May: Mother's day Tea

Mother’s Day and Afternoon Tea: beloved and beautiful institutions practically made for each other. First, consider your mother’s favorite flavors, flowers, and sweets. The goal is to make our most important guest feel honored and indeed, treasured. Swap in her favorites or use our suggested menu which features delicate butter cookies and a spectacular pedestal cake presiding over the tea table.

Menu

Beverages: 
Jasmine White Tea
Vanilla Almond Herbal Tea
Cucumber Water

Savories:
Classic Cucumber Sandwiches
Lobster Salad on Miniature Puff Pastries
Mushroom Turnovers
Spinach Frittata Squares

Breads and Scones:
Banana Bread
Buttermilk Scones with Lemon Curd

Sweets:
The Queen’s Shortbread
Vanilla Bean Spritz Cookies
Apricot Custard Tartlets
On the Pedestal: Pink Champagne Cake

Classic Cucumber Sandwiches
The fresh taste of cucumbers will complement the other savory flavors in your Mother’s Day Tea. These basic little sandwiches, just thin slices of cucumber on very fresh buttered white bread, will remind your guests, and your mother, that simple things are often the best.

Lobster Salad on Miniature Puff Pastries
Everyone knows that lobster is expensive, but for Mother’s Day let’s splurge. You will need three cups of cooked and shelled lobster, which you can buy at a reliable fish market. The salad will look regal, served in choux pastry puffs, a French style unsweetened pastry that can be used for savory salads or cream puffs.

Mushroom Turnovers
We haven’t found anyone who doesn’t adore these puff pastry turnovers, bursting with sautéed mushrooms. They are a favorite with all the mothers at our Mother’s Day Teas. Check your local market for any unusual mushrooms; we’ve found cremini, enoki, and cartons of “chef’s blend” mixed wild mushrooms that all make delicious fillings.

Spinach Frittata Squares
We have never met a frittata we didn’t like, but this Spinach Frittata, garnished with a fresh Spinach Salad and flavored with subtle hints of nutmeg, hot sauce and your mother’s favorite cheese, will also delight the guest of honor and everyone else.

Banana Bread
Homemade Banana Bread is an old fashioned favorite, and it is easy to make. To capture the deep banana flavor that makes this quick bread so popular, make sure the three bananas needed for this recipe are very, very ripe.

Buttermilk Scones
These warm, fluffy Buttermilk Scones, lightly browned on the tops and bottoms, will be charming served with Lemon Curd at your Mother’s Day Tea. We suggest adding currants and a little freshly grated orange zest to the dough, although any kind of chopped dried fruit or nuts that your mother prefers can be included instead.  You can even make nut and spice scones by adding up to 2 teaspoons of ginger, cinnamon or nutmeg and 3/4 cup of toasted chopped nuts (such as almonds, pecans or walnuts).

Lemon Curd
Lemon Curd is the perfect accompaniment for the Buttermilk Scones that will highlight the tea table at your lovely Mother’s Day Tea. The bright taste of lemon will also harmonize well with the other springtime delights on this very special menu. Although you can buy prepared Lemon Curd, we recommend making it yourself, as the homemade version is so much more delicious than store bought. You can make your Lemon Curd a day or so in advance and refrigerate it in a clean, tightly fitting glass jar. For this rather formal occasion, serve your Lemon Curd in a small crystal bowl with a silver serving spoon.

The Queen’s Shortbread
Rumor has it that this is the very recipe used at Buckingham Palace to bake Shortbread for Queen Elizabeth’s Afternoon Tea.

Vanilla Bean Spritz Cookies
Spritz cookies are elegant little butter cookies than can be formed into flower shapes using a cookie press. They are also lovely sprinkled with white sugar crystals or sugar crystals in your mother’s favorite colors.

Apricot Custard Tartlets
These pretty little tarts are perfect to honor Mother. The buttery crusts, luscious homemade custard and sparkling golden apricot topping create a wonderful taste combination in every bite. And what could be sweeter than a lovely little edible violet on top?

Pink Champagne Cake
​We love champagne and we love pink; what could possibly be better than pink champagne cake? Here, we up the champagne taste quite a bit with champagne in the cake batter, the frosting, and in soaking syrup that keeps the layers nice and moist. The cake edges are left exposed to reveal the pastel pink color of the cake itself.  Billows of creamy frosting peek out from between the layers and crown the top. We’ve sprinkled the cake with a mix of sizes of edible decorative pearls to mimic champagne bubbles. Use you prettiest cake pedestal to show off this three-layered beauty.

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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