Getting Ready for Tea.....

I spent most of the morning baking cookies for Monday afternoon's tea party. Two kinds of bar cookies (pecan, and chocolate-chip/coconut), plus I found a ready-made cookie dough from a downtown Houston specialty market, so I tried those (chocolate chunk pecan) and they taste like I spent an hour mixing the batter. I also have Italian biscotti from Babbo Bruno's, so I will serve those as well.

Tomorrow, I will clean the house, open up the dining room table, and take out the china plates and tea cups and serving pieces that I'll use on Monday. Then on Monday morning, all I will have left to do is set up the table and make all the little sandwiches. I bought enough things to make four different kinds.... smoked salmon and cream cheese, turkey and swiss on whole wheat (which I will bake in the oven), mini quiches that just have to be popped into the oven, and the staple of southern tea parties-- pimento cheese sandwiches. The birds in my garden will have fun with all the crusts that I'll be cutting off the bread slices, so they won't be going to waste.

I also bought Pillsbury crescent rolls, which I can fill with pumpkin pie mix and crushed pecans (delicious!-- tastes like mini pumpkin pies when they're baked). I've also used those crescent rolls and fixed them with pesto sauce and grated cheese, so I may make some of those as well.

Then the tea......... I have enough tea pots to make five or six different flavored teas, but I think I'll just pick three. No sense in making this more difficult than it has to be. It's been enough work already, but it's all worth it in the end.

I made placecard-gifts with miniature china cups & saucers.... I put a chocolate truffle in each of the cups, and tied the name-tag to the cup handle with sparkling ribbon. I've got gift bags all set for my two young girls (C & L), and for the ladies, I have books for them to choose from, plus they can take home some of the cookies.

I had sent away for a Bingo game for tea parties....... very nice set of blue and white Bingo cards with blue chips..... and instead of calling out numbers (as in traditional Bingo), the caller will pick cards that correspond to the squares on the Bingo cards which are filled with all things related to tea-- such as Cinnamon Tea, Sugar Tongs, Petits Fours, Honey, Raspberry Tea, Shortbread, etc. We'll have fun with that after we have our tea and goodies.

And then there will be the "tea ladies." I had cut out pictures of elderly ladies drinking tea..... all wearing strange little hats and wildly-colored outfits. On the backs of each, I've written a description of the "personality" of each of the ladies. So every one here will choose the lady they think they would like to call their own, then read the character traits on the back to see if they match their own.

The afternoon should be lots of fun, and a nice diversion from the CNN station that continues to show the aftermath of Katrina. New Orleans citizens are still trying to get out of their city, and are taking buses and planes and anything that is moving away from Louisiana. I wonder how many will choose to make their homes in other states now. Still very sad, and heart-wrenching to hear every day. My sister called me last night and the night before, each time asking me "What on earth is going on down there?" -- As if I were in charge of all the rescue efforts. I told her that she needs a break from CNN.