Requesting Help Planning a tea party: Pairing Food and Tea

I would try and search around the internet for menus of tea houses that give little people teas. It will give you a professional opinion!

What comes to mind for me is butter cookies cut from cookie cutters in shapes your daughter and her friends might like. I’m not sure how interactive you want to get with the party, but you could have them decorate the cookies as part of the party activities.

I know kids like pizza, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and chicken fingers. Getting them into the menu somehow might be popular with the less adventuresome eaters. PBJ tea sandwiches? Little bite sized pizzas butlered around the table by you? :)

Kids also seem to like foods that look like things as ants on a log:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ants_on_a_log

Making some herbal tea that you add seltzer too might be good too. There are some fantastically colored herbals out there kids may like! (anything with hibiscus will turn bright pinky red!) Also a “milk tea” would be good for kids, as such:

http://oldfashionedliving.com/whimsy.html

(scroll down for vanilla milk tea) (and I like the rest of the ideas in this article too! like the readings and singing!)

Good luck with your party! How fun!!!!

One suggestion for making strong teas more palatable is to get some honey sticks. The kids can have fun squeezing and stirring the honey into their cups. Dessert teas (chocolate, vanilla, caramel, etc.) would also be a fun way to go.

What about Sprudelwasser (sparkling water)? Like JacquelineM suggested, adding that to a tea could certainly make it funner for the kids!
My daughter (3) likes pretty much any tea I give to her, as long as it is in a cute little teacup that is her size. :-) (Yes, she likes Japanese greens!)

Totally not related but I must say I like your last name- mine is Schneider:)

JacquelineM, Alaina, and Shinobicha, thanks for your suggestions!

Falafel? For five-year-olds? I don’t know what inspired that…(Well, the truth may be that I’ve been eying a bottle of tahini and the birthday party seemed like an excellent opportunity to sneak it into the house.) However, cooler heads have prevailed:

Here’s what I’m thinking:

Sandwiches (Darjeeling with the option of pink lemonade)
Mac & Cheese Sandwich
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Cucumber Sandwiches

Cookies (Raspberry Zinger (w/cran-rasp juice added to remove some of the zing) with the option of Purple Sunset (mint tea with grape and apple juice)
Shortbread
Zebra Cookies (sometimes called half-and-half: chocolate is mixed into half of the dough)
Lemon Squares

Cake (Earl Gray with the option of hot coco & mini marshmallows)
Chocolate Birthday Cake

I went looking for honey sticks at my local supermarket and could not find them. A whole wall of honey…yes…but all of it bottled or combs in tubs. Are these a specialty shop item, or do they go by another name?

I like the idea of desert teas, but our kids know no better and unwittingly drink regular teas. I do like the seltzer idea.

Cofftea, thanks for the compliment!

I’ll report next week with the results of the party!

Hans

Hello, I wanted to report in on the tea party you each helped plan.

We ended up with a course of sandwiches, one of cookies and lastly, birthday cake.

Well, I was a little discouraged with the attendance, we had invited six families and three were unable to attend. The sandwiches were OK but the cookies were really flat. I’m no stranger to the kitchen and I was very much displeased with the results of my efforts. Of course, the house was not as clean as we would have liked (not that anyone else would notice.)

The upshot: My wife handled the cake which turned out very well. She also found some old straw hats at the thrift store (think skimmer and rush, not so much the beachcomber-type) and with a hot glue gun, ribbons, and gemstone butterflies the kids enjoyed decorating and wearing their hats.

At the end of the day, my daughter couldn’t have been more delighted.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Hans

PS: At least the tea was good.

The hat idea was fantastic! Good job, mom and dad! Your daughter was delighted – that’s the important part :) Thanks for letting us know how it went!