Holidays at Home! Greens and Tea!

 I said I'd be breaking up some of our London posts for Holidays at Home -- 'Tis the season, after all! And spending time with friends is what it's all about. So when fellow Corkie Barb texted Kate and me to see if we'd love to come cut pine greens and have tea and cookies, we said, "Well, yeah!"

It was a gorgeous day -- cold but not windy and sunny so it was pleasant. Most of our snow had melted and it was an easy walk to the back forty where six white pines were waiting for us!

This England: Time for Tea in Bath

One always hears about rain in England and we got the Bath version on this day. And it was odd -- it would pour relentlessly and hard; then stop; then drizzle; then pour again. It was a good morning to stay in for a bit, especially after our walking day in Cardiff. Rick worked on his family tree, I read. But around noon we decided it wasn't going to clear up and we certainly weren't going to stay in the house all day, so off we went! After all, it was a good day for an afternoon tea!

Springtime Gatherings

It seems like everything happens in June -- graduations, weddings, parties. It's no exception here! We've had a few fun times and celebrations of late. Read on -- and don't forget to join the party with the youtube video! (And yes, Wrennie is still in residence! I wonder if she has eggs in there?)

Tea for the Queen

I so enjoyed the Queen's Jubilee events. My equally-Anglophile friend Carol has been watching too, and last week she and I had a Jubilee tea! I had ordered some Jubilee tea plates from Cath Kidston and got out the silver and some pretty table linens.

It was a bit of a pink and white theme, which worked with the plates. Easy carnations and baby's breath made for a queenly floral piece!

Time for Tea!

I'm revisiting a pair of tea parties today -- some special memories from favorite teas past and present!

Perhaps my favorite had to be the two make-and-take teas my friend Barb and I put on.

We drew together a small group of friends, did a creative project and then had tea! You can find the original posts HERE and HERE. We made handpainted silk scarves one time (below) and twig wreaths another.

Then it was time for tea! Of course we brought out favorite vintage teacups...

...and vintage teapots, too.

And we prepared quite a feast!

Party favors are a must. One one year I did little bookmarks and Barb made individual rose and carnation bouquets.

The other tea included a little plant to take home.

Of course you have to have plenty of tasty goodies!

And we had plenty! Savory...

...and sweet!

And even some that were healthy, too!

But best of all was good company, good manners and good fun!

Linking this week with: Pink Saturday    /   Spring Tea and Roses Link Party   /   Let's Keep in Touch  /   Field Notes' Garden and Tea Party  

Make and Take Tea 2016: The Tea

The second part of our Make and Take Tea day was -- the tea!

This is the second year Barb and I have done this and we learned a lot last year! So, by the morning of the tea the baked goods were done (and had been).

While we started baking and preparing sandwich fillings before the tea, the day before was devoted largely to set-up, carefully choosing cups from Barb's teacup collection!

                       

I had printed a menu and the take away favors were a handmade bookmark that served as a place card...

... and a small bouquet of roses and spring flowers at each place.

                      

Our menu included Marilyn Miller's astounding scones, Ina Garten raspberry bars, my favorite lemon shortbread and lemon bread recipes and pumpkin bread sandwiches with an apricot butter.



The chocolate mousse tarts were prepared the night before.



But before dessert, savories! We enjoyed an open-faced pimento cheese sandwich, an egg salad on white with chives on the edge, cucumber (of course!), ham and cheese fingers with pickle and a salmon salad sandwich.

                      

Barb makes great fillings and thanks to Kate for helping us pull them together the morning of the tea, we even had time to relax on the porch and take in the morning air before guests arrived!

 

After we got people started on their scarf projects, we slipped upstairs to finish dressing the table and putting out the sandwiches and sweets. We also had (though not pictured) delicious fruit skewers.

                       

And of course, tea was readied!

Time to sit down and enjoy lunch!

After we were stuffed it was time for a walk! Barb has mowed a seven-ring labyrinth in her yard and the group walked out in back, following its meditative path!



But before we said goodbye to the guests, here's another group photo! (This time I'm  the photographer!)

It couldn't have been a happier day!

This post is being shared with Elizabeth's T-day posts on Tuesday, Talk of the Town on Wednesday, Thoughts of Home on Thursday, Share Your Cup on Friday and Pink Saturday on -- wait for it -- Saturday! And special thanks to Beverly for featuring the Gypsy's Edible Hanging Basket from Southern Exposure last week! What a treat! (I was in the Land of No Internet and haven't been able to catch up with all the P.S. people yet -- but I will!)

Make-and-Take Tea Part 2 -- Teatime!

Welcome to our tea party! If you have come to The Marmelade Gypsy for the first time from Vanessa's Tea Party (see the bottom of this post for more info!), I hope you will enjoy. And if you are a regular Gypsy visitor, welcome home!

Last month I was showing you part one of our Make and Take Tea -- the Making part! Well, after we finished all those pretty hangings, we were hungry! Tea time!

Barb and I came up with this idea back last December -- at least, the idea of tea. (The Make-and-Take came later). We wanted a selection of sandwiches. Although we did our baking early, the real prep began the day before when we road-tested our food.

We had four kinds of tea sandwiches -- an open-faced pimento cheese on pumpernickel, egg salad, smoked salmon and of course, cucumber. As you can see, our first attempts left a bit to be desired. The fillings were terrific but the bread was too soft and our cutting was sloppy. That would be fixed!

We also pulled together our table, making sure quieter guests were next to someone more outgoing. Although, by the time they finished making their hangings, there was no quiet guest at the table. They had become old friends.



Tea day began with our set-up. Lovely china, ready and waiting for sandwiches! (We did put that pumpkin butter into its dish before the guests came to the table!)

Pretty flowers.



Party favors in place.

Pretty cups.

Barb's cousin Megan helped make sandwiches before she had to hit the road. It was a good thing -- we made about 100 tiny sandwiches for our guests (too many but the leftovers were a welcome take home, along with the hangings!)

We kept our guests in the basement till tea time and then the big reveal!

This tiered dish is one Megan had made from her grandmother (or great grandmother's) china. The lobelia in the cup at the top echoed the party favors.

We had sandwiches and sweets at both ends of the table so we didn't have to pass anything dangerous!

 

Of course the tea was flowing. Even on a warm and humid day, the hot tea seemed almost refreshing!

We did pass the fruit skewers -- there's only so much room on the table!

The cream scones were one of the day's happy hits. This recipe comes from blogger Marilyn of Delights from the Heart and her "Tea Party in Your Cupboard" book.They were to die for. We were glad there were a few leftover for the next day!

Scones were served with lemon curd, orange marmalade, pumpkin butter and clotted cream. The other deserts were iced shortbread cookies, lemon bread and pumpkin bread "sandwiches" with orange marmalade.

Everything was cheery and easy to manage. We used vintage mix-and-match dishes and Barb's silver. And of course, sweet cups!

Before the tea officially began and the guests came upstairs, Barb and I donned hats, gloves and pearls to share some tea etiquette. We were pleased to say that only a few rules were broken -- probably intentionally and definitely with good humour.

As the day drew to a close, our guests left with their twig hangings, flowers for their garden and leftovers. Pinkies up!

Barb was left with the dishes. (I offered after we cleaned upstairs and down but she insisted.)

I would have done the same thing!

Thanks for joining us at our tea party! You can find links to others at Vanessa's site as she hosts her annual Mad Hatter Tea Party event!