Planning an Afternoon Tea

If you've been around the Yankee-Belle for any length of time, you know that I love tea. But one thing I love more than tea is a tea party where I can gather with friends for lively conversation and some yummy finger foods. 

Not long ago, my friend Debbie (who loves tea as much as I do) and I decided to host an afternoon tea luncheon for the ladies in our Sunday school class. Like I said, tea is a nice respite. A break from our fast-paced lives where we actually take the time to sit down and talk and enjoy the company of others. What better way to get to know each other.

The table was set with plain white plates, crystal goblets and, of course, an array of beautiful tea cups I'd inherited from my grandmother, aunt and mother. But what about the food? 

A traditional afternoon tea consists of three courses, so to speak. Sandwiches and savories, scones and desserts. And with so many yummy things out there to choose from, nailing down that menu can be quite a challenge. We knew we wanted to keep things feeling rather fallish, so we opted for recipes that included things like apples, pumpkin, pecans and cranberries. This is what we ultimately came up with.

Typically, the food is served on three-tiered stands with each course on a different level. But since the only three-tier stand Debbie and I had between us held dessert-size plates and we had twelve ladies to feed, we had to improvise.

While my table was large enough to accommodate all of us, there wasn't a lot of room for the food, so desserts were relegated to the buffet behind the table.

These Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bites were amazing. You can find the recipe here.

And Pecan Tassies are always a hit.

Debbie's scones were a feast for the taste buds. The savory apple, cheddar and thyme is on the left, while the sweeter apple ginger scones are on the right.

I think my favorite thing of all, though, was these Cranberry Brie bites.

Brie, cranberry sauce and a sprinkle of chopped pecans all nestled in a Crescent roll cup. Oh, my word, they were amazing. And super easy to make.

Of course, I couldn't let our guest go home empty-handed, so each of them got to take home a little token to remind of them of our time together.

I found this cute little teapot cookie cutter, so I made up a batch of my favorite cut-out cookies (recipe here), then added some simple decorations before tucking each in a cellophane bag and tying it off with some frilly tulle. Easy peasy.

What a fun time we all had. The bond always grows stronger the better you know someone, and this was a delightful way to bring such a sweet group of ladies together and do just that. And when all was said and done, we decided we'd like to do it again. Perhaps in the spring. Oh, just think of all the wonderful food and colorful table settings.

Have you ever thought about hosting an afternoon tea? Perhaps for a bridal shower, baby shower or just friends getting together. What would be on your menu? 

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more a mindyobenhaus.com.

A Perfect Tea Party

Missy Tippens

A couple of weeks ago, I met my college roommate in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We love to meet halfway between Kentucky and Georgia at least once a year to spend a couple of days together to talk, eat, shop, talk, eat, talk, eat... You get the picture. :)

This year, at the recommendation of two writer friends, Karen Kirst and Laurel Blount, we made reservations for afternoon tea at Polly Claire's. It ended up being a wonderful place for tea and lunch!

I thought I'd share some photos. If you're ever in the area, you should try it. The food and service were excellent. And the setting was so nice!

The home is the historic Dent House. Apparently later, it became a children's home for The Bonny Oaks School. And became known as Keese Hall. It's on the National Register of Historic Places.

And the china... oh, the china (can you tell I love it??)...

Oops. Caught Melinda with her eyes closed. :)

The tea I ordered was the Royal Wedding Tea, and it really did taste like wedding cake! It was a little too sweet for my taste, so I ended up adding lemon juice and enjoyed it more.

Look at all the beautiful china! They use all Royal Albert.

And here are the toppings for my scone (which was outstanding!): Pumpkin for the season, lemon curd, cream, and strawberry jam.

The typical English presentation is from top to bottom (scones, etc. on top, sandwiches and savories in the middle, and sweets on the bottom). But in the US, they usually present from bottom to top. Here you can see our desserts on top.

Sandwiches and main course in the middle.

Appetizers on the bottom.

When you entered, you could choose a hat if you wanted to have an all-out tea party. :)

And here's the beautiful Dent House from the outside.

There's just something so fun about a tea party. I loved Polly Claire's and will definitely go back!

www.missytippens.com

A Tea Party Like Mindy's

Missy Tippens

Several weeks ago when Mindy shared photos of her tea party, I got inspired and made reservations. Today, my daughter, one of my friends and I got to go have a wonderful tea at the Ivy Tea House in Norcross, Georgia. We learned after we arrived that they've only been open for three months. They did a wonderful job!

I started off with some tasty iced peach tea. (It was over 90 degrees today!) Once my thirst was quenched, I had the passionfruit jasmine black tea in my own little pot.

If you're looking at the website menu, we had the Ivy Tea. It's an afternoon tea (not high tea). For our savory items, we had pimento cheese in phyllo cups, cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches that were served in a delicious dill bread, and egg salad on toast rounds. I loved all of it so much!

Oops. Put some on our plates before taking the photo!

For our sweets, we had cream puffs with amazing pastry cream, lemon bars, fresh fruit, and scones with cream, lemon curd, and jam. We couldn't remember what type scones they were, but are pretty sure they had tea in them.

It was such a nice afternoon with the ladies! We'll definitely do it again sometime!

www.missytippens.com

Sunday Afternoon Tea

You know, sometimes life gets crazy. That's when it's extra special to take a timeout with a friend or two and do something fun and relaxing. And if it happens to involve food, it's even better.

My friend, Debbie, and I met for afternoon tea this weekend at one of the bed-and-breakfasts in our little town. By the way, did you know that there is a difference between afternoon tea and high tea? Afternoon tea is what most of us think of. It typically has three courses made up of tea sandwiches and petite savories, scones with clotted cream and jam, and then rounded out with bite-sized desserts. High tea, on the other hand, is served later and is more of a full-size meal served with tea. One website referred to it as a working class family's evening supper. So there you have it. When it comes to tea-time, you are in the know. 

One of the things that always makes afternoon tea feel extra special is the pretty plates and cups. I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for chintzware.

But the food is the star of the show. 

The savories...

The scones, one savory, one sweet. Here we have a Pimento Cheese scone and a Cookies and Cream scone. The Pimento Cheese one was amazing.

Finally, it's onto the sweets.

And lest we forget the teas. One fun thing about going to tea is getting to sample a couple different varieties. On this day we had Cream Earl Gray which is a pleasant, more delicate version of traditional Earl Gray, and Chocolate Mint Rooibos. That one didn't do much for me, so I stuck with the first tea.

Of course, the best thing of all is sharing that time with friends, catching up on all the things that have gone on in our busy lives. That right there is worth the price of admission.

What would be your favorite part of afternoon tea? The food, getting together with friends or all of the above?

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more a mindyobenhaus.com.