A lovely Sunday Afternoon Tea

Today,  I had Lily of the Valley from the garden on the porch to greet guest arriving for Afternoon Tea. We were celebrating Bev's birthday on this beautiful day.

I decided homemade pear preserves would be nice and decided to try making pistachio scones to compliment the pear preserves. I adapted the basic Savoy scone recipe and added chopped pistachios instead of raisins.

 

 

 

 

While the scones baked I set up all the dishes for tea.

 

I also already made madeleines and macarons so to "round off" the menu, I decided deviled eggs would be great. I arranged the day before for Jean to boil and peel the eggs for me so "deviling" the eggs would be a breeze. 

For a twist, I decided to try a curried version for the egg yolk filling. I added curry powder and Trader Joes curry sauce to the mixture.

 

Collard flowers for garnish

 

Tea is off course not complete without sandwiches. I went with old fashioned pimento cheese sandwiches, but with a twist because I had misplaced the jar of pimentos.

 

 

 

Tea is served!

 

 

 

 

Assam & Earl Grey blend

 

We lingered for the whole afternoon and by the time tea was over, it was almost sunset. I decided to leave the dishes in the serving tray to be washed later and headed with out to the garden.

Lily of the Valley at sunset

A Birthday Tea & Garden Tour

What a wonderful "Spring Break" week it has been culminating with a fabulous tea party for Jane and garden tour today. I thought ahead while at Alon's yesterday and picked up a few "goodies" that would make it easy to pull a tea party together. I figured I could not go wrong with my favotites: Apple Normandy, Croissants, honey duck breast and Sweet Grass Dairy green hill cheese from Thomasville GA.

Alon's duck breast & Star Provisions asparagus

I spent the morning catching up on a few gardening duties and shopping for some more annuals to go in the planters. The daffodils fell over after the storm and the warmer weather made them even floppier. To continue enjoying them, I cut the blooms and made a wonderful arrangement for the porch.

I planned a simple menu with the gourmet goodies from Alon's and also made some scones and deviled eggs.

 

 

A perfect batch of Savoy scones with golden raisins

piped and ready for a sprig of dill

 

 

Simply roasted asparagus: Asparagus, olive oil & Maldon salt

Happy Spring: roasted asparagus & duck breast

Green tea caramels

All ready for guest

 

 

Cheese from Thomasville

 

 

 

 

 

Homemade golden raisin Savoy scones

Apple Normandy from Alon's

 

 

 

After enjoying tea, we took a tour of the garden. Spring is in full swing!

Double-file Viburnum, Solomon's Seal and Lily of the Valley

Dutch Iris

 

Peony

 

 

White creeping Phlox

Lady Banks