My Tea Journey… Pit Stop Nightmare

September 11, 2019 Off By Donna Layne

Fall is my favorite time of year!
Here is a centerpiece from one of my fall private teas.

Tea Nightmare

A few weeks ago I awoke from a nightmare about a tea that I wasn’t prepared for. This is new for me…I have never dreamed about one of my teas before. This tea wasn’t one of my small private teas. This was a big tea with lots of people. I wasn’t prepared with the food and furthermore, I didn’t even know what I had put on the menu. The people had already arrived and I had no food! I woke up when I realized that there was no way that I could prepare all the food when the people had already sat down. Thus, the need for thorough planning was underscored once again for me.

Tea Planning and Preparation

Planning and preparing for a tea are fun for me. However, having just had this nightmare and planning a couple of trips away, I received a reservation call from one of the women who had won my tea at a charity silent auction event. She wanted to schedule a tea only two weeks away. I was thrilled that it would be a fall tea but also under pressure to get the planning underway. Here are the steps I take in planning and preparing for a tea.

At least one week from the tea…

Determine date, time, and number of people.
Determine menu. I try to plan around the flavors of the season. This is fun for me as I get to look at my tea recipe binder as well as lots of tea cookbooks.
Make menu cards. I want these to be keepsake menus, so I try hard to make them pretty.
Create a tea favor such as tea packet or bookmark.
Make a shopping list for items to buy.
Make sure my tea setting is ready. If the weather is nice, I have the tea out in my garden. The garden does not have to be perfect; give your guests a few “pretties” to look at though. If you are serving inside, make sure the room is visually pleasing and clean.

The week of the tea…

Do grocery shopping except for breads and fruits/vegetables.
Make and freeze scone dough.
Three days before, bake any dessert item that can be frozen, refrigerated and/or stored.
Get out all your linens, napkins, dishes, teacups, teapots, and silver. This takes a little time, so give yourself at least two hours.
On the day before, prepare sandwich fillings (such as egg salad or cream cheese mixtures) and make Devonshire Cream.
On the day before, get your centerpiece together. If using fresh flowers, make the arrangement now.

The day of the tea…

Put on water for your hot tea. I use a coffee maker to heat up the water (one that has never been used for coffee though!).
Make your sandwiches.
Make whipped cream if using.
Put together desserts (if needed) such as trifles.
Set table.
Put sugar in sugar bowls, get tea ready to steep, and other little things that make the process faster.
After your guests arrive, start preparing your tea plates (I start with scones, then salad, then savories and then desserts).

I prepared the chicken salad, egg salad (in back), marinated raisins, and cucumber cream cheese mixture the day before the tea. I had to make the tomato bite the day of the event.

Another fall plate. Notice I used a rosemary sprig as a garnish. My daughter didn’t see this. I think it is beautiful. This was an easy savory plate. Made all sandwich mixtures the day before.

A fall dessert plate. One of my favorite fall desserts are these cute two tiered pumpkin cakes on the right.

Another fall plate. I usually do something that I can put in a pretty trifle dish or glass.

Today is Lauren’s Birthday

My little Lauren, the next generation tea hostess, turned 10 today! Since she has always been part of my tealife, I am sharing some photos of her from the past.

My favorite all-time photo of her when she was very small.

She always liked having her face painted.