Thursday, January 24, 2008

January Tea Party

This is the first of my "year of tea parties" blogging. I've committed to writing about a special tea party each month.

January Tea: I recently invited three women to join me for a tea luncheon. The theme was "Relax and Recycle."

The relax part came from the tea party itself, and the chair massages that the DH (dear hubby) offered. (He's a massage therapist, among many other useful things like great cook and master gardener!)


The recycle part came from a fun activity. I asked each guest to bring a gift (or more) to share (or recycle by donating to a thrift store). She could spend exactly $0 on the gift AND its wrapping. What fun! We each went home with something fun and sent several items to a local thrift store that raises money for a local charity.






















Table setting. I love this china because of the unusual colors and the non-girlyness of it. I have LOTS of girly teacups and I love them. AND it's nice to have something that showcases other styles.





























Me at the table. Once the guests arrived, I was having so much fun, I forgot to take any photos with them!
























First course: Vegetable-cheese chowder and these yummy rosemary popovers. I was so happy they turned out puffy!
























Second course: Cranberry-walnut tea bread

Third course:
Dolfin chocolates

11 comments:

Allison said...

Very nice- the popovers look awesome!!

Anonymous said...

Yum-O! Are you willing to share your Cranberry-walnut tea bread recipe??
I'm glad your back and feeling better!

Anonymous said...

oops, I meant to post my name too =)

sweetcakes said...

This was the best tea party ever! I don't know what I liked better, the food or the massage. I feel so very fortunate to have been one of the lucky guests. Thank you for providing a lovely afternoon of relaxation, tea and friendship.

Philigry said...

everything looks so great! that is such a great idea. it sounds like you al had so much fun!

Joyce said...

YES....I want to see about that Cranberry-Walnut Tea Bread as well....I love Cranberry anything so that sound VERY yummy.
So sorry to read that you were so ill on your trip. It's bad enough to not feel well but even worse when on a trip away from your own bed. Blah!
The tea party sounded FUN!! By the way I just ordered the "A Cup of Tea" book from my library. They have it waiting for me, I just have to go get it and it is close by so that works!
See ya!
Joyce

Angela McRae said...

Looks like you're off to a great start with the tea parties! The foods sound divine and I LOVED your teawares -- very elegant, very appropriate with your tablecovering, very mood-setting. Perfect. (You looked really cute, too, BTW!) Can't wait to read about your next event! Oh ... and I'm so jealous of the free massages for guests. WOW!

Anonymous said...

Loved reading about your tea party. And I love the "relax and recycle" theme. Perfect!

artandtea said...

Hi Steph,
Thanks for sharing your tea party experience. I enjoyed reading about your theme.
-Karen

Michele said...

How fun!! And the food looks amazing!!

Rosemary said...

Simply Fun! Nancy