Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter Tea

Welcome to our Easter Tea
Easter in my family use to be the tradition American ham dinner.
Then when our two children went off to college and my husband and I found ourselves just the two of us; I decided to serve a small afternoon tea. My husband liked it so much, he said "this should be our Easter tradition"; thus began our Easter Tea. Now the family all live nearby and they also expect Easter Tea each year. We usually include a few friends which say they feel honored to be included in our Easter Tea. This year we had 11 people share tea with us. We move the furniture around in the living room and set up small tables. It feels like a small tearoom.
Cucumber and Mint Sandwiches
The food is served buffet style.
This year's Menu:
Lettuce Salad with Asparagus
Marbelized Eggs (marinated in tea and spices)
Tuna Nicoise Bites (from TeaTime Magazine-March/April Issue)
Cucumber Mint Sandwiches
Roast Beef with Carmelized Onion Sandwiches
Shrimp Salad in Endive Leaves
Apple Bread
Scones with Orange Marmalade and Cream
Herbal Berry Iced Tea with Sparkling Mineral Water
Lemon Curd Tarts
Orange Cupcakes with Bird's Nest
Dried Apricots Dipped in Chocolate
Vegan Tofu Chocolate Pudding with Cashew Cream
Floating Leaves Baozhong Oolong Tea
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This year's decoration idea came from Martha Stewart's Living Magazine.
It was empty egg shells filled with small pansy's. Then they were tucked into child size teacups. One of my friends, that was in attendance, gives me wonderful gifts of things she finds with yellow. Each of the tablecloths had yellow on them and were gifts from my friend. Most of the little children's teacups also came from her.
***
I think it was our best Easter tea ever. The new tuna recipe was delicious; but more than that the company was special. When our guests left and we were cleaning up, we realized we had enjoyed tea with friends and family for 4 hours. What a special time of sharing.

10 comments:

Rosemary said...

How beautiful! You delighted many and special memories were made on Easter Sunday.
Nancy

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great time...I'm intrigued by Marbelized Eggs", never heard of them!

Angela McRae said...

What a marvelous tradition! And what a gorgeous FEAST you had!

Britt-Arnhild said...

Easter tea. What a lovey idea.

Wish I could take part one year.....

belinda said...

Lovely!! Now I have to add the little teacups to my list of things to search for-loved the pansy filled eggs.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL, Marilyn! I wish I had been there!

Gwen said...

WOW, what a neat tradition!! Everything looked so pretty and delicious.

La Tea Dah said...

So beautiful and your menu a delight! I was happy to see your special pudding --- I hope it turned out great!

LaTeaDah

Phyllis said...

Loved reading about your Easter tea and seeing the beautiful photos, Marilyn! What a perfect way to celebrate!

parTea lady said...

Your Easter Tea photos were delightful and the food looked delicous