Karen Kistler
karen.kistler@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — A cup of tea along with food, fellowship, music and some history was shared during an afternoon tea at Southeast Mercantile Cooperative.
This event, hosted by the local business, offered guests the opportunity to enjoy teas available at the store, along with foods made and served by the seven partners in the cooperative.
The Southeast Mercantile Cooperative, 323 N. Lee St., Salisbury, began after Janet Pyatt converted her store, The Backcountry Peddler, into a cooperative.
She said that she originally opened her store in 2018 on Main Street and in 2021 moved to the current location, officially becoming the cooperative in 2024.
Pyatt said there are six, in addition to herself, that are partners in the business, including Nancy Gaines, Colleen Pappas, Danielle Cosgrove, Carol Salloum, Connie Christman and Kimberlie Martin.
This event, which was the first of its kind, came about because of their enjoyment of having special events and doing workshops. Pyatt said they offer all kinds of workshops, evening ones and those on Saturday and the group decided they wanted to provide “an event that featured some of the Backcountry Peddler’s herbal products, historical foods and cookbooks that we sell, historical cookbooks or based on historical foodways.”
Gaines said the idea for the tea began as a simple plan to highlight the tea blends that Pyatt sells and then they decided to add cookies and a talk about the teas, “and then it just kept growing and growing,” she said with a grin.
In addition to the tea, they held a hat workshop, led by Tiffany Rice, and some of those attending the tea came wearing their fancy hats that they made during the morning workshop.
All being crafters, they work together on the many different events that they offer, each lending their own special touch to it. Gaines said they do tend to have certain specialities among them being she doing accessories such as hats and jewelry, and Salloum and Pyatt are seamstresses, Christman is a potter and basketwaver and Cosgrove spins yarn and made the jams for the day’s event.
“Everybody has an area that they can contribute, and it compliments what everybody else is doing,” said Gaines.
But what they do is all historically oriented and that they call themselves a timeline shop, Pyatt said, noting that “living history folks often refer to an event that covers more than one historical period as a timeline, so we call ourselves a timeline shop.”
Fourteen paid guests attended the Aug. 9 afternoon tea, which began at 2:30 p.m. and featured four different tea being served along with different historically oriented finger food.
Those serving the food were all dressed in different era costumes as they were trying to cover several centuries, and, said Pappas, who was garbed in a Regency- or Jane Austen-era dress.
Others included Renaissance, worn by Salloum and Christman in her Colonial outfit. Cosgrove was dressed in 1840s Victorian-era style, Pyatt worked 1920s and Gaines had on the 1940s style.
Pyatt began each of the four courses with some history of the tea and food they were serving, which included a sweet and savory option.
Pappas said it was Pyatt who sells the teas and knows the best and therefore was the one who “curated which tea went with which course.”
The four courses included first a Chinese Black Tea with Backcountry Bread made with honey, Pyatt’s own recipe, served with herb butter, Shrewsbury Cakes and “Good Breeding” Lemon Squares.
Pyatt explained that this tea was a very common one in England and the English colonies.
She shared several facts about tea, as she said, “we always think of the English as being such tea drinkers, but they began drinking tea in the 1600s, not before.” She then explained the why as she said it was at that time the Dutch began trading with China and that the Chinese tea that made its way into Holland also came into Europe, including England.
Pyatt then asked the group what did the English drink before they had tea telling that John Wesley suggested they go back to “good old English herbs.”
And in their second course, they had an herbal tea, in particular, catnip herbal tea.
Pyatt shared some history of the herbal tea, as she said, those in the colonies that were protesting the tea tax and boycotting tea, made teas out of herbs that grew around them, some of which could have been Bee Balm, dandelion or catnip.
Along with this tea the guests were served Cornmeal Scones. Pyatt said the cornmeal was often associated with the Native Americans and therefore in some cookbooks it’s called Indian Bread. They also had apple butter and several jams to go with it and Jumbles or a type of cinnamon cookie.
The third course included a spicy mint tea with deviled egg and tarragon sandwiches, Backcountry Bread made this time with molasses, herbed cream cheese and angel curl coconut cake.
The final course consisted of a spiced tea, mini tomato quiche, asparagus mayonnaise, Mrigues and herbed roll cookies.
The recipes for much of the food are in recipe books that are sold in the shop, Pyatt pointed out to the crowd.
In addition to the food, special music was performed during the afternoon from several groups.
Performing first was the Webster family from Carolina Folksworks and includes Carrie Webster, who teaches fiddle at the school, along with Gabe on guitar and Addie on banjo.
Also performing several selections were Jennifer Costa on piano along with her daughters Emily on cello and Sophia on violin.
A drawing of one of their gift baskets was also held during the afternoon.
Lots of conversation and laughter could be heard throughout the afternoon as the guests visited.
Friends Lisa Visek of King and Emily Burgess of Danbury were there to celebrate Burgess’ birthday as it was a present from her friend.
“It was wonderful. We had an amazing time,” said Visek, adding that they also participated in the hat workshop, providing them a chance to learn some history of millinery and to make several hats.
“This place is just amazing,” said Visek, and “every corner is just full of history and fun.”
Joining them at their table were sisters Jean Martin and Janice Johnson of Salisbury.
Martin said she loved the event and that every time they have come, they have met kindred spirits and “someone who is super nice and friendly.”
In speaking of the business, Johnson said that “everything that they have done has been wonderful” and those at the shop are very knowledgeable.
