Tea, Me and........

.........my mother, Ann DeVane LeFevre. My mother is the reason I drink tea. My mother is the reason I enjoy entertaining. My mother is the reason I am the person I am today.

We just celebrated the 70th Anniversary of her arrival on this
earth. We should all hope to look this good when we reach that milestone. Why is my mother the reason I drink tea? Simply because she didn't drink coffee.

The story goes that at one point in her life she did drink coffee but an acute bout of morning sickness while expecting me turned her palate away from coffee. I say palate because to this day she loves the smell of coffee, offers coffee to guests but she just can't bring herself to drink it.

Growing up, playing "tea party," was a constant for me. For my mother, tea parties were a reality. As the wife of an Air Force officer, she was always hosting a coffee, tea or luncheon for the other officer's wives. It was during the preparation for these events when I learned the true meaning of Southern Hospitality. Silver gleamed, the dining room table was set with cut glass serving pieces, and the china was magnificent against the backdrop of the crisp white damask table cloth. Then there was the food. Oh, my, the food - cheese straws, the staple of every southern lady's repertoire, piled high on a napkin-lined plate along with finger sandwiches and dessert. My favorite was the little cut glass bowl filled with mixed nuts and the little scalloped spoon placed beside it for serving. Of course, I was at school while these festivities took place, but oh what wonderful after-school snacks my sister and I enjoyed on those days!

My mother is the reason I love to entertain. She led by example and I loved watching her prepare for a party. She knew the secret to pulling off a successful event was to have as much prepared in advance as was possible. Spreads for sandwiches were made ahead of time and the cheese straws are easily made ahead. Mother's eye was always focused on details. The simple pimiento cheese sandwich in my lunch box became a delicate delight when she cut the crusts off, trimmed the sandwiches into 4 triangles and arranged on a cut-glass platter. I also learned that for every salty item you needed to have a sweet to balance the flavors. Color was also important. My mother knew very early on that we eat with our eyes as well as our mouths.

All of this background led me to open my own tea room. The mission statement for the Purple Iris Tea Shoppe was "traditional English tea with a Southern accent." I wanted to share with others the gift of hospitality I learned from my mother. When someone would ask me how I made a certain dish look so appealing or how did I get everything done with a limited amount of help I would always smile and say "my mother taught me."

One of the proudest moments of owning the Purple Iris was our first Mother's Day. Our tradition was to describe the items on the tea tray for guests. This month was special because all the items on the tea tray were significant. My daughter calls her grandmother Mimi so this was "Mimi's Low-Country Tea." Every item was special in some way and reflected my mother's example of what it meant to be a gracious host. All month I rattled off the spiel we came up with for the tea tray and did very nicely until the day I served that tea tray to my mother and our family. The emotion of the moment was overwhelming and my assistant finished up the description. I realized that if it hadn't been for my mother I wouldn't have been standing in my own tea shoppe, much less serving tea to the woman I admire more than anyone.


I am the woman I am because of my mother. I can only hope to be half the woman she is when I reach that 70th milestone. I love you, Mommy.