A Royal Baby Shower Tea

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I thought it appropriate on Prince George's Christening day to talk about the baby shower my friend Virginia and I threw in his honor.

Virginia made a delicious punch, chocolate mousse parfaits, and chicken curry balls. 

Chocolate mousse parfaits... mmmmm

I have silicone teacup shaped cupcake holders that I thought would be perfect for the occasion. 

I made red velvet cupcakes and iced them with cream cheese frosting. Luckily England and the USA have the same national colors so I could use the red, white, and blue non-pareils from the Fourth of July to decorate!

They didn't come out of the silicone molds too easily unfortunately. Next time I will definitely be putting some cake release in first! I also made butter cookies. Which are sooooo delicious and pretty easy to make, though a little crumbly. They didn't have the perfect oval shape I was hoping for. 

I made three different types of tea sandwiches: egg salad, the traditional cucumber, and then my favorite, ham, apple, and brie.

We encouraged our guests to bring baby gifts which we then donated to a DC charity - the Sasha Bruce Youthwork.

Me with my lovely co-host Virginia!

Everyone loves an excuse to wear a hat.

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I heart you Kate!! And happy Christening Georgie!

Wednesday Review: Afternoon Tea Parties

The Wednesday review this week is inspired by my future cousin-in-law's bridal shower this past weekend. She had a bridal shower tea. Of course I love any reason to wear a hat!

Afternoon Tea Parties by Susannah Blake highlights 20 different types of tea parties you can throw and appropriate sweets and savories for each.

What I like:

·         There is a wide variety of tea parties highlighted in the book. Themes from different countries -English, Japanese, and Russian teas; different occasions - Mother's day, Bridal shower, and Christmas;  even tea parties you'd never think of - sweet sixteen, and teddy bear/circus themes for little kids.

·         The book has fantastic pictures. Not only does it make all the food look scrumptious, it has great ideas on how to display the food and drinks at your tea party.

·         The book begins with a history of tea parties and for each particular theme it includes more background information and little tips specific to that tea.

·         There are fun twists on ordinary things like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. PBJs are one of my favorite sandwiches ever, but I thought them an odd choice for a tea party. However if you cut the crusts off and cut out a heart on the top slice of bread - wallah! FANCY.  

·         The book includes a list of useful websites where you can find bake/tableware, ingredients, and tea merchants.

·         Can't forget the conversion chart! American, Metric, AND Imperial!?!

I'm not going to do a "What I don't like" section for this book because I couldn't really find anything I didn't like. I really need to start having more tea parties. Time for some hat shopping!!

Friday Musings #4

Maybe it's because I've been enthralled with Downton Abbey the past few weeks, or because the weather has been weirdly warm, or because I bought a bright yellow lace dress yesterday, but I REALLY want to throw a tea party. A fancy tea party where I can wear a hat and said yellow dress; maybe even some gloves.

There are so many fun things you can do with a tea party from invitations to creative treats and morsels. Once the weather gets warmer (and stays warm) I can host it in the sunroom. 

Who doesn't love scones and finger sandwiches??

Just need to pick a date now....