Old Style Afternoon Tea Party

Seakay

What a brilliant idea!


make things mini - scones, crustless sandwiches etc Somehow mini stuff always looks more special!
Mini eclairs are rather fab and I think that you can still get them from Iceland if you don't fancy piping choux pastry
Cut scotch eggs into eighths to serve or make them around quails eggs and halve them.

If your local deli, Sainsburys or Tesco sells offcuts of smoked salmon cheaply then liquidise them with some creme fraiche, quark, or Greek yoghurt. Season with pepper, maybe a little salt and use it generously as a luxury sandwich filling with thinly sliced cucumber (salted and drained in a colander for 30 mins then rinsed and patted dry) or with cress.

Shortbread fingers, batchelors buttons, melting moments are all lovely biscuits.

Pink.

Hi Rachel,

Make a good variety of sandwiches, cut the crusts off and cut them into dainty trianges. What about small scones with jam and cream? Could you beg or borrow a cake stand from anyone? Use doilies and pretty napkins and your best china and cutlery.

This thread has lots of ideas that may help:

Old Style Afternoon Tea Party

I'll add your thread to that one once you've had more replies.

Pink

mrsd

All of the above sound good. My DH saved up to take us to the Ritz for my 40th birthday, we had a selection of sandwiches on white and wholemeal bread, scones with jam and cream, tiny little pastries and fruit cake, all served with tea, coffee and juice. We had plenty they just kept topping up trays. I have thought thats what I would serve if I did afternoon tea in future. After all if its good enough for the Ritz...... He also paid extra for a birthday cake, so maybe you could make a Mothers Day cake for all to share. Sure if you dress up table with nice cloth and some spring flowers it would all the difference, for us it was the atmosphere as much as anything that made it so lovely.

jfdi

Back in the 70s my Mum & her best friend met up alternate Wednesdays & us kids (boy & girl for each Mum!) met up with them after school.
We ALWAYS had a tea before going home. It was very similar to the one you've described, but sometimes we also had jelly with fruit or icecream (never both!), or sausages on sticks, or twiglets!
Weird the things you remember isn't it?

System

I am doing similar for my sister's 50th.
One thing everyone loves are cocktail sausages (we use a packet of cooked ones) reheat for 5 mins or so then take out and pour over a mix of honey and wholegrain mixture (couple of tablespoons of honey and 2 heaped teaspoons of mustard) then let them cook for another 5 mins till nice and sticky.Be careful not to burn the honey and give them a shake half way, so easy.
Also i am going to make a bellini cocktail,as i have some cava and get the peach juice from Lidl,for those that would like a little tipple.
Hope you have a lovely day

MrsChaos

Seakay wrote: »

Mini eclairs are rather fab and I think that you can still get them from Iceland if you don't fancy piping choux pastry

Your Mother's Day tea sounds like a fabulous idea. Jack Fulton's do small eclairs, too.

gibson123

You must do fresh cream meringues, it's not afternoon tea without them and what a lovely idea. I also like flattened bread wrapped round a cocktail sausage and baked in the oven so it is toasty

gibson123

Another idea for your cava is to crush some strawberries with mint leaves and brown sugar in your mortal aand pestel, dig a fresh strawberry in the mixture and pop into the bottom of your champagne flute, add a mint leave to garnish once you have topped up the bubbly. If you have children in the party, serve them appletise in champagne flutes (you can buy plastic ones cheaply) so that they can join in the birthday toast.

Badger_Lady

Sounds like the 'Special Tea' my Mum used to make us on our birthdays. Although, thinking back, Special Tea was a thawed Victorian sponge, cheese and pickle sandwiches and crisps :rotfl:

minimad1970

Pin wheel sandwiches. My Mum always makes these, they just look a bit more special than normal ones.