Hello, friends! SO sorry to have been absent for so long! I still don't have my computer back, plus we went on vacation for a week so I have yet again been out of touch. I have a loaner computer for now, so I am hoping to get at least a few posts out a week. Fingers crossed!
In this time "away", I have been trying to live out the "June lifestyle" at home, and it's been going pretty well. I'm a little easier on myself than I once was...not sure if that's really allowed, but my boy is into everything these days, so time that was once reserved for homekeeping is now allotted for picking up knick-knacks and toys, seeing to it that no little fingers go into electrical sockets, and...then trying to catch my breath!
I have been dreaming of my next entertaining endeavor, and perusing Successful Entertaining at Home like a madwoman to answer the question: "Whom shall I entertain next?" As Mother's Day swiftly approaches, I can think of no one better than my mom and my mother-in-law, who will be coming into town in a few weeks for my son's first birthday party (another reason to celebrate!!). I found, on pg. 45 of Ms. Coggins' guide, some simple instructions for "a large tea for a guest." In my case, two guests of honor - a belated Mother's Day Tea, two weeks after Mother's Day for two wonderful women and some of my lovely lady friends who may wish to stop by. Shelley and Sherry, consider this your invitation to afternoon tea on Sunday, May 22!
Ms. Coggins writes:
Let us suppose that you are going to invite twenty-four guests, that you have a dining room where tea is to be served, and that you have a delightful friend who has agreed to pour. On your dining room table will be your most beautiful lace or linen tablecloth.
Well, Carolyn, that's supposing a lot! We will probably invite closer to 12 guests and indeed, have to be content not with a formal dining room, but with our "great room" - my fancy 50's name for our dining room/living room combined. But there is a table, as well as a buffet (possibly from the 50's!) and plenty of space for people to sit comfortably. As I have been fortunate enough to host more than one Thanksgiving in my home, I do possess a tablecloth or two for just such an occasion!
If there is room, the cups and saucers should go [at the end of the table where tea is to be served]. But for a large tea party, the cups and saucers can be placed at the left of the friend presiding at the table so that they can easily be picked up and filled as people arrive asking for tea (p. 45).
One unnerving thought has just struck me as I plan my delightful tea party...I have no teapot. We registered for and received a lovely and expensive teapot for our wedding...only to have it break a year later. Since then, I have been making tea in a medium saucepan...the same one I sometimes make Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in for dinner. There are so many un-fifties-like things about that last sentence, I don't even know where to begin. Perhaps my delightful friend who is pouring the tea will also be in possession of a teapot I can borrow for the occasion. Note to self: See which delightful friend has teapot I can borrow. Immediately.
Two stacks of small plates, with a napkin on each, would be arranged so that guests coming in can help themselves to the small cakes or dainty sandwiches invitingly arranged on the table on separate plates. These small cakes, cookies, and sandwiches are usually those most easily handled by guests, but if you wish you may serve a luscious frosted cake, or two of them if you like (p. 45).
This brings us to the question of a menu. Obviously little cakes, cookies, and sandwiches are a must. I'm thinking many of them will have to be store bought, however, because my son's birthday party is the day before and I will have spent most of my energy baking a cake for him, and getting everything ready for his big day. Perhaps if they are delicately arranged, no one will be the wiser. This I must ponder further. On second thought, who is going to question a luscious frosted cake? As long as there are plates and forks to eat it with, I think everyone will be just fine!
Because of our national preference for coffee, when a tea grows to larger and larger proportions there are often two guests pouring, one serving tea and the other serving coffee, at opposite ends of the table. The coffee urn is surrounded by cups and saucers and the same kind of plate arrangement, each bearing its own napkin, and of course, the inevitable pitcher of cream and bowl of sugar (p. 45).
If I can drudge up a coffee urn from someone, I will. If not, I have a perfectly good coffee pot to brew coffee in for anyone who wants it. It seems I will also need to find lump sugar, because isn't that just a little more fancy - nay, a little more fifties - than a bowl of granulated sugar with a teaspoon beside it?
When giving a tea with friends presiding at your table, there are always a few chairs near by so that anyone who likes can be seated to chat with friends there while having tea (p. 45).
Add that to the list: A few extra chairs. Check!
Naturally, all the guests serve themselves, going in for tea when they like, helping themselves to cakes or sandwiches, asking for hot tea when they wish it, and drinking it in the living or dining room, whatever spot seems most comfortable for them (p.45).
I like the casual, laid-back atmosphere described above. That's what I will strive for: a classic, comfortable tea party (because, who doesn't love the idea of that?) to honor two fabulous women in my life. And what girl (big or little) isn't thrilled by the idea of a formal tea? I, for one can't wait!
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