#457 -- Have a tea party

Back in September at my Pampered Chef Party, somehow we got on the topic of things I have't done. I brought out my original bucket list and niece was looking through it. In that perfect eleven year old voice, she was like "You never had a tea party?". I think it shocked her that her nearly 35 aunt never had a tea party, even with my dolls. I grew up with brothers. Tea parties weren't high on the list of priorities..Lego building and matchbox car racing were a different story.

The next day I mentioned the idea of having a tea party to Danielle, who readily agreed and the party was born. We wanted it on the front porch, with cucumber sandwiches and scones. After talking to Janis about the tea party, fancy clothes and big hats were added. Now we just needed a date. And so today was the day that we came up with.

I am not a tea drinker, which probably another reason having a tea party wasn't high on the priority list but was willing to find a tea I might like. Everyone brought their favorite tea. I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a variety pack of fruit teas after consulting with my cousin about teas for non-tea drinkers. In the Fruit Tea Sampler by Celestail Seasonings I discovered 2 teas I liked: The Raspberry Zinger and The Black Cherry Berry. That's right I had not 1 but 2 cups of tea and if I wasn't so full I probably would have tried the Country Peach Passion.

What's a tea party without cucumber sandwiches and crumpets? Danielle made these fabulous cucumber sandwiches and ham roll ups. Shannon brought Mickey Mouse Scones. Erin was instructed to make Cheesecake. Janis made these broccoli cheese quiches with coconut flour that were actually quite tasty (and I don't like quiche) and a pineapple upside down cake.

I decided to bring crumpets. I found a recipe awhile back in the Betty Crocker International Cookbook and decided it would be perfect for the tea party. On Friday afternoon, I figured I better look at the recipe to determine if I needed eggs or not (on Friday it said I didn't need eggs, on Saturday it did.). While reading through the recipe it said to grease flan rings or tuna cans and pour 2 tsps of batter in the rings on a griddle. I don't own flan rings.  I don't eat tuna. After a panicked post in the Facebook event and some searching on Pinterest, I was told I could use cookie cutters or biscuit cutters. Not sure if I didn't let my crumpets rise long enough, used too much batter, or what but they didn't quite have the look of an English Muffin but more of a pancake look. It really didn't matter, they were scrumptious.

It was a fabulous little affair that is probably going to turn into a yearly event. I guess I will have to go out and buy my own big hat. It was fun to get all dressed up and have a tea party once in a while. It's one of those things that if it wasn't on the bucket list, I probably would never have thought to do but now that I have done it, I would like to do it again preferably without the random sunburn