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Elizabeth F. is back with her latest foodie adventure. You all got to know her a bit -- like her crush on Alex Trebek -- when she guest blogged about her fab weekend at Blackberry Farm. You'd never know by looking at her, but Elizabeth loves to eat. When she's not shopping online (Rue is a fave) or doing Pure Barre or running to burn calories, you can find her at home cooking up a storm. More on that…

BMH: Cooking or baking?

EF: Baking.

BMH: What was your biggest cooking or baking disaster?

EF: Last Christmas, I attempted to make this Caramel Nut Tart for the first time out of the Bouchon Bakery Cookbook. It is essentially a tart shell that you scatter with whole cashews, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios and then pour over this caramel sauce that will firm up as it cools. The photos looked AMAZING and I’ve made caramel a ton, so I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. I ended up taking the caramel too far and semi-burning it, but I didn’t have time or ingredients to redo it, being xmas and all. I brought it anyway to my brother’s house. It still looked great, but tasted horribly bitter. Merry Christmas, everyone.

BMH: What is one of your all-time favorite recipes?

EF: I bake a lot during the winter because it’s cold and I like to have treats around. I make the pumpkin cinnamon rolls from Smitten Kitchen far too often. I will say that I only use half of the sugar called for in the recipe and I use a bit of whole wheat flour. Practically kale-equivalent.

BMH: What is your favorite restaurant?

EF: Ahhh! Don’t make me to choose.

BMH: What was the best meal you’ve ever had?

EF: I don’t know about the BEST best, but when we were in SF in the fall, my husband and I went to Rich Table and it was SO SO GOOD. I had salmon with figs, which sounds gross, but I promise you it was amazing. And the oysters and pasta and they have this homemade fennel levain. Really, really, really delicious.

BMH: Last supper: what would you order?

EF: Watershed fried chicken night, no question. And the very good chocolate cake. And no sharing.

Here she is…

Hello there, bluemopheaders! My world travels have brought me all of 7.9 miles from my home to the St. Regis in Buckhead for a little high tea with a couple of college girlfriends, J and R. Tea is an annual holiday tradition of ours, but this is our first time getting together in January. December got ridiculous to manage and also you have to fight with the Christmas tea-with-kids crowd, which… no. As it turns out, an afternoon of fancy tea is the perfect respite from the glum weather and post-holiday doldrums!

J, R, and I arrived last Sunday afternoon for our reservation and ascended the grand staircase to the mezzanine, which has lots little tables and is flanked by two fireplaces. The whole setting overlooks the grand chandelier in the center of the hotel lobby. I’m sure there was some light instrumental music in the background. Our guy hooked us up with some premium seating right in front of a (gas log, but still) lit fireplace.

Once we got comfy, we were provided both a tea menu and a treats menu. The tea menu is arranged by varietal - black, green, herbal – and they provide little tasting notes about each selection within each category. I remain unconvinced that people are this particular about their tea. In any case, I chose a black tea that was called Mad Hatter’s something and had floral notes. I failed to take a picture of the menu or the tea. Sorry I have let you down.  

When it is ready, each person receives their own small pot of tea and then a parade of treats begins! We started with a little basket of two types of scones, hazelnut and candied orange zest, accompanied by lemon curd and Devonshire cream. The scones, especially the orange, were divine and we quickly polished off the basket.

Next up was a tiered tray of finger sandwiches, mini desserts and confections. In the interest of transparency, I will note here that I do not care for mayonnaise-based salads. I just. I can’t. I have had to falsely claim vegetarianism at SO MANY bridal and baby showers. R yells at me about missing out, when *really* she should be thanking me for the extra sandwiches coming her way. R and J agreed the miniature egg salad was the best one offered, so we will have to believe them on this.

Of the desserts, the standouts were a very nice chocolate cupcake that had a bit of heat to it that we all loved. And there was a caramel-centered cake pop that was also delicious.

If this is all tl;dr, here is a photo summary of our visit.

{The grand lobby entrance. Prettay}

{Look at our set up! Right by the fire, with a sophisticated tables cape.}

{The menu of treats. January’s theme was Downton Abbey, a show I have never seen. I feel I must put some of the blame on PBS for this. I can tell you that I would be 127% more likely to watch it if it preceded WWHL on Bravo.}

BMH: Hate to barge in here, but being the Downton fan that I am. Does anyone else think they added some "spice" to Lady Edith's cupcake due to her provocative new fashion style (Spoiler alert: soon to be maternity) and slutty behavior?

{Bottom tray: Get away from me. Top two trays: I love you.}

{I don’t know what this is. I only took the picture because it had the brand.}

Because we are shy, I promised that I would not include any pictures of me, J and R in this post. However, I will tell you that we looked adorable, chic, and not-at-all middle-aged.

Confidential to fellow celebrity-gossip enthusiasts: In case you are wondering. Despite the St. Regis’ gold list status, we failed to see any celebrities during our visit. Not a single Hunger Games actor; nary a Real Housewife. :(!

In conclusion, there are few better ways to while away a cold and blustery afternoon than by gossiping with your girlfriends and being served delicious treats in a cozy setting. Something to consider now that we are due for more six more weeks of winter! (obligatory groundhog day reference)

Bye for now.