Meeting Nathalie Dupree

From Chapel Hill and A Southern Season, I headed to Charleston for some Specialty Tea Institute Level Four classes.  While I was in Charleston, I had the pleasure of meeting one of my lifelong mentors-Nathalie Dupree.  I remember watching her on PBS for so many years.  She is just as delightful in person as she is on television. 

Nathalie Dupree in the tea fields near Charleston

She lives just down the street from where my hotel was for the conference in the historic district.  It was a lovely walk to her home with quaint shops and restaurants all along the way.  She was so gracious to meet with me and invite me into her home. 

We chatted about many things and she shared some tidbits of wisdom from her many years of being in the food world.  Her advice is invaluable to me as there are not many that have been in the culinary world and done as much as she has.  She has what she calls the "pork chop theory" about sharing.  I had just heard about her theory from another friend of both of ours ,Virginia Willis on her blog.  Not only do Nathalie and Virginia talk about the theory, they have put it into practice.  Virginia just shared the theory again at the Food Blog Forum I attended this past weekend.  For more on the pork chop theory see Virginia Willis's blog.


Along with sharing career tidbits, we talked about other things as well.  Nathalie Dupree is just about my mom's age. I had my mom on my mind since I had just been to see her in Raleigh earlier in the day.  It is always such a heartbreaking experience to visit her in the nursing home.  For those of you that don't know, my mom got earlier onset Alzheimer's Disease in her early 60's.  She has been struggling with the disease for over nine years now.  I had a long quiet ride by myself from Raleigh to Charleston thinking about her and missing her. Wisdom from people who have gone before me in life is a thing I really value.  I really valued my mom's wisdom and was one of the many reasons I dedicated my first book to her. 

Although I didn't know Nathalie personally at all other than some writing correspondence, we ended up talking about my mom.  We even shared some tears about her as I wondered why life is so different for people.  My mom can no longer speak or say my name.  Ms Dupree on the other hand, who is her age is vibrant, full of ideas, and in the midst of writing cookbooks.

For me, tea is much more than just a beverage.  It is also about taking time to spend with those you love.  I told Nathalie how much I valued the time my mom and I spent having tea and talking about life.  I am so grateful for those times now.  I had no idea that they would be cut short by her awful disease, but I was thankful I took the time when I did before it was too late!  I wrote a short article about our teas together that will be featured in the March/April issue of TeaTime Magazine as my birthday gift to her.  I am blessed to share the same birthday as my mom and really miss our birthday teas!

Before I had to leave, Ms. Dupree showed me her teacup collection which is amazing and had many stories behind them.  We also looked at her garden which was filled with herbs, fruit trees, and even a tea plant! I loved her whimsy of "planting" broken pottery in her garden.   I hated to leave, but it was time to for me to go setup for my conference and for Nathalie to get back to her Sunday!  I felt like I had known her much longer than just the hour and a half I had been there.

Are there those in your life that have practiced the "pork chop theory" and helped you along the way?  Would love to hear about it.  

Thank you Nathalie Dupree for such a lovely visit!

Happy Sipping and Visiting, Lisa

Tailgating and Tea

I recently returned from a trip which included giving a cooking class at A Southern Season. For those of you who live anywhere near Chapel Hill, SC, A Southern Season is a Must Visit Place. They not only have a wonderful selection of teas, but also a wonderful selection of specialty foods , kitchen tools, and culinary appliances. It is the Home Depot of the Food World!

While in Chapel Hill, I had the pleasure to stay with longtime friend Anna and her husband Mike. They treated me to a wonderful al fresco dinner on their deck the night before my class. I just thought I would feature Mike's (yes Mike's) handy work outside while Anna was busy fixing us a delicious dinner. The picture below doesn't show the lantern with a candle inside hanging from their beautiful eucalyptus tree that drapes their deck!  I wish I had a picture of the dinner that I was treated to.

The next morning it was off to A Southern Season for my Southern Tailgate Tea Party! Along with being a great culinary store, they also have a wonderful Viking cooking school.  I was invited to teach at CLASS (Culinary Lessons at A Southern Season) again in late August.  The theme was A Southern Tailgate Tea Party and Iced Tea.  The recipes came from Tea with a Twist and the history of iced tea in America came from The World in Your Teacup.   The United States has quite a bit of tea history beyond the Boston Tea Party.  Most people don't realize that the Boston Tea Party was not the first tea revolt.

Their venue has a really great setup with elevated seating and tables that have silverware setup. 

They also have a two big mirrors and cameras set up with 2 large screens on either side of the mirrors for closeups shots.

The staff is really great to work with as well.  They have prepped so much that it is easy to come in and demo and talk about your recipes and expertise. 

Here is the recipe for

Cheesey Cornbread Sausage Balls

-perfect for tailgating

1 lb package of breakfast sausage

1 1/2 cups self rising cornmeal mix

10 oz freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese, do not use pre-grated

4 oz jar pimentos drained and chopped

¼ cup chopped jalapenos in jar

Dash of hot sauce



Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all the ingredients together with hands in a large bowl until well blended. Use a 1 ½ inch scoop and form balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet with sides and bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly brown. Sausage balls may be frozen uncooked or cooked.

Thanks so much to Anna and Mike for hosting me and to the staff at A Southern Season especially Marilyn Markel and Caroline Cahan!

Happy Sipping & Tailgating, Lisa

Cooking with Tea - Le Cordon Bleu

photo courtesy of John O'Hagan/TeaTime

What a fun day at Le Cordon Bleu last week!  It was time for the "Cooking with Tea" contest that I had arranged with Chef Jae Gruber to help spread the word that tea is more than just a beverage.  This was not the first "Cooking with Tea" contest the culinary college has held.  The idea surfaced a few years ago with Susan McKeen, then editor of Tea Experience Digest.  Susan had asked me to be a judge for the contest she put together.  I not only had the privilege of being one of the judges the contests, but wrote the article featuring the winners of each category.

Le Cordon Bleu was still very interested in having the contest again, but we had two problems: 

• I was in the middle of writing two books in a year and didn't have time to put a contest together.
• Since Tea Experience Digest was no longer in production, there was a need to find another media sponsor.  

This is where TeaTime Magazine comes in. Once I finished with my two books, I had time to contact TeaTime to see if they might be interested in covering the story.  To the delight of Le Cordon Bleu and me, they enthusiastically said yes!  After Teas Etc graciously agreed to sponsor the tea needed for the event, things were ready to heat up. 

I chose 9 teas from Teas Etc wonderful line for the students to choose from.  I went to the school for a tasting of all the teas and did a small tutorial for them.  It was fun to watch their faces as they tasted all the different teas.  They could choose up to four different kinds to play with for their recipe.  They could also choose which category to enter: Appetizer, Entree, or Dessert.

photo courtesy of John O'Hagan/TeaTime

As a tea specialist, it is so exciting to spread the word on tea especially to culinary students.  There was so much excitement in the air as the students gathered in the kitchen for the contest.  They had one hour to prepare their dish.

photo courtesy of John O'Hagan/TeaTime

As the students began to prep their dishes, Lorna Reeves (editor of TeaTime Magazine) and I went around to talk to the students about their dishes and how they were incorporating tea into them.  The excitement for the contest was building. 

It was time to judge the students recipes.  On the judging panel was:  Lorna Reeves, editor of TeaTime Magazine, Chef Mekolites CEC, Chef Crump, Chef Gruber, Evening LCB Evening Deen, and Lisa Boalt Richardson, Author and Owner of Lisa Knows Tea. Each student brought out their dishes one at a time. They explained their dish, the type of  tea(s) they used, and their execution of tea in the recipe.

photo courtesy of John O'Hagan/TeaTime

Each one was very different and delicious, but in the end we could only have one winner from each category.  All the winners received a copy of both my books, Tea with a Twist and The World in Your Teacup generously donated by my publisher Harvest House Publishers. 

Do you want to know the winning recipes? Look for them in the January/February issue of TeaTime Magazine along with more details about the contest.  You won't want to miss it! 

Do you have a favorite recipe using tea as an ingredient?  I would love for you to share it!

Happy Sipping and Tasting, Lisa