The Stillroom

I am telling you that Harney & Sons Pineapple Green Tea is so great iced.  Even if you don’t come and check it out at the shop, find a way to get this really excellent tea!  I am figuring you can order direct from H & S (but you will pay shipping) or check Margaret’s Fine Imports in Squirrel Hill.  If you love pineapple, you will soon become addicted to this tea.

I add five bags to about two quarts of almost boiling water.  Steep it for a little while,  pull the bags out (don’t squeeze them)  and when it’s lukewarm, I add it to my favorite vintage pitcher and top it off with cold water.  I don’t sweeten it because everyone likes it their way.  Green tea has a bit of caffeine but not as much as black tea so it’s a little more forgiving if you have it later in the day.  Naturally, you might prefer your brew weaker or stronger so my personal recipe may or may not be your cup of tea.

Da da da da, Here comes the bride. All dressed in white. Sweetly serene in the soft glowing light. Lovely to see. Marching to thee. Sweet love united for eternity.  Those are the words to the traditional song, Here Comes The Bride.  I never knew that. Yes, this is yet another shameless plug for the Harney & Sons Wedding Tea.  This makes such a nice little extra something for a bridal shower or for a rehearsal dinner nightcap.  Our Harney & Sons Wedding tea is a gentle Mutan White tea with silvery green tips laced with pink rose petals, all tucked into a delicate silk sachet.  The liquor (shade of brew) is a darkish yellow- green and the aroma is a marriage of sweet vanilla and a touch of citrus from lemons.  This is really a thoughtful gift that will be well received and certainly not duplicated!

Let’s talk vanilla beans!   You don’t have to travel to The Strip to pay double the cost of what The Stillroom offers for vanilla beans.  We buy our beans in bulk, package them with a pretty ribbon and an instruction card.  This will make a cute gift to tuck into a shower gift if you are doing up a kitchen basket.

Hey, The Stillroom finally hit the front page of the Willow Tree.  I knew if I stayed in business long enough, I’d make it! lol  My second fifteen seconds of fame.  I actually had a nice article written up about the shop in Pittsburgh Magazine a few years back.  My first brush with  fame.

I will be in the shop this coming Friday so if you want to come in and talk tea look me up!  If you have not been in Diamond Antiques at 311 East Sixth Avenue in Tarentum, you are missing a lovely way to spend a relaxing time just browsing everything in the store.   The shop, which is two floors is staffed by two different people every day for a month so if you want to chat about antiques or are having a tough time finding what you are looking for, we do our very best to help you find it.  Keep in mind though that there are hundreds, and hundreds and hundreds of antiques, collectibles, tchotches, locally made soaps and lotions and of course, a cool little tea shop that is in the front window.  Come and take a peek!

What to do in Tarentum, you ask?  Well, you can dine at Gatto’s Cycle Diner, or catch an old school meal at Massart’s Diner that has been here since dirt and of course the lovely Tarentum Station.  You can sit in Tarenutm park or walk through it and enjoy our beautiful Allegheny River as it flows peacefully into the city.  If you want more shopping, ask one of us and we will be happy to tell you where to go.  Literally, we offer a great shopping guide for antiques in the A-K Valley and beyond.  Oh, yeah, and Diamond Antiques was voted number one antique store around.  That’s pretty darn nice!  The vendors in our co op work really hard to bring you the best in fun and unique things for your home or office.

Come in, get some tea and get chill on these hot summer days that we wait for all winter.   Hope to see you soon!