I recently took a vacation with my family. We went to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee to spend the week.  My mom and dad met us there.  My mom and I love tearooms and attempt to locate a tearoom when we go on vacation together.  The Wild Plum Tea Room is named for the Wild Plum trees which surround the building, an old log home, which is hidden off the beaten path outside of Gatlinburg.  Mom and I parked the car and walked up to the back porch.  There was a guest book with instructions to sign your name, the number in your party, and to take a seat.  We sat down and enjoyed the coolness of the shade and the quiet dulcimer music that was playing over the speakers.  A hostess came out and looked at the guest book as several parties had arrived during the few minutes we were waiting. She escorted us into the screened in porch dining room which was next to a small creek. Our table was a small, lace covered table in the corner of the porch with cane seats.  Our waitress came immediately and we ordered the House drink which was Wild Plum Tea (the tea does not have Plums in it) .  She brought us our drinks and about 6 small Wild Plum Muffins with Wild Plum jelly to enjoy while we perused our menu.  My mom and I decided to order the Wild Plum Medley which consisted of a serving of Chicken Salad, the soup of the day, and a wild green salad with home made dressing.

Mom and I enjoyed the atmosphere while we were waiting for our food. The screen porch had a plexi glass wall which was not immediately noticeable. This allowed the back porch dining room to be utilized  even during extremely hot or cool weather.  The over head fans kept the room cool and comfortable.  We happened to strike up a conversation with some folks who were sitting next to us.  Two couples from Middletown, what a small world !!

Our plates arrived and the presentation was beautiful.  Antique china plates held a generous scoop of chicken salad which had big chunks of chicken, mayonnaise, celery and diced Gala apples. The wild green salad was fresh and the home made dressing, resembling a Catalina, was delicious.  The soup, which was Tomato Basil, was fresh and served in a vintage sherbert glass which placed it higher above the rest of the food. My mom and I collect vintage glass and had never thought to use it in this manner.  After we enjoyed our lunch we decided to split a dessert sampler plate so we could taste three of the desserts, all home made.  The first was a flourless Belgium chocolate torte with Raspberry sauce, the next was an Amaretto Bread Pudding with Amaretto sauce and sliced almonds on top, and the third which was called the Brownie Delight.  This consisted of a gooey brownie followed by a layer  of home made chocolate sauce, some ice cream, more chocolate sauce, home made whipped cream and walnuts on top.  Everything was remarkable.

Our bill was $60.00 which included lunch, drinks, dessert, tip and a copy of the Wild Plum cookbook which was chock full of delicious recipes (52 Soup recipes !!)  This month I decided to share the Wild Plum Tea and muffins with you.  I hope you enjoy and I would highly recommend a visit to the Wild Plum Tearoom if you find yourself in the Gatlinburg vicinity.

See you next month, Meet me in the kitchen,

Lisa

Wild Plum Tea

• 4 Family Size Tea Bags
• 2  cups of sugar
• 2 cups of prepared citrus beverage (Five Alive is what the tea room used)
• ½ cup of lemon juice

In a 1 gallon pitcher steep the teabags in 1 quart of boiling water for 10 minutes. In a small saucepan combine the sugar with 2 cups of water and boil until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove the teabags from the pitcher and add the sugar water, citrus beverage and lemon juice. Fill the pitcher with cold water to make 1 gallon of tea. Serve hot or cold. If served hot pour over cinnamon sticks.

Wild Plum Muffins

• 2 cups of self rising flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 t. allspice
• 1 cup of chopped walnuts
• 1 cup of drained pitted plums puree’d and 2-3 T of applesauce  (OR 2 small jars of Plum Baby food)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cups of vegetable oil

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Combine dry ingredients in a medium size bowl. Then add plums and applesauce. If plum baby food is used omit the plums and applesauce.  Add eggs and oil.  Stir by hand until all ingredients are mixed well.  Grease well miniature muffin tin and fill half way with the muffin batter. Bake 12-15 minutes or until the edges of the muffins pull away from the tin.  This recipe produces 10 dozen miniature muffins.