Thursday, May 24, 2018

Tea Time in the Gardenhouse

 Tea time in the Gardenhouse just yesterday.
Ready, Set, Go
My live-in gardener even pitched in to help.
 The food was ready.
Calla lily sandwich
Smoked salmon with cream on an endive leaf
Egg salad sandwich
Coronation chicken on croissant
Cucumber sandwich
 and
Cream Scones with marmalade

 Several tea friends always miss out on tea festivities
because they work on the weekend;
so a party was planned in the middle of the week.
What fun we had talking tea and nibbling.
 There were cupcakes
Lemon tarts with a raspberry
Chocolate dipped strawberries
Lemon shortcake cookies
And there was tea.
We started with Castleton Moonlight Imperial Darjeeling, 2018 first flush.
Then moved to an old growth Darjeeling that is not available to the public.
And we topped it off with Black Magnolia from The Mississippi Tea Company, also rather dear and difficult to acquire.

What fun to serve connoisseurs of tea to a special afternoon tea.
We may sip tea together, but this was a first for us
to enjoy afternoon tea with all the food.

Find time to savor friendship even in the middle of the week.

12 comments:

wisps of words said...

Ohhhhh, what a lovely, lovely table you set!!!

Marvelous!

And in such a perfect setting.

Delicious and delightful!!!!

Vivian said...

I am a very picky eater but even to me, those chicken on croissant sandwiches look delicious.

I have a tea question: I use honey to sweeten my tea, and I used to leave my tea spoon resting in the cup of tea to let the honey warm up and get gooey before I stirred it in. Then one day I noticed that I detected a metallic taste in my tea, which I attributed to the spoon. Ever since then, I have never let my tea spoon rest in a cup of hot tea, and I've become the person who tells other people to quick! get your tea spoon out of your tea cup!

Am I crazy?

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Wow! I would love to have afternoon tea in your gardenhouse. Love that gardenhouse! And how wonderful that you have your "live-in gardener" to help out. :-)

Rosemary said...

What a perfect setting and absolutely delightful tea time gathering. Lovely, Marilyn.

Louca por porcelana said...

WOW!Great tea time!Your treats look delicious...Hugs!

Jeanie said...

This is gorgeous. The endive is a particularly beautiful presentation but it all looks to die for. Wish I lived closer and could wrangle an invitation!

Elaine said...

This looks like perfection. The setting, the food, the company. I'm sure your friends will long remember this lovely tea.

Adrienne said...

Beautiful! I have such fond memories of tea in your garden house. What wonderful tasties you shared with special friends.
~Adrienne~

Red Rose Alley said...

What a nice tea time, Marilyn. All the food looks so Yummy, especially those lemon tarts. The cucumber sandwiches you make always look so good. And the flowers on the table add a lovely touch. Black Magnolia tea, hmmmmm, interesting.

~Sheri

Joy said...

It all looks wonderfully delicious, and you are thoughtful to plan a tea that fits these friends' schedules.

Tracy said...

Ooooo....A mid-week tea party... what a great idea! What a beautiful, festive and delicious table, Marilyn... YUM!! :) ((HUGS))

Angela McRae said...

Everything looks gorgeous and delicious, and of course I immediately spotted all your lovely chintz, but I must say that I am totally smitten with your idea of hosting a tea in the middle of the week! (And I can do that with my schedule now if I plan for it.)