Birthday Tea

My friend Kathryn and I share a birthday - which is pretty cool!  In honour of our day Finley and I hosted Kathryn; her daughters, Sora age four, Mia age two and her lovely mother Diana for Birthday Tea. 

Table Scape

Hosting tea parties is my new little obsession.  I've enjoyed tea at some of the major hotels like The Empress in Victoria BC, The Chateau Laurier in Ottawa ON and The Plaza in NYC. Each time, we get dolled to up meet up with friends to enjoy a leisurely and indulgent afternoon of gabbing with the girls over delicate and decadent bite sized tea morsels.

Egg salad on cucumber

I've borrowed ideas from magazines, baby showers and my Aunt's recipes.  I've altered and tweaked other recipes until I make them fit in my gluten free diet - all the while musing over presentation.  No two teas are ever alike at my house which is absolutely positively FUN!

Endive with sockeye salmon salad, egg salad croissants
and peanut butter and banana triangles.

Endive with sockeye salmon salad with cream cheese, cilantro and red onion. 

Mini cheese cakes, blue berries and ginger cookies...Kathryn baked gluten free peanut butter cookies - so good!

Finley's tea set is also in use.  

Hosting a tea party gives me an opportunity to pull out my grandmother's tea cups, my great-grandma's silver, the tiered serving platters bought for use on our wedding table miss-matched with plates are paired with glasses gifted to me by my friend Rachel when she inherited new ones. 

Stole this idea from my seester.  The hummus is in the bottom  - prevents double dipping!
Well, unless you're dining with toddlers.

My grandma Dodie's tea cup.

My philosophy is USE it Enjoy it!   If it breaks  - at least we got some enjoyment out of it!  What's the point of having heirloom things stuffed behind glass and never used for their intended purposes?  Impermanence people, it's what I'm working on.

Our fabulous girls!
Left to right. Mia, Diana, Sora, Finley and Kathryn.

You might say I have too much time on my hands -but- such is NOT the case - believe me.  Teas like this are surprisingly quick to pull together and so much fun to enjoy.