Chambord Grapes Under Snow
Rich and Creamy Potato Soup
Iced Apricot Scones
Brie Crostini with Pomegranate
Scandinavian Shrimp Bites
Almond-Avocado Tea Sandwiches
White Pearl Cupcakes
Coconut Truffles
White Chocolate Strawberries
Harney’s Winter White Earl Grey Tea
The next tea party theme, Winter White and Spring Green, celebrates Winter but opens us to the possibility of Spring. Depending where you live, this is a tea that works well in the last two weeks of February or the first week in March. By then everyone has had her first tiny glimpse of longer days, brighter sun and just maybe a tender green shoot peeking out of the ground.
To set the mood for this tea party, bring out your best white tablecloth, napkins and dishes. White should be the dominate color with only the smallest touches of green for accent. For example, roll your silverware in napkins and tie with a light green ribbon. Use one green serving dish amid the white ones for each course.
White candles nestled in crystal bowls holding kosher salt will give a pretty, snowy appearance. Use lots. A length of white toile down the length of table, bunched and winding around the candles will add to the mood. Sprinkle white, crystal or mirror confetti lightly over the table for some glitter. Use just a bit as this isn’t the time for Christmas excess.
It is easy to find many different kinds of white and green flowers for a centerpiece. White tulips would be especially beautiful on this table. Whatever white flower you use, use only one kind. The centerpiece should be simple, almost stark perhaps, but beautiful. Keep in mind a late Winter landscape.
This tea party works best for the number of people your table will hold comfortably. This isn’t a tea to serve buffet style or to have your guests eat on their laps. And this isn’t a casual tea. This probably isn’t the tea to have if you want to invite only a couple guests. Take the time to go to a lot of effort and fill the table with your friends.
It is such fun to receive an unexpected envelope in the mail, savoring the possibilities until the card is opened and read. Send invitations to this tea party! Don’t buy them; make them yourself simply. Use a luxurious white card stock, one that keeps to the feeling of Winter. If you have a nice hand, write the invitations yourself. If you’re a messy writer, like me, use your computer to print the invitations using a fancy, decorative font. Black ink will look best.
Music is always a nice addition to a tea party. What better music for a Winter tea than something from snowy Russia. Fill the house with Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky.
Give your guests something special to take home. A small planter or low container of paper white narcissus bulbs would be a lovely gesture. Set the bulbs yourself but allow your guests to have the fun of watching them grow. Wrap the containers in cellophane so your guests won’t have a difficult time getting them home. You might have a few of these in bloom around your house to show how pretty those rather ugly bulbs will become.
This Winter White and Spring Green Tea Party won’t work for everyone in all parts of the world right now; not everyone shares my weather. But most places do have a winter season, even if winter temps there are 60º instead of the usual 80º. And my friends in the Southern Hemisphere will have their winter in six months.
Winter here can get so tiresome by the end of February. Give your friends a lift and a bit of hope that Spring will arrive with this tea party. With Christmas long past and Easter weeks away, this tea is just what the doctor ordered.
Recipes coming up next!
This is National Hot Tea Month and I'm getting a late start celebrating. Well, not really as I write about tea and tea parties every day. Katherine at Yellow Rose Arbor is showing some of her favorite tea things so I thought I'd join her and show this Japanese Tea Set.
A few weeks ago, Anita at Prairie Dreams showed a tea set that she won at auction. It reminded me so much of mine that I had to go look at it again. Mine looks nothing like hers really but there is a similar feel or sense, I think. As she wrote, items made in Japan can be dated by what is written on the bottom.
In 1891 the McKinley Tariff Act was instated, requiring items imported into the United States to be marked in English with the country of origin. The name "Nippon" was chosen for items coming from Japan. (Nippon is the Japanese name for Japan.) In 1921, the official country of origin name requirement was changed to "Japan", thus creating a defined time period 1891-1921 in which wares were marked Nippon. Previous to 1891, items were either not marked at all, or marked with Japanese characters. During the period 1921-1941 porcelain should be marked "Japan" and roughly after 1941, marked "Made in Japan", though numerous exceptions appears to occurs. Pieces marked with JAPAN or MADE IN JAPAN in plain text without any company marks, in general date to the period immediately after the second WW. Some come with the addition of OCCUPIED JAPAN.
This pretty little set probably came to the US right after World War II. I think it is called Lusterware. It belonged to my husband's great aunt Beulah. She bequeathed it specifically to me in her will. I think I was the only one who shared her love of tea. I'm ashamed to say that I've never used it though. It is very delicate and I hate the thought of hurting it.
As I was photographing it, I noticed that the design on the teapot is not centered on the face of the pot but moved to the right side. I'm curious why they would do this, even if it was done on purpose, but I suppose I'll never really know.
When I started to plan my next Afternoon Tea Party theme, it seemed obvious to do a Valentine’s Day Tea. It’s a big holiday here in the US and there are a lot of foods and decorations associated with it. I’ve been struggling for the last two weeks to plan something that appealed to me around red hearts, chocolate and lace doilies. Bah, I just couldn’t do it.
When it comes to Valentine’s Day, it isn’t easy to keep the tackiness and kitsch away. And overly cute--no way! Victorian Valentine ideas have been done to death; I didn’t want to go there. And the food! I could have created an entire menu using heart-shaped foods! But, no.
So I’m going to pass on a Valentine’s Day Tea this year. That’s not to suggest the day shouldn’t be celebrated. Go ahead and bake a heart-shaped cake and give your sweetie kisses, candy or otherwise!
Come back Thursday to see what the next Afternoon Tea Party theme WILL be.
"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."
“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
“The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.”
“Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.”
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
“Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”
A Week Ahead:
Write Fortunes for the Fortune Cookies
Three Days Ahead:
Cook Pork for Sweet and Sour Soup
Prepare Ginger Ice Cream and Freeze
Two Days Ahead:
Bake Fortune Cookies
Bake the Chicken for the Mandarin Almond Chicken Salad
Prepare the Tea Eggs
Day Before:
Bake Almond Cookies
Prepare Jiaozi to the Point of Frying
Assemble the Chicken Salad
Tea Party Day:
Fry the Jiaozi
Prepare the Soup
Make the Crunchy Noodle Salad
The Chinese not only discovered tea but also they were the first to make ice cream. Serve this ginger ice cream (or any other flavor you like) to go along with the almond and fortune cookies for the Chinese New Year Tea.
For the ginger syrup:
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 - 3 packed tablespoons grated fresh ginger
Milk mixture:
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons finely minced ginger in syrup (available at Asian markets), drained before mincing
Custard mixture:
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions:
To make the syrup, heat the water and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the fresh ginger and stir; bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer the syrup uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
In another pan combine the milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, and the minced preserved ginger. Stir over medium heat until the milk comes to a scalding temperature, just short of a simmer, then remove the pan from the heat. Scrape the fresh ginger syrup into the milk mixture, and stir well to blend. Cover and steep 20 minutes to infuse the milk.
In a small bowl beat the egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar until the mixture is pale yellow, thick, and falls in ribbons from the beater.
Put the heavy cream in a medium-size bowl. Nest the cream bowl in a larger one lined with ice cubes and place in a large, fine mesh strainer alongside.
When the steeping time is up, bring the milk mixture to scalding again, stirring. Slowly add 1/4 of the scalded milk to the egg mixture, whisking constantly to temper the eggs, then pour the egg mixture back into the remaining milk, continuing to whisk. Cook over moderate heat, whisking slowly but steadily until the mixture reaches the custard stage, thick enough to coat and cling to the back of a spoon, 180 degrees on an instant-reading thermometer. Do not let the mixture boil lest the eggs scramble.
Immediately pour the custard through the strainer and into the bowl of cream set over ice. Scrape the pot clean, then slowly stir the liquid trapped in the strainer in order to coax it through the mesh. Press firmly and repeatedly on the ginger to extract all the liquid, then finally scrape the bottom of the strainer to claim every last drop for the cream. Discard the ginger solids. Allow the cream mixture to cool completely, stirring occasionally.
Once cool, the mixture may be sealed airtight and refrigerated for 1 - 2 days before freezing.
Freezing the cream:
Just before freezing, adjust the mixture with 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, stirring and tasting after every several drops just until the ginger flavor is perceptibly heightened by the lemon.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the freezing process is completed, pack the ice cream into a clean plastic container, poking deep into the mixture, then pressing it with a spoon or spatula to eliminate any air bubbles. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ice cream to prevent the formation of ice crystals, then return the mixture to the freezer for at least 2 hours to firm up and ripen.
Yields about 1 1/2 pints
