Tea party!

After many false starts, Jennifer and I threw our first small tea party on a snowy Saturday. Jennifer provided the sweets; I contributed the savouries and scones. It was a great chance to use some of my hidden, stored, and packed away tableware, some of it for the first time!

The tea table at a glance:



Even though there were only six of us and an extra leaf in the table, there was not an extra inch of room for anything! The teapots were on the breakfront.

I used a mix of china, which is not the norm for me - a set of cups and saucers that are a favorite gift from my college friends, a sugar and creamer set that matched the tea plates, and a honey pot from another set altogether.



The savouries included three kinds of sandwiches and a board of Manchego cheese served with homemade quince jam and paté served with sliced baguette. Yum! And check out those cinnamon chip scones. I served those with Devonshire cream.



And every tea has its princess! Joy fit the bill nicely. She even brought her own tiara!



I hope this tea is only the first of many. See all of you for tea in the Spring??

Party planning, the winter edition...

Although it's early days yet, I'm starting to think about this year's Chanukah party. The first question is when should it be. December weekends are ridiculous, but weeknights are school nights, and some will be less inclined to party. And then there's the issue that Chanukah is crazy close to Christmas this year which will make fitting a party into people's already busy schedules that much harder. But since I believe that holidays should be celebrated during the actual holiday, we'll work with what we have and hope for the best. And I'll send out the invitations early to try and get on as many people's calendars as possible.

The other question I always have about the party is what to serve. Latkes, of course, with the trimmings, are filling and the whole point of the bash, but are they enough? What are the fitting accompaniments for oily, fried potatoes? What are your sides when french fries are your main dish? I've done salad as an antidote. I don't want to even think about a making meat course for the masses. You don't need a starch when starch is the star of the evening. And what is the best beverage to compliment the latkes? Beer, wine? Red or white? Sodas? Punch? A signature cocktail?

Serious research is called for, clearly. I predict evenings in Borders in the Jewish cookbook section to come.

Send all of your menu and other party suggestions right along...