Tea Party Tea / Recipe Suggestions

I really love short bread cookies. I’ve heard they are easy to make but have yet to try making them. They seem pretty neutral in flavor to me so that may work for testing new teas out. Scones! Just because I love those too and are supposed to be easy to make. Again I haven’t ever tried to. And scones just sounds cool. “yeah I’m sipping on tea and eating scones.”

Bon Appetit’s May issue had a tea party section, actually meant for Mother’s Day, but it seemed pretty useful overall to me in the recipe department: http://www.bonappetit.com/ideas/mothers-day-tea-recipes/search

I’ve been actually thinking about making these for going along with some tea:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/04/petite-vanilla-bean-scones/

One of the best treats I had at a teahouse was an open-faced toasted sandwich with Asian pear, honey, goat cheese (or maybe it was blue cheese) and sage. Anything with brie is good too, and there is always the classic cucumber tea sandwich. Savory crackers or scones are good if you can find a good recipe.

And lemon bars are one of my favorite desserts. So many options!

I always do Paris at my tea parties. It goes over well, even with people who say they don’t care for tea.

Here is my list of tea recipes. http://www.nicolesrecipes.com/ Click the Tea Parties link.

The ones with symbols in front are ones I have tried and liked enough to make several times. :)

Pinwheels (cream cheese, spinach leaves, cheese, nuts, olives, thin sliced meats, etc.) are always festive looking and easy. The only thing is that you can’t make them much more than 2 hours ahead or the tortillas get soggy. Mini quiches are always a hit and you can buy them frozen and just heat them if you don’t want to make everything on your menu. Homemade Lemon Curd is super easy and tons better than store bought. And my favorite scone recipe from my site linked above is the Classic Cream Scone. Easily adaptable for most any fresh fruit. :)

I recently saw a recipe for cucumber sandwiches that had fresh thin sliced strawberries added as well. That interests me more than the standard cucumber. You can also add Italian salad dressing mix to the cream cheese for those or serve them on pita bread to change it up some.

I love tea parties!!!! Have a great time at yours! :)

Update: 2 o’clock tea! We’re serving Earl Grey, Darjeeling (Tindharia estate), Gunpowder and an unflavored Rooibos!

And we’re making vanilla scones, crumpets with clotted cream, cucumber sandwiches, a fresh-fruit tart, dill and goat cheese spread! Anything else you think would compliment?

Let us know how it went. I am personally keen to know how Tindharia fared with the guests.
Have fun!

Any sort of good cheese – easy peasy and cheese makes tea taste sweeter even when the tea is taken plain. Love me some cheese and tea! Strawberries and Jason’s Deli dip – just sour cream with a bit of brown sugar and a touch of orange juice concentrate to give it a little tangy taste. Fresh breads with jams and flavored butter!