Holiday Tea

On a warm November day I was busy outside turning these trees from green to frosty winter white. They were going to go on the mantle or hearth, but were too bushy so they were put on top of the old entertainment center. Sarah thinks I need to get rid of it, but it comes in handy for storing a ton of church music and a few other things.
As we have a tradition of leaving things out until after Sarah's birthday in January, the trees were pretty to look at for my holiday tea for my dear friends. My 50 cent etched glass tea pot from our church rummage sale held mini ornaments as our table decoration. I used my new cake stand as a serving piece for some scones, gingerbread, and eclairs. Christmas cash and Pier I!
My trips to the city and the larger grocery stores are interesting and they always have new products to discover that aren't available here out on the eastern plains. This cooking creme was new and I added a bit of powdered sugar to it to serve with the raspberry scones. It has almost the same consistency as sour cream, but is not as tangy, especially with the added sugar. The container had ideas how to use it in other recipes and I must get more next time to try them out.

One of my gingerbread girls wanted to be the
center of attention!

Our tea time was not exactly High Tea (or a cream tea), but I had to have cucumber sandwiches! I used what I had at home for the bread...Sara Lee thin style buns. They are flat like pita bread and this weekend I even found some mini buns when I got my mom's groceries! I would have rather had rye bread, but I don't run to town for just one item. The sandwiches looked so plain that I shredded some carrots because the curls I made were too big.
We enjoyed our late afternoon soiree by sampling, sipping and chatting and before we knew it, the sun had gone down and it was dark! We are too old to wait for the moon to come out or go down for that matter! I think this group of friends should do tea more often!
Totally unrelated, but I really love my new mantle clips that I discovered before Christmas. I about killed Alex's flat screen TV with a stocking hanger that you can see in the first picture when I was moving things around. They are going to be so much safer AND I will be using them for more decorations during the year. In a few more days it will be bye-bye Christmas and hello Spring. I'll just skip Valentine's Day and move right on to the pastels that I love the most. ♥♫

I joined Sandi at her lovely Tea Time Tuesday party this week and forgot to let you know! You may click on her name and return to her blog if you are visiting and want to stop by other tea parties.