Do you need some tea party-related gifts for yourself or someone else? Here’s a list of 23 gifts I would choose for other tea party fans. If you see something you like, go ahead and let someone know! I consider it a great way to help save the environment these days; to ask others what they enjoy and politely share our choices, so we don’t end up with gifts we don’t really want. Don’t you agree?
To add to your tea party:
- Princess Rose Menu Tile–I use mine all the time, a tip I picked up from our local tearoom. A great addition to easily post your menu or welcome your friends by name. Guests love to see their names.
- Silver-plated Napkin Rings and Place Card Holders–Which is why I almost always use place cards. These elegant ones couple as napkin rings or place card holders. I love choice and versatility when I purchase something for my table settings.
- Rosanna 4-pc. Red Dots Tea Cups and Saucers–These are just fun for this time of year and can be used other times of years as well (Valentine’s Day, Fourth of July). I really like Rosanna products because they’re fun AND elegant.
- Chantal 24-ounce Tea Pot–The first tea pot I ever owned. Comes in a number of different colors and inexpensive enough that your heart won’t break if the tea pot does. Everyone needs at least one teapot and the red one looks fabulous with the cups and saucers I listed above.
For the young tea party girl:
For those new to looseleaf tea:
My Top Five Favorite Tea Reads:
Additions for any hospitality:
- Noel Hotch Potch Guest Towels–I know, I never understood guest towels either. But do your guests really all need to use the same towel? Which is more important, saving the environment or passing everyone’s cold to each other. For some, it’s a toss-up, I know. But I now love to provide my guests their own towels when they wash their hands.
- Cameo French Milled Soaps–If you can’t quite get your brain around guest towels, at least consider these soaps as a pretty addition to your bathroom. Hopefully your guests will not consider them too pretty to use!
For the serious tea drinker:
- Picnic at Ascot 2-person Coffee & Tea Super Deluxe Coffee Backpack, Green–Have tea, will travel. Remember, tea to the English is really a picnic indoors (Alice Walker). And since many of us don’t have to live with England’s weather, why not take the tea party outdoors. With this backpack, you can take it outside beautifully and simply.
- Cuisinart RK-17 Traditional 1.75 QT. Electric Kettle- Stainless Steel–So handy for the cold,winter mornings ahead when you need your water warmed up fast. And I love this old-fashioned style because it looks elegant on the counter. Everyone I know who owns an electric kettle swears by them. I’ve added this one to my Christmas list this year, too.
- Bodum Yo Yo Tea Infuser with Lid, Stainless Steel–If you brew as much tea as me (daily), a permanent, sturdy, infuser is the best choice and Bodum’s products are well-known for the serious tea drinker.
- Tea: a Magazine–the most well-known and reliable magazine about our favorite beverage and the culture that goes with it.
Which item would you put on your wish list? What would you add to this list? What’s your favorite tea-related gift? Let us know in the comments.
And yes, there are affiliate products listed in this email, though they are all my personal choices. If you purchase any of these items through Tea Party Girl, I will receive a (small) cut. This is a great way to ensure my husband will keep giving me time away from the children to write. That’s a cause you can get behind, wouldn’t you say? 
November 12th, 2007
Planning your tea party for sixty or more? Need a simple favor? Be sure to see my recommendation in this article, “Three Tea Party Favors for the Creatively Challenged“.
So you’ve decided to throw a tea party, possibly this holiday season. Or maybe you’re just exploring your options. Either way, I want to tell you it can be done. And I plan to tell you how. But first, let’s define a crowd.
One of my tea mentors taught me that intimate is never more than eight. If you plan a sit-down tea party for more than eight (don’t forget yourself!) you will need more than one table. So some would say nine is a crowd. And some of you are here wondering if you can pull of a tea party event for a hundred or more.
I want you to know it’s easier than it seems and much harder than it seems.
It’s harder than it seems because the successful tea party pays attention to the details, down to the napkin folds and sandwich garnishes. And all these details take time. A tea party should transport the guests and make room for them to relish in beauty, taste, and connection with others. As a host or hostess, this is your goal.
It’s easier than it seems because like anything else, once you prepare yourself with some knowledge you will know where to put your energy for the most reward. That’s where I come in. So let’s get started.
First, if you are preparing a tea party for a crowd, you must have help. Who will be your team (volunteers or professionals)? What will you delegate? Be sure to think this through as I outline what you will need to do to pull this off. I’ve already written the article, “The Guide to Planning a Tea Party” that outline the process step by step, based on the season of your event. This article will focus on what you need to do specifically if you plan to serve a crowd.
Your first area of focus involves the guest list and the invitations. It’s important for you to have an accurate number and RSVPs can be difficult to collect. How will you handle these? Will you sell tickets? How will you collect the money? If you want to host a tea party as a fund-raiser or club/church event I recommend making a budget, selling tickets, and choosing a reasonable cut-off date for making reservations, say one week before. What will your policy be for cancellations? Will you sell any tickets at the door the day of the event? How will you plan seating and food quantity if you do this?
When it comes to managing a large group of people, I recommend giving your guests as much ownership as possible to make the reservation, pay, and have an incentive to show up (i.e. no refunds after a certain deadline). If you are not charging for your event, I recommend you consider not hosting a sit-down event where each person needs a specific seat. Instead provide places for people to sit and gather informally, low tables for setting their cups and serving finger food buffet-style. The tea buffet also works well with the large paid event, especially if you cannot provide a server per table or two (especially if they’re volunteers).
Take the time to read my thorough article, The Steps to Creating a Tea Party Menu, and make your food decisions. A great amount of food prep can be taken care of beforehand. I received a number of these tips from my local tearoom, Afternoon to Remember.
- Sandwich fillings, like chicken salad, taste better when made up a day or two ahead. Sandwiches can be prepared the night before if you spread a thin layer of butter on your bread and fill the bread with a filling (all the way to the crusts). Lay the sandwiches on trays lined with parchment paper. Lay well-wrung damp paper towels over the sandwiches and then cover the tray with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. All that needs to be done the day of the tea is cutting and garnishing the sandwiches.
- Scones are best made ahead of time, frozen, and baked straight from the freezer right before your event. They will be served warm and your guests will be greeted with the fragrance of fresh baked goods.
- Soup and quiche can be made ahead of time and reheated the day of the party.
- While Afternoon to Remember does make everything from scratch, they do acquiesce that not everything needs to be. If it is in your budget, consider working with a local bakery. They will often make certain specialty items, like small iced tea cakes if you order a certain quantity.
Many large events ask for volunteers to serve as hostesses and decorate a table with their own china, teacups, and silver from home. If you choose to go this route, I recommend writing down what your hostess needs to bring to help them prepare. (See How to Set the Table for Tea). And be sure to spend some time orienting your servers, especially if they’re volunteers. Teach them how to address those they’re serving (No “You guys all done?”), pour tea (don’t pick up the cup without the saucer or reach across someone’s face…), and what to wear (cover those bellies, girls!).
If using a buffet table, use boxes under the tablecloth or three-tiered trays for visual height. Determine how you can incorporate your theme into the buffet’s decorations and provide plenty of serving utensils so people don’t have to use their fingers. And remember, no scented candles to interfere with the fragrance of the food and tea!
Speaking of tea, preparing and providing enough hot tea for a large group can be the trickiest part of your event. Over and over, excellently planned large events I’ve attended completely fall apart when it comes to serving the actual tea. I think people treat the tea as an afterthought, tacking it on at the end and believing it’s the easiest part of the event. This is not the case! Be sure to read my article, “The Tea Party’s Most Important Ingredient” for all the information you need to know to serve tea at your event. Some key reminders when serving large groups:
- You cannot store tea or make the hot water in used coffee urns or the tea will taste like bad coffee. Urns used only for tea are the best choice. If they are unavailable, run the coffee urns through an entire cycle of clear water with baking soda and make sure they are as clean as possible with no coffee smell or residue.
- Coffee percolators do not get water hot enough for tea. If you must use percolators, find ones that can get the water as close to boiling as possible.
- Make tea ahead of time (an hour or two) and store it in glass-lined air pots. This will help you at the last minute crunch of getting everyone hot tea. Be sure to temper the pots with hot water before pouring in the tea so there’s no risk the glass will break.
- Use a resource for water besides the tap, especially if there’s any hint of a chlorine taste.
Planning a tea party for a crowd can be a lot of work. But it’s the details and the planning that make it work. Don’t try to do too much, but take the time to plan your event well. Set a realistic budget, ask for help, borrow what you don’t have when possible, and take the time to really think through all the elements. A tea party for a crowd is doable! What makes you hesitate when you think about planning a fund-raiser or church event, for example? Be sure to ask your questions in the comments below. Or let us know about the holiday tea you’re helping to plan.
October 15th, 2007
So you’ve decided to host a tea for your next event. The menu’s chosen and the invitations sent. You purchased the tea and reviewed how to brew it. Your event is not a buffet, and each guest needs a place-setting. What do you need to know?
- Afternoon tea, by definition, is a light meal. Luncheon/salad plates are the best size to use.
- The teacup is placed to the right of the place setting.
- Turn the teacup handle OUT (pointing to the right of the cup) and the blade of the knife IN (toward the plate).
- Use only non-scented candles and lightly-perfumed flowers. Let the smells come from the food and tea.
- Try and find luncheon-sized (nine-inch square) instead of dinner-sized (twelve-inch square) napkins. Place them to the left of the plate or on the plate folded prettily or with a napkin ring.
- If you use regularly-sized butter knives, instead of smaller spreaders, knife rests
are lovely additions and almost necessary. Your guests will find it difficult to rest the larger knives on the smaller plates.
- Other normal place settings apply. Use only the necessary silverware. Forks on the left, knives and spoons on the right. Water glasses sit on the right above the knife.
- Place-cards are a lovely, helpful touch.
Setting the table is my favorite part of preparing for a tea-themed event. I love to see all the pretty elements come together. Have fun with it!
What one thing can you add to your home to help you set a pretty tea table?
September 14th, 2007
Do you recognize any of your tea drinking habits in the following list? Learn how to take your tea drinking to the next level with a few simple adjustments.
Many tea drinkers commonly…
- Think grocery store herb “tea” bags are drinking tea. While the trend is S.L.O.W.L.Y. changing, the majority of tea sold in the grocery store is not tea, but the “dust and fannings” of herbs. Tea bags were invented 100 years ago as a way to send samples to customers, but tea was drunk 5000 years without the bag. The trend of the teabag caught on, but severely affected the quality of what was placed inside the bags. If you only drink herbs, you have never drank tea. If you’ve only drank Lipton black tea bags, you are drinking the lowest quality tea available, the crumbs of the tea leaf, made to infuse very quickly. If you are committed to the teabag, look for the Mighty Leaf brand. It is more widely available in looseleaf and “tea pouches”.
- Use tea strainers that are too small. So, if you’ve graduated to looseleaf tea, but use the mesh strainer the size of a super-ball to brew your tea, you most likely need a bigger strainer. The tea mesh-balls we all seem to own in the backs of our kitchen drawer mean you can brew one cup of tea at a time. Tea leaves need plenty of room to expand, they double in size to release their full flavor. I recommend using a tea sock or sac for brewing looseleaf tea. The sacs are disposable and the tea sock reusable and can be used no matter what size of pot you are brewing.
- Use tap or microwaved water. Tea is mostly water. Lousy water means lousy tea. All the chemical aftertaste of tap water and the “tinny-ness” of microwaved water will greatly affect tea’s subtle tastes and nuances. Cold, filtered water makes the best tea.
- Burn or rust out the bottom of their teakettles. A good tea kettle is not inexpensive. Many times I have gone to fill someone’s kettle and seen it rusted out on the inside. First, be sure to not leave your pot boiling until the water is gone. Secondly, especially if you don’t use it often, empty your teakettle of any unused water every time. I also leave my tea kettles lid ajar after I empty it, so it can air dry.
- Use the wrong water temperature, boil the water too long, or brew the tea too long. The most common mistake is over-boiling water for green tea, one of the latest health food crazes. Green tea needs a rapid steaming water, but NOT BOILING. It will taste like an overcooked vegetable. Green teas only need two minutes of brewing. Black teas only need 3-4 minutes and almost boiling water for brewing. Over-brewed tea will taste bitter. If you put on your kettle and go upstairs to make your bed and leave the kettle boiling, oxygen is rapidly being released from your water and the result will be a flat-tasting tea. Know the water temp and steeping (brewing) times of your teas and honor them.
- Use cream or half-n-half in their tea instead of milk. Cream and half-n-half are too “heavy”. Again, the subtlety of the tea flavor only needs a touch of milk. Many a large tea party fund-raiser has spent too much money providing half-n-half instead of milk to the guests.
- Do not store their tea properly. Tea needs to be protected from heat, light, moisture, and other flavors. The best storage is a tea tin in a cupboard away from the stove. If you put your Earl Grey tea next to your spices, you will end up with a cinnamon-flavored Earl Grey (or chili powder-flavored!). If you see tea in glass jars out on the shelf when you go to buy your looseleaf tea, this is not ideal! Unless the store turns over their tea VERY QUICKLY, the freshness of your tea has been compromised. Don’t store your tea over your stove to easily grab once the kettle is boiling. Never store tea in the refrigerator.
So which of these “tea truths” surprised you? What part of your tea drinking habits do you need to change? Is there any other mistakes you’ve noticed that we need to add to the list?
August 20th, 2007
I recently wrote an exhaustive article on the Steps to Creating a Tea Party Menu and confessed that despite loving Tea Parties, I don’t relish time in the kitchen. Currently, I am sharing the process of planning for my August Tea Party Event. The day to plan the menu is upon me. With high standards and a limited budget, I am determined to find The Lazy Baker’s Way to Plan a Tea Party Menu.
Using my own suggestions, here’s my plan:
- Serve a cold summer fruit-based soup. A local deli makes wonderful cold soup in the summer. I will call them to find out how much a family-sized soup costs and what they will offer during that weekend.
- Serve a corn, tomato, pepper and basil-based salad. I will make this myself. Summer produce abounds and is relatively inexpensive. Almost everyone loves these flavors and it will be colorful. I can make it ahead of time and dress it at the last minute.
- Omit the quiche. The party is at 2:3o so it’s not a mealtime, decent quiche is expensive, and I don’t relish making it or eating it.
- Put my energy into the sandwiches. These are difficult to delegate. My husband can help me. One of the sandwiches will be on the square, thin, bread I can buy at the grocery store deli. I can roll it up and cut it into pinwheels. My three sandwiches will be:
- Open-face traditional cucumber (they’re in season!) and butter on white bread cut with my teapot cookie cutter and garnished with edible violet flowers.
- Turkey Salad with Dried Blueberries on whole-grain bread
- Dijon Pesto Tea Pinwheel Sandwiches-a recipe from a nationally famous local tearoom
- Ask a local bakery (a new Safeway Lifestyles store) to make the scones, some bite-sized fruit tarts, and either petit fours or mini cupcakes. This is where I am willing to spend some money and compromise my love of all-natural food. It will save me so much time and emotional energy, it will be worth it. I will also serve jarred lemon curd and creme fraiche from Trader Joe’s.
- Buy some semi-decent chocolates at Trader Joe’s (I love Trader Joe’s-do you have one where you live?) to fill out the dessert-tier. Not the best season (the best time to buy chocolate at TJ’s is around the holidays), but my choco-holic friends won’t care and the price is right.
- Garnish with in-season green purple grapes. They’re heavy on the neighbor’s vines and the children will enjoy picking them.
- Pre-make Grasshopper ice cream sundaes~a recipe from a recent issue of Every Day with Rachel Ray. I will serve it as the last course on a day that will most likely be warm. But I will need to find an alternate serving vessel as much as I love the stainless steel martini glass in the mag pic.
- Make peach-iced tea and a Ceylon hot tea. I would rather serve Darjeeling because it goes with more of what I’m serving, but I don’t currently have one in stock. I might as well use one of the many others I do to avoid another way to spend money.
- Save enough money for a decent bottle of wine. This group of girls don’t drink, but Plays with Fire and I will enjoy sharing a bottle of Riesling on the back deck when it’s all over.
So what does this mean for this lazy baker exactly?
- Make the salad
- Make the sandwiches
- Make the sundaes
- Buy and Assemble the resst
Tomorrow I will post my shopping list to make sure it is reasonable and within the budget. What do you all think? Am I on the right track?
July 18th, 2007
