High Tea 2010

You may remember the High Tea party I threw last year, complete with letterpress printed tea menus and towers of treats. Well, it was such a success I decided to do it again this year. This time, I even printed invitations (yes, the snail mail kind!):

And what good would invitations be without a coordinating RSVP card?

Along with the tea menu, they made a pretty cute ensemble:

Everything was done as a 2 color print on 100% post-consumer cotton paper (my current favorite). Since I had already acquired most of what I needed for a tea party last year, the place setting came together really easily:

Add towers of home baked goods, flowers, and voila! A beautiful tea party table:

Of course, it also helps when you have your lovely friend iRe taking tea orders.

I didn't letterpress print the food menu because I wasn't sure how much I was going to actually get done before the day of the party, but I did print one big copy from my home printer.

I actually made everything that I intended to this year, which was quite an accomplishment but wouldn't have been possible without the help of Mom, Dad, and iHub (thanks guys!). For your drooling pleasure, here is what was served:

Herbed Goat Cheese & Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
Deviled Ham & Pecan Tea Sandwiches (my favorite!)
Smoked Trout & Watercress Tea Sandwiches
Prosciutto Gruyere Pastry Pinwheels

Kuchen (German Holiday Bread, family recipe)
Cheddar/Dill Scones (delectable)
Crumpets
Lemon Curd
Devonshire Cream
Rhubarb & Red Onion Chutney
Orange Marmalade (purchased)

Grape Pie (family recipe)
Sea Salt Caramels (so easy, so good!)
Mini Vanilla Cupcakes with Creamy Vanilla Frosting
Cinnamon Biscotti

Whew! I'm not providing a link to the mini vanilla cupcakes recipe I used, because it was only OK. I actually made a whole initial batch using another recipe, but those came out brick-like and weird. For some reason, it seems that mini cupcake recipes are different than regular cupcake recipes. I haven't found one yet that I love. The frosting recipe I am in love with however, is here. It's amazing. Trust me. And now for some photos of the food! First, we have a tower with cinnamon biscotti, mini vanilla cupcakes with creamy vanilla frosting, and sea salt caramels:

Here's a savory tower with tea sandwiches, cheddar/dill scones, and crumpets:

A closeup of some tea sandwiches (this is making my mouth water):

The grape pie:

And the pinwheels:

All in all, a great time was had and we all stuffed our faces extremely well.

Until next year!

(thanks to my Mom for the lovely pictures)