Tea Party with Garden Bounty

 I recently shared an evening with a colleague, and we had tea.  It was my first British-style tea in the new place.  Fun!  I was eager to use some of the garden's bounty.  

My friend brought these gorgeous hydrangeas from her own garden.  Thank you!  I will let them dry and enjoy them through the winter.

 To start, we ate these little golden tomatoes (from the garden) as appetizers.  They are very sweet.  The larger, round yellow items are lemon cucumbers (garden), to be featured in a moment.

 I used rosemary from the garden, along with dried tomatoes that I had soaked in olive oil, to make a goat cheese spread.  I topped the lemon cucumbers with this blend and then garnished it with a leaf of garden basil.  Yumm.  I will definitely use this recipe again.

I served the savory course with a tart citrus herbal tisane.  It was evening and we wanted to avoid the caffeine.

I also made an egg salad, and meant to add a spicy cress (from the garden), but forgot that part, and so we had the cress as a post-party palate cleanser.  ;-) 

Then we had scones, jam and cream, and finished with chocolate, pears (local) and cheese.  With these courses, I served a rooibos blended with herbs.

It was a great evening, and I'm reminded how much I enjoy these small tea parties for two or three. They are easy to plan, prepare and enjoy.