Last Saturday’s Bra La Mode event brought together the silky, the sweet, and the stirred: lingerie, sugar and tea.

The event, at Bra Smyth, was as fun as it was elegant. Margaret Shrum has put lingerie on a constellation of celebrities, including Mariah Carey, Bette Midler, Kate Moss and Betsey Johnson. Think that shows a versatile knowledge? She’s guided men through buying silky gifts. That lineup starts with Bono, John Malcovich, Johnny Depp, Daniel Day Lewis and Tim Burton.

Maria knows her way around a curve, which made Bra Smyth less intimidating and more fabulous. We love the new spring colors. They’re as lovely as an English garden.

Chambre de Sucre’s sugars were prettily paired with tea and scones – and how could we forget the champagne? (We didn’t, fortunately. Thanks to skilled measuring, those were the only cups to run over.)

Put a garden in your glass. Take a gentler path through the usual champagne cocktail.

Here’s how we do it.

Set two champagne flutes and a small dish on a simple tray. Stem a strawberry and cut it in half. Split it from the bottom, two-thirds of the way up, and set it on the glasslike a small, sweet heart.

In the bottom of each glass, drop a few shakes of lavender bitters. (We like Scrappy’s.)

For champagne elegance on a tight 2012 budget, open a cool bottle of Bisol prosecco.

Arrange our Sucre Rond or Sucre Carré on the dish. Let the hand-crafted yellow, purple, and pink flowers bring a day-lit garden to the tray.

When you’re ready,drop a sweet flower or two into each glass, top it with prosecco or champagne,and toast what’s in your heart.

As to lingerie, we leave that up to you.

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Films and TV shows aren’t the only ones with teasers. What’s coming up at Chambe de Sucre?

We see tea leaves in your future.

Mother’s Day was sweet and frothy. Wait till you see our plans for Father’s Day.

We’ll be stepping into Chambre de Sucre’s heritage, showing our respect and love for Japan.

Do join us. Life, like sugar, champagne, and lingerie, is better shared.

Mark your Calendars! A very special IntimateAffair ~ "A Celebration of Women" in honour of Mother's Day! Sat, May 12th at Bra Smyth on Broadway. Sponsored by Simone Perele in collaboration with The Lingerie Journal. Featuring The Lingerie Goddess Margaret Shrum and An Afternoon Tea Party by Chambre de Sucre Artisanal Sugars and Tea.

April 17. (Cue the screeching violins)

Now if that doesn’t ring a bell, you’ve either got no taxes to pay or you’ve got less than ten days to mail your taxes to the IRS. Mailing your federal income tax can be incredibly stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Brew up a cup of your favorite tea, drop a sugar cube or two, and take a deep breath. Those taxes will get done! And once you’ve sealed the envelope and dropped it into your mailbox, never to be seen ever, ever again (well…until next year), simmer down with a refreshing glass of iced tea.

Speaking of tea and taxes, this brings to mind a famous (or notorious) historical American event…the Boston Tea Party. To refresh your memory (I mean, it’s been so long since you’ve picked up a history textbook, right?), the Boston Tea Party was a direct protest against the British government and the East India Company. On the night of December 16, 1773, after Boston officials refused to return the taxed tea to Britain, a group of 30 to 130 men, disguised as Mohawk Indians, destroyed three shiploads of tea by throwing the tea into the harbor. This sensational event was an act of resistance against the 1773 Tea Act and added to increasing tensions between the American colonists and the British government, eventually escalating to the 1775 “shot heard ‘round the world”—the start of the American Revolution.

If we were in the shoes of the American colonists at the time, we’d be a little perturbed, too! Desperate times must’ve called for desperate measures because who in their right mind would dump that much tea?! (Sorry, we just really love tea…).

All in all, get through those tax forms, revolt, or just keep calm and carry on with a delicious cup of tea.

It’s almost here! Yes, one of our favorite holidays is only days away…and you guessed it; it’s Easter! In addition to its importance as the end of Lent and celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, Easter also belongs to one of the holiday’s most iconic figures: the Easter Bunny.

You might be wondering… where did this idea of the bunny come from? We’re not entirely sure, but just like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, according to legend, leaves baskets of toys, candy, and colored eggs for children during the eve of the holiday. The bunny may have been used in folklore because bunnies are symbols of fertility, as are eggs. In line with the hope of fertility during the springtime, the Easter Bunny is the perfect figure for the holiday. Hence, the phrase: “breeding like bunnies.”

We love, love, love Easter and spring mostly because the weather is ideal for an outdoor tea party; not to mention the blooming flowers are exactly what a great tea party needs! We’ve got a sweet fertility symbol of our own: the Mini Flower sugars. I mean, don’t you know that flowers are really just the reproductive structures of plants? Forgive me for making a literal connection, rather than a symbolic one. But seriously, our Mini Flowers are a wonderful detail to an afternoon Easter tea!

Anyway, Happy Easter, everyone! And stay tuned for the next blog post, where we’ll be giving a recap of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Conference on April 1^st (we’re not foolin’ ya, promise)! If you’re attending the event, remember to stop by our table. We’ll be serving refreshments and offering our sugars at a special discounted price.

This week is going to be very exciting for us and we’ve got some big announcements!

For starters, if you haven’t heard already, Monday, March 26th has been dubbed Sugar Day by yours truly (since it’s, you know, Make Up Your Own Holiday Day). In honor of Sugar Day, Chambre de Sucre is offering a 15% off discount on your total purchase from midnight to midnight on our special day. Don’t miss out and fill your virtual shopping bag with all the sugars you’ve been itching to try!

Chambre de Sucre will also be participating in the 2012 International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Conference on Sunday, April 1st. In other words, we’ll be showcasing our sugars at a big foodie event. It’s going to be a lot of fun and full of delicious noms. We’ll have plenty of pictures after the event, so no worries.

 

Speaking of foodie events of enormous grandeur, our sugars can really add the cherry on top (a classy cherry!) to any event or experience involving food. In terms of food service and catered events, imagine the thoughts running through guests’ minds when they notice a detail as minute as the sugar that gets dropped into their cup of coffee or tea is beautifully shaped. It’s the little things in life, right? Our sugars are not only good for any event but can be specific to a themed event like our Mini Heart Sugars for Wedding Receptions or our Star shaped sugars for an evening gala. Our sugars are even cute and small enough to include in party favors. Not to mention, they’re useful. We like to raise our sugars to be pretty and practical! If you’d like to include our products in party favors at your next event, keep up with our blog for some party favor ideas.

Au revoir for now!

If Chambre de Sucre ever had a soul mate, it’d be Easter. This holiday, associated with soft pastels and delicate eggs, is adorable and elegant—just like our sugars! The moveable feast, which falls on April 8^ththis year, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and also marks the end of Lent. If you gave up sweets for forty long days, ease back in with one or two sugars in your afternoon tea or jump back in with a box of bunny shaped chocolates. Either way, satisfy that sweet tooth.

Easter celebrations can range from a simple meal to an Easter Extravaganza. For those who like to keep it conservative, just be sure to serve your favorite type of tea. The spring season and a hot pot of white or even blended tea go hand in hand. Blended teas, especially those that consist of dried fruit bits, will bring a splash of color to your table and an alluring aroma to the air. We recommend a tisane consisting of a hibiscus and rose hip base. It brews a beautiful rosy cup and it's non-caffeinated for the children.

For those who like to go all out, remember to include an elaborate Egg Hunt. Make it kid friendly by enclosing marshmallow chicks, chocolate, or tiny toys in plastic eggs. This adds an element of surprise to the day’s festivities. There’s also no harm in turning an egg hunt into a little competition—offer a big prize to the child who has the most eggs in his or her basket by the end of the day. Just because Egg Hunters are usually twelve and under doesn’t mean that adults can’t join in on the fun! Bring out the watercolors and paint a masterpiece on a drained, hollow egg shell if you’re feeling creative.

A common misconception is that Easter is only one day—it’s actually an entire season! For 50 days, you’ll have reason to chew on some sugar coated Peeps. Don’t be afraid to get your fingers a little sticky. And don’t be afraid to be a little adventurous in your tea tasting.

Happy Hopping!