My sister in law is having a baby, so we gave her a tea party to welcome Emily, the first baby girl in a family full of boys.
Invites
My good friend Irene from I-design studio designed these beautiful invitations for the party. I believe that an invitation should match the occasion in style and theme, this design was perfect for our party.
Decoration
We decided to go with different shades of pink with a touch of green and white, I usually find that too much pink can be tacky but for this party I decided to embrace the pink palette. pink and white polka dot tablecloth, pom poms hanging from the ceiling, we wanted the teapots, teacups to be the focal point our tables so simple round centerpieces (like the cupcake shown above).
Pink Pom-poms : Baby Favors & Things
Cup cake Wrapper: Fancy Flours
Tea cup & Tea Pot: Roses and Teacups
Tea Party Menu
The menu basically consists of: tea sandwiches, crudites and sweets. We decided to go with bite size food, we also want the food to be part of our decor, the food has to taste and look good.
- Allow 4 to 6 cut sandwich pieces per person.
- Choose the best-quality bread. Never serve end slices. Freezing bread before cutting and then spreading makes for easier handling.
- Bread should be lightly buttered no matter what the filling. Butter should be at room temperature before spreading. Sandwiches will not become limp and soggy as readily if you spread butter right to edge of bread.
- Cut crusts off bread with long, sharp knife after (not before) assembling sandwiches. This keeps everything neater.
- Since tea sandwiches should be delicate, cut each sandwich into thirds or quarters or in half diagonally. Or use cookie cutters to cut into decorative shapes
1. Artichoke Tea Sandwiches
2 14-oz. cans artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
20 slices white or wheat sandwich bread
In a medium bowl, stir together the artichokes, mayonnaise, onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley, and cayenne and season with salt and pepper.
Divide mixture evenly between 10 slices sandwich bread, top each with remaining bread slices, and cut off crusts with a serrated-blade knife. Cut each sandwich square diagonally to create 2 triangles.
Transfer to a platter and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight to soften before serving.
2. Cucumber mint tea Sandwiches
3. Goat Cheese and Chive Tea Sandwiches
8 ounces fresh goat cheese
24 very thin slices of white sandwich bread, crusts removed
1 medium bunch watercress leaves, enough to make about 2 lightly packed cups
2 bunches of fresh chives, finely snipped to make 1/2 cup
2 tablespoons homemade or prepared mayonnaise
Spread goat cheese liberally on all the bread slices. Arrange the watercress leaves in an even layer on 12 of the bread slices. Top each of these slices with a second slice of bread, goat cheese side down.
Place the chives in a small shallow bowl. Halve each sandwich on the diagonal. Using a small spatula, carefully spread mayonnaise along the long side of one tea sandwich, and then dip this long edge into the chopped chives. Repeat with each tea sandwich.
4. Salmon Tower
Cream cheese, dill, capers, onions, lime juice (place in food processor) spread and top with smoked salmon.
6. Curried Chicken Tea Sandwich
- 4 cups finely chopped cooked chicken breast
- 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped
- 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
- 6 green onions, minced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- 1 (2 1/4-ounce) package slivered almonds, toasted
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 48 whole-grain bread slices
1. Stir together first 11 ingredients. Spread mixture evenly on 1 side each of 24 bread slices; top with remaining 24 bread slices. Trim crusts from sandwiches; cut each sandwich into 4 rectangles with a serrated knife
Dessert:
Each table got a tower with Afajores, Petit Fours & mini keylime pies .
TEA
We set up a loose tea bar so our guests could invent their own blends, guest could also take their tea inventions home as a party favor.
Lose tea: Adagio Tea
Heather’s free teabag template and matching tea tents for display (PDFs – ready to print as is) or Kathy’s free teabag template (Adobe Illustrator format, just download a trial version of Illustrator and change the names to customize) …or, create your own tags using Adobe Illustrator or Microsoft PowerPoint.
We Also serve iced Tea and peach Iced tea both served with lemon wedges…
Perfect Brewed Iced Tea
- 4 regular tea bags (orange pekoe or green tea or a combination)*
- 2 cups fresh cold water
- Water
- Ice cubes
- Granulated sugar or other sweetener such as Simple Syrup
- Lemon slices (optional)
- Unwrap (if necessary) and carefully slide off any paper attached to the strings of the tea bags; tie the strings together and place the bags in a heat-proof 2-quart pitcher.
- Bring 2 cups cold water (always start with fresh cold water) to a rapid boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour over the tea bags. Allow tea to steep for 20 minutes or more. (This process simply forms the “concentrate”. You can store the mixture in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.)
- Remove tea bags, squeeze out excess liquid (being careful to not break open the bags) and discard. Fill the pitcher with enough water to equal 2-quarts. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled before serving. Or to serve iced tea immediately, add a dozen or so ice cubes to tea concentrate then fill with water to the 2-quart level.
- To serve, pour tea over a generous amount of ice cubes in a tall glass, stirring in desired sweetening and a squeeze of lemon, as desired.
Makes 8 servings.
*If using loose tea, measure 2 tablespoons into a paper coffee filter and seal it tightly with a twist tie, or simply pour water over loose leaves in a small heatproof container, and when ready separate the liquid from the tea leaves using a strainer.
Variation: Add 1 flavored tea bag such as Ginger Peach, Blackberry Sage, Vanilla Almond, etc., with the orange pekoe or green tea for a decidedly refreshing change in flavor.
Makes 2 quarts.
Tea Cocktails
Just beacause the guest of honer is pregnant doesn’t mean the rest of us have to miss out…… This tasty cocktails are brewed from Tea Forte Infusions, they look pretty and taste great.
