For the last two years, the women in my family have gotten together for a “grown-up” tea party in the Spring. It’s mostly just an excuse to get together to enjoy each other’s company, eat tasty food, and celebrate the beautiful spring weather.
For novelty and fun, we try to copy our grown-up tea party after the traditional British tea time. Which everyone, from the toddlers to the grandmothers, seem to enjoy.
What to Serve on The Menu
For my family I served food traditionally eaten during English Tea, like cucumber and dill sandwiches and English scones. Although, I wanted to have a slightly healthier option (low-carb) so I included chicken salad sandwiches served on apple slices. I also served strawberries cut and filled with a cream cheese frosting.
To help get your started with the traditional tea sandwiches, this is a recipe from The Kitchen is My Playground for the Cucumber Tea Sandwiches with Lemony Dill Spread:
Ingredients Needed:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- packed 1/3 c. roughly chopped fresh dill
- 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp. finely chopped lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- pinch black pepper
- 1 large English cucumber, thinly sliced (these lay on top of the Lemony Dill Spread once the sandwiches are assembled; slice when you’re ready to assemble the sandwiches)
Instructions:
- Place cream cheese or cream cheese and mayonnaise (depending on which spread you’re making) in a bowl; stir with a spoon or fork until creamy and free of lumps.
- Add any seasoning/non-vegetable ingredients; stir until well combined.
- Fold in any vegetable ingredients.
- Chill cream cheese mixture for about 2 hours {or overnight} to allow flavors to meld.
To Prepare the Tea Sandwiches:
- Remove spread(s) from the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to assembling sandwiches to allow it to soften and become easily spreadable.
- Thinly slice the English cucumber with a very sharp knife or mandolin.
- Spread a thin layer of spread on each slice of bread and arrange cucumber slices decoratively on top. Place an additional piece of bread on top of cucumbers. Trim away bread crusts with a serrated knife; then cut sandwiches into fourths.
Serving Ware
For our first tea party, we just used a delicate looking teapot and matching tea cups, which I had purchased from Amazon. Everyone loved using them and commented on how much fun they were.
Although, after deciding this was going to be an annual event for our family, some of the women in our family spent months scouring through antique shops looking for antique tea pots and tea cups. This collection of mismatched antique serve ware brings a certain whimsical charm to our tea parties.
Tea Party Decorations
For our tea parties we keep most of the decorations minimal. Using white linen for the table cloths and cloth napkins help give it a more elegant tone. We also display fresh flowers for our centerpieces. Remember, you can make this tea party as fancy or casual as you’d like.
We love this tradition, and if you decide to host a grown up tea party with your family I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
