A Honey Bee Tea in the Garden

Life is filled with occasions that call for a Tea Party. Some of these occasions have little to do with the calendar or traditional holidays. Nature herself can inspire us to set an afternoon aside for the pure joy of creativity. And if we look carefully, a single element, such as a honeybee, can free our imaginations to soar. Here we might pause for a moment and reflect on the Philosophy of Tea, a way of sharing the simple beauties of life through harmony, humility, respect and creativity. These are the building blocks of a civilized life, and even a humble honeybee or a single rose can point the way.

When the weather is warm and your garden is in bloom, it is time to celebrate our garden ally, the honey bee. A motif both classical and cute, the bee inspires creativity in invitations and menu alike. Invite other gardener friends over to enjoy the outdoor season while partaking in the fruit of the honey bee’s labor. Almond trees are 100% pollinated by bees so make sure there are plenty of almond treats. Of course, honey is the star of the menu and it makes an appearance in every course. Nectar-giving flowers would be lovely decorations, such as lavender, sage, rosemary. All these are edible and may garnish platters also.

Like a Low Sweet Flute

Like a low sweet flute
The dove calls from the warm oak at midday;
The geraniums gather sunlight,
Their red petals reminding us
Of the lava, fire colored,
In secret volcano crevices.

In each of us, there are reeds
Waiting for the summer wind
To make music.
There is a flower,
Powered by fire,
Waiting to bloom.

Menu

Beverages:
Darjeeling Tea
Chamomile Tea
Beekeeper’s Punch (white tea, clover honey, fresh lemon juice, pineapple juice, and ginger ale or champagne)

Savories:
Chicken-Almond Salad in Butter Lettuce Cups with Honey Dijon Dressing
Lemon Cucumber and Watercress Sandwiches
Mushroom and Marmite Toasts garnished with Chive Blossoms
Crudités Platter: Baby Carrots, Baby Radishes, and Cherry Tomatoes with Avocado Dip

Breads and Scones:
Zucchini Loaf with Honey Butter
Citrus Scones with Lemon Curd

Sweets:
Beehive Shaped Wholemeal Cookies with Marzipan Bees
Lavender Shortbread Fingers
Almond Baklava
Bee Sting Cake with Cream Filling (on the cake pedestal)

 

Recipes Included:

Bee Keeper’s Punch
Bee Keepers are blessed with a steady supply of the world’s sweetest elixir, and it is fitting at this tea party to celebrate our friends the bees, who generously share their honey and bring the gardens and orchards to life. We begin our gathering by sharing glasses of this fresh, herbal beverage, sweetened with clover honey and brightened with fruit juices and fresh berries. Greet each guest with a glass of Bee Keeper’s Pinch as they arrive. Put a long handled spoon in each glass so guests can enjoy the berries on the bottom.

Chicken-Almond Salad in Butter Lettuce Cups with Honey Dijon Dressing
This satisfying Chicken Salad is right at home at our Honey Bee Tea in the Garden. It is served in garden-fresh butter lettuce cups and dressed with a flavorful mixture of mustard and—what else? Honey!

Lemon Cucumber and Watercress Sandwiches
These fresh, subtle sandwiches may provide your guests with a learning opportunity in addition to a pleasant taste. Some of your guests may not know that there is a vegetable called a Lemon Cucumber that looks like a lemon and tastes like a cucumber and is highly prized for cucumber sandwiches. If you can get Lemon Cucumbers from a friend’s garden, that would be ideal, as freshly picked cucumbers make the best sandwiches. If you cannot locate Lemon Cucumbers in a home garden, looks at farmers’ markets and green grocers. If these very special cucumbers a nowhere to be found, you can substitute a large English cucumber.

Mushroom and Marmite Toasts Garnished with Chive Blossoms
Marmite is the brand name for a dark, sticky and very salty food spread popular in Britain since 1902. Its principal ingredient is brewer’s yeast, a by-product of beer making. Devotees of Marmite love it, spread on sandwiches right out of its little glass jar; others may find the taste of Marmite deeply disturbing.

As a polite hostess or host, you will not take offense if your guests wrinkle up their noses at their first taste of these addictive little Mushroom and Marmite Toasts. We recommend offering them on a two-tiered server along with the Lemon Cucumber and Watercress Sandwiches, as some guests may prefer the milder flavor of these latter, more traditional tea sandwiches. If you have chive in the garden, sprinkle a few Chive Blossoms over the Mushroom and Marmite Toasts just before placing them on the server.

Avocado Dip
Avocados are gorgeous creamy fruits that are almost always eaten raw in savory dishes. We find them chopped or sliced in salads, added to burritos or sandwiches or mashed into Guacamole, that ubiquitous spicy Mexican party dip. The Avocado Dip for our Honey Bee Tea in the Garden is a milder, herbal version of Guacamole, with just a touch of honey and crushed red peppers for a sweet and spicy undertone. Serve it with a platter of fresh garden vegetables—baby carrots, baby radishes and cherry tomatoes. Crudité is the French word for an appetizer of vegetables served raw, often with a dip. We think your guests will love this garden fresh presentation.

Zucchini Loaf
Zucchini Bread is very similar to Carrot Bread, and the two vegetables can be combined or interchanged in the recipes for these moist and flavorful quick breads. This recipe makes 2 large (9” x 5” x 3”) loaves or 3 smaller (8 ½” x 4 ½” x 2 ½”) loaves.) This  sweet loaf will keep well, tightly wrapped at room temperature, for 2 or 3 days. Serve this bread at any summer tea gathering along with Honey Butter.

Honey Butter
Butter’s taste can be enlivened with many types of flavorings, from cirtus zest, to honey, to vanilla, to ginger, to brandy or any other flavor that enhances the foods with which the butter will be served. Always add flavorings to very soft butter.

Citrus Scones
These brightly flavored scones contain both lemon zest and lemon extract, and they make perfect companions for Lemon Curd. You can also create multi-citrus scones by using 1 teaspoon each of lemon, orange and tangerine zest and substituting orange extract for the lemon.

Lemon Curd
Lemon Curd is a sweet, tart and creamy custard-like creation that has been a staple of British Afternoon tea for decades. Commercial versions are readily available, but making your own is easy and satisfying. The most traditional use for Lemon Curd is to spread it on the middle of a scone that has been gently pulled apart by hand. Devonshire Cream can then be piled on top of the Lemon Curd and the top of the scone replaced over the fillings. Lemon Curd can also be used to fill thumbprint or sandwich cookies, or to serve as a layer cake filling. It can also be added to a Trifle.

Beehive Shaped Whole Meal Cookies with Marzipan Bees
These delightfully rough textured cookies in the shape of an old-fashioned beehive are a charming cross between a cookie and an English “digestive biscuit.” They are both slightly sweet and slightly savory and will be a rustic companion to the more elegant foods served with your tea party.  

Lavender Shortbread Fingers
These delicately flavored Shortbread Fingers remind us of the simple joy of a warm afternoon in the garden. If you have fresh lavender flowers, use them, but dried lavender flowers will also work to flavor these elegant little cookies. This recipe can be doubled if you would like an extra supply for future tea gatherings in the garden, even if you and the bees are the only guests.

Almond Baklava
Baklava, a combination of spiced ground nuts, flaky pastry and citrus flavored honey creates a culinary experience like no other. One never forgets his or her first bite of baklava! This iconic pastry, with a variety of regional spellings, is part of the cuisine of every country in the Middle East, countries where honey has been consumed for millennia. Baklava is usually made with finely chopped walnuts, but you should feel free to use any type or combination of nuts that you prefer. Rose likes to make her baklava with almonds, and you can make Almond Baklava by using the easy Almond Baklava variation at the end of this recipe. To facilitate preparations for your Honey Bee Tea in the Garden, baklava can be made a day or two before the event and stored covered at room temperature.

Bee Sting Cake with Cream Filling
This gorgeous German pastry originated in Munich, where it is called Bienenstich. It is composed of a yeast “cake” made of Brioche dough baked with a luscious topping made of honey, butter, sugar and sliced almonds; the cake is then filled with vanilla pastry cream. Those of us who love honey love this cake. However, this little masterpiece takes a long time to make because the dough needs to rise three times. We recommend making both the dough and the pastry cream the day before your Honey Bee Tea in the Garden and baking and filling the cake the day of the gathering.

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THE TEA BOOK
The Road Back to Civilization
A Brief History of Tea
  Philosophy of Tea
     Harmony
     Humility
     Respect
     Creativity

Guidelines for the Host/Hostess

  Gathering and Greeting
  Sharing Stories
  Sharing Food
  Sending the Guests Home

Guidelines for the Guest

  Respect your Hostess/Host
  Bring a Gift if You Wish
  Practice Humility
  Monitor Your Conversation
  Arrive With a Grateful Attitude
  Help if Help is Needed
  Do Not Criticize
  Leave Gracefully
  Send a Thank you Note

A Checklist for Planning a Tea Party
Teas of the World and How to Make Tea

  A Sampling of Teas
  Herbal Teas and Tisanes
  How to Make Tea
  Making Iced Tea
  Tea Concentrate
  Brewing Tea for a Crowd

Tea Utensils and Accessories

  Tea Kettle
  Tea Pot
  Tea Cozy
  Teacups
  Plates
  Silverware
  Teacart
  Tea Strainer
  Tea Infuser
  Three-Tiered Server
  Cream Pitcher and Sugar   Bowl
  Cake Pedestal
  Trifle Bowl
  Jam Pots
  Serving Dishes, Platters, and Trays
  Silver Tea Set or Silver Tray
  Linens
  Kitchen Equipment for Food Preparation

Tea Menu Basics

  Sandwiches and Savories
  Savory Spreads and Dips
  Scones and Tea Breads

About Lemons

  Afternoon Tea and the Four Seasons

     A Spring Tea
     An Outdoor Summer Tea
     A Winter Afternoon Tea
     An Autumn Afternoon Tea

A Calendar of Tea Parties

  January:A Japanese New Year’s Tea
  February:Valentine’s Day Tea
  March:A St. Patrick’s Day Irish Tea
  April:An Easter Tea
May:Mother’s day Tea
  June:A Wedding Reception Tea

Lemon Yogurt Wedding Cake

  July:A Picnic Tea
  AUGUST:A FAMILY REUNION TEA

A North American Family Reunion Tea
  An Eastern Mediterranean Family Reunion Tea
  A Kosher Family Reunion Tea
  A Scandinavian Family Reunion Tea

  September:An Ozark Farm Harvest Tea
  October:A Tea to Honor   Our Ancestors(Dia de los Muertos)
  November:A Post Thanksgiving Tea
  December: A Christmas Tea

  In Defense of Fruitcake:Fruitcakes and Candied Fruit

A World of Tea Parties

  A Chinese Dim Sum Tea
  A Portuguese Tea
  A Classic British Afternoon Tea
  An Indian Chai Party
  A California Tea
  A Hawaiian Tea
  An Italian Tea
  An American Southern Tea
  A Russian Tea
A French Afternoon Tea
  A Kosher Teawith  Traditional Jewish Foods

Afternoon Tea for Special Occasions

An Afternoon Tea for Children
  A Tea for Our Elders
  A Honey Bee Tea in the Garden
  An Urban Tea on the Go
  Tea for One
  Afternoon Tea For a Large Group
  A Vegan Tea
  A Rose Tea