Victorian Tea a special outing at Regina’s Government House
White cups and saucers with sparkling gold trim sit ready on tables in the ballroom of Regina’s Government House, while downstairs in the kitchen, tarts are being made from scratch. The Victorian Tea is about to begin. “The feature dessert this week is apple crisp and it was (made with) apples that one of our volunteers went and picked from a neighbour’s tree,” Leona Howe, the volunteer kitchen coordinator who is in charge of the menu and overseeing food preparation, said in a recent visit.
“The only thing we buy here is the bread and the lemons to make the lemon butter. Basically, everything else is made in house. That’s very important to us.”
There are scones with preserves and Devonshire cream.
Lemon tarts and carrot cake are also served at every tea, but the feature dessert is always different. For example, in the summer, rhubarb from the gardens at Government House are used to make desserts, explained Howe. October will feature a pumpkin dessert and there will be Christmas pudding in December.
There are also egg salad and ham salad sandwiches with homemade mustard.
Sheila Carson, who has been a volunteer since the tea started in 1991, said the Government House Historical Society did a Christmas market one year and sold jars of homemade mustard.
It sold well, but there were some jars left, she said, so they used it on sandwiches at the next tea “and it made such a difference.”
“People commented ‘You’ve done something different with the ham sandwiches and the egg salad’ and we said well, no we haven’t. Then we thought, ‘Oh but we changed the mustard,’” said Carson. “And so from there on we just make our own mustard because people like it better.”
The tea was first held by the Government House Historical Society to celebrate the centennial of the official residence of the lieutenant-governor. It was intended to be a oneyear project, but was so popular that the decision was made to continue it, said Carson.
Margaret David’s family has been going to tea for about 20 years.
David said her daughter and granddaughter went first, and then invited David and her husband to join them. The gathering grew to include friends too.
“We just kept coming,” David said before the September tea.
“Everybody’s so friendly and the tea’s a really nice meal. Who makes you cucumber sandwiches anymore? Not that some people like them, mind you, but I do, we do,” she laughed.
David said her mother was English, so she learned to drink tea as a child and this one is “good, really good.”
The tea brew is special — it’s a black loose leaf shipped in from Nova Scotia. “People just rave about it,” said Carson. Carson said she thinks the tea appeals to people for many reasons. The food is reliably good, she said. Some people go to the tea for special occasions, such as wedding showers or birthday parties. There are even special children’s meals served next to tiny tea cups.
“And I think for some people, it’s the only opportunity you’ll ever get to have something in the ballroom at Government House,” said Carson.
In fact, the ballroom cannot be booked for private functions. The tea is the only chance for someone to eat in the ballroom unless they’re invited to an event by the premier or the lieutenant-governor.
The Victorian teas are held one weekend a month from March to November.
There are two sittings on each Saturday and Sunday of that weekend.
Each sitting can host 72 people “and we’re pretty much well booked,” said Carson.
“It’s just a nice outing,” she said. IF YOU GO:
Government House is located at 4607 Dewdney Ave. in Regina.
Reservations are required for the tea and may be made by calling 639-571-7123. During the months of July and August, 10 seats are kept available to accommodate visitors to Government House who would not be aware of the reservation requirement.
A child meal is $7. An adult meal is $12. However, guests may also order just a scone and tea or dessert and tea, or extra sandwiches with their meal.