, May 11.  Keep your eyes on this blog for the results of a personal interview with Tori Boyert about her experiences!

Copyright 2013, Elizabeth Urbach

Like what you read?  Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea or Pinterest!

For more information:
“Tea Lands of China” documentary web page
“Tea Lands of China” on the KQED website
"Tea Lands of China" trailer on YouTube
“San Jose’s newest tea shop: Satori Tea Bar”

Mrs. Burnett's dress, part 2.

Harriet Burnett's dress,
ca. 1849
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I last posted!  I've been keeping busy, though, with historical things.  Researching Harriet Burnett's governor's ball dress (see photo at left) has been really interesting.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find any period description of the dress at the ball in any of the contemporary newspapers, because San Jose didn't have its own newspaper until 1851 and the ball was in 1849.  The nearest local papers were out of Monterey and San Francisco, and relied on the mail bringing news from San Jose in order to publish the Legislative happenings.  Unfortunately, the winter of 1849 was so rainy and stormy that the roads were unusably muddy and no news could get out of or into San Jose!  It took until the end of January 1850 for the rain to let up and the roads dry out enough that the mail could get through to Monterey and San Francisco, so by that time any excitement about the ball had died down, and the papers recorded the inauguration of Governor Burnett, and mentioned, almost as an aside, "there was a ball in San Jose." 

There was no further description or mention of the event itself, although an interview with someone who was there, done many years later, and published in 1941, has the woman recalling that the ball was "the" event for the Bay Area for years afterwards.  I think the only place where I could find a fuller description of the ball, would be in the letters or journal of someone (a woman) who was there, but I don't know of any journals or letters from 1849 in San Jose that have been published, or are available to the public!  I think I'm at a dead end in verifying the provenance of the dress, so I've just made a record for it in the museum database, saying that the dress "is said to have been worn" at the Inauguration Ball.  I'll have to leave it at that for now.  It's been really fun reading all those old newspapers, though.  I found a website, the California Digital Newspaper Collection, that has scanned the papers into digital form and made them readable (you can enlarge the printing from the teeny-tiny original size!). 

Yay! New history research project!

ca. 1840 silk dress in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.

O.k., I've been volunteering in the Collections Center at the history museum where I'm on staff (in a different department) off an on for the past few years (mostly during the summers), but steadily once a week for the past 6 months.  I'm assisting the Registrar in various tasks having to do with restoring, labeling, identifying, photographing, storing, and making records for various artifacts in the collection.  All very cool because I, as a part-time volunteer, get to work directly with the artifacts with very little supervision (the perks of working with a small museum that is underfunded and understaffed, and yet has a huge collection to maintain).  The Registrar knows of my interest in and experience with historic textiles and fashion history, so he's assigned me to work primarily with the textile items that need processing and care.  It's been really fun and interesting!

Back from a summer afternoon in the 1850s

Here is my picnic spot, with a view of the Fallon House.
Photo by Kim.

Well, the ca. 1850 sheer dress I've been working on is finally finished enough to be wearable, although there are some things I'm going to have to tweak ...  But such is life!  Our Greater Bay Area Costumers' Guild Victorian Picnic was a success, with perfect weather (August in San Jose can be scorching hot, but we had a cool breeze all afternoon), plenty of shade, and everyone in wonderful mid-Victorian summer day dress.

Mid-Victorian sheer muslin dress inspiration

ca. 1850 fashion plate.

So, I'm slowly but surely working on my sheer dress for the GBACG Mid-Victorian Summer Picnic at the Fallon House at the end of next month.  Originally, I wanted to make my dress more ca. 1848 because I like the simple lines of Gold Rush-era styling, and I like the fact that not as many people do 1840s and 1850s costume as 1860s.  Not that more people shouldn't make the earlier Victorian styles, but I like being a little "different" from the majority, and with the popularity of Civil War re-enacting in the area, 1860s styles are much more frequently made.

Another Titanic event to attend!

View of the Rose Garden from June 2004.

Although the majority of Titanic commemorative events happened last month, on or around the actual anniversary of the sinking, there are still a few here and there, providing more opportunities for wearing the costumes that everyone worked so diligently to complete.  The next one on the calendar for the San Jose area is the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild's Titanic Survivor's Reunion Picnic.  Here are the details:

Titanic Survivors’ Reunion Tea: Imagine yourself as someone who might have been a passenger on the Titanic, and survived the tragic sinking.  We'll get together for a picnic to celebrate our survival and remember those who were lost.  Gentlemen and older children welcome!
Date: Saturday, May 12, 2012.
Location: San Jose Municipal Rose Garden (near the Rosicrucian Museum)
Cost: $25 per person
Suggested Costume: day or dressy afternoon dress, 1900 through 1915, all classes.

"The Valley of Heart's Delight", a poem from 1931.

Orchard in bloom.  FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

The Valley of Heart's Delight
The Santa Clara Valley is
To those who hold it dear
A veritable paradise
Each season of the year.

One loves it best in April
When the fruit trees are in bloom
And a mass of snowy blossoms
Yields a subtle sweet perfume.
When orchard after orchard
Is spread before the eyes
When the whitest of white blossom
'Neath the bluest of blue skies.

No brush can paint the picture
No pen describe the sight
That one can find in April
In "The Valley of the Heart's Delight."
-- Clara Louise Lawrence, "The Valley of the Heart's Delight" (1931)

Fun events in San Jose this week.

Image: Lyric Theatre of San Jose.

Lyric Theatre's The Pirates of Penzance: Thursday, March 29 through Saturday, March 31 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 1 at 2 p.m. at the Montgomery Theatre, downtown San Jose.  The show opened on March 24, and tickets are going fast for the last 4 performances!  Tickets run around $30 for general admission, and $12 for youth.

Historic herb garden at History Park.
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

18th Annual Spring Garden Market: the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County are gearing up for their annual plant sale on March 31 at History San Jose’s History Park.  You can get organic herbs, heirloom tomato, pepper, and other vegetable seedlings, as well as potted orchids and garden art.  There will also be food trucks, demonstrations and gardening talks.  The event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., each plant costs $3 to $4 each, and the vendors only take cash and checks.

I'll be there; will you?


Copyright 2012, Elizabeth Urbach.

Like what you read?  Leave a comment below, click on “Subscribe” above, visit the San Jose Tea Examiner page on Facebook, read my tea articles on Examiner.com, or follow me on Twitter @SanJoseTea!

For more information:
18th Annual Spring Garden Market
Master Gardeners Spring Garden Market
Spring Garden Market herb varieties for 2012

Lyric Theatre of San Jose web page
Lyric Theatre's Pirates of Penzance page
Lyric Theatre Pirates of Penzance ticket page

The 4th Annual Cat Rescue Tea Fundraiser in San Jose!

AntiqueClipArt.com

Tickets are now on sale for the

13th St Cat Rescue
Fourth Annual Tea Fundraiser

Saturday and Sunday March 10th & 11th, 2012 2-4pm $30.00 includes a full afternoon Tea at a historic mansion & San Jose Landmark ~~ Spend an afternoon sipping Tea for a Cause!Please join us as we raise money for our very own 13th St Cat Rescue. Spend an afternoon sipping tea in a beautiful Victorian Mansion (new location for this year!) located in the Hensley Historic District of San Jose. ~~

Celebrate 100 years of California women's right to vote!

Chicago Woman's Suffrage parade marching
costume, 1916.  Library of Congress.

California was one of the early western states that paved the way for the national amendment, and California's woman's suffrage amendment was passed on October 10, 1911 after many years of work and education on the part of the state's suffrage supporters.  This wonderful centennial anniversary is being marked all over the state throughout 2011, and the celebrations are especially numerous this month, the anniversary month of the event.  The South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild will be celebrating in San Jose this coming weekend!  Gentlemen and well-behaved children welcome to attend. 

Date: Sat., October 8; noon march, tea at 1 p.m.
Location: march from the Knox-Goodrich Building @ 1st and S. Santa Clara St.; tea at Satori Tea Bar in San Pedro Square.
Cost: $7 per person (for a "Votes for Women" sash and to pay our re-enactor); pay for your own tea and refreshments.
Suggested Costume: day dress from the 1840s through 1911, "suffragettes."