I planned an afternoon tea for my library foundation’s legacy giving group: The Silver Tree Society. It’s name is as a nod to Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree book. Our marketing staff designed a lovely keepsake menu bookmark. Place cards were made from Christmas cards. I spent the last several months hunting at antique stores for dishes, silver plated silverware and 3 tiered plate trays. It was tremendous fun to plan, bake, cook and organize! But I cannot imagine how tea rooms do this on a daily basis!
The Menu:
Sip – Gingerbread Pu’erh, Wintermint-green and Vanilla Rooibos
Savory – Sausage Puffs, Cucumber Sandwiches, Curry Chicken-salad Croissants and Mini-Quiches
Scones – English-style Scones with Clotted Cream and Blackcurrant Jelly
Sweets – Indian Tea Biscuits, Mini-Pavlovas, Chocolate Walnut Fudge and Gingerbread Treats
As far as the food goes, all the savories were a big hit and attendees asked for more cucumber sandwiches and curry chicken-salad croissants. The scones – I wish I baked them at the venue – they would have been better more fresh than a few hours before the event. The Mini-Pavs were a disappointment. The meringue was great the first time I made them, but these – when I filled them with pineapple and kiwi and custard, became as chewy as taffy and you had to eat them with a knife and fork! Other than that, everyone loved the dishes. I provided Rubbermaid containers for folks to take home the many leftovers.
My friend Sarah Nathan donated the tea and is a tremendous fountain of knowledge all things tea!! JCPL’s assistant director also helped with the setup of the event. Our HR manager and her sister volunteered to work the event and were cute as buttons in their white lace aprons. They kept the teapots flowing; not a dry cup all evening! I appreciated their help with the set up and the warming up of the savories. They had the dishes all washed before I said goodbye to the last guest!
Lastly, our amazing Johnson County Community Foundation loaned us the use of their gorgeous facility for the event. We had 12 attendees and it was a perfect spot for a winter afternoon tea.
Afternoon Tea Time with Lisa & Nick 