Saturday, March 11, 2017

Cousins Tea Party

I haven't hosted a tea party in quite a while. And when I do host a tea party, it is usually for friends or a baby shower or something similar. I am great about cooking and baking for others.
When my children were little they always assumed that baked goods like cakes, cookies or pies were going somewhere else.  
When my oldest daughter said she would make the hour and forty five minute drive this Saturday to deliver girl scout cookies, I called the rest of my daughters and daughter in laws and it turned out all of them and ALL of my grandchildren were able to attend.
Not that I do not love them dearly, but I decided to use up odds and ends of different paper products and disposable items instead of my good china for the party.
 I tried to talk the 2 two-year olds into sitting at a smaller table, but they wanted to join the crowd. We also had two high chairs along the sides. Good thing we are a close family.
 I babysit for most of them at sometime during the week, but luckily not all of them at the same time. This limited my prep time for cooking so I took advantage of a few box mixes.
I know my audience. I made mini Kraft macaroni and cheese casseroles for the younger set. About once a year Aldi offers a boxed cranberry pumpkin scone mix. I stock up. The day or two after Thanksgiving, I stop by again and load up on cranberries on clearance. They can go straight in the freezer. I add about 1/2 a bag to the mix.
 I came up with a potato soup recipe years ago and it is a good fit for March. It is probably the most unhealthy version ever, loaded with butter and cream. It is delicious! And I can only make too much (2 crock pots full is the least I can do) so people have to take it home with them. Cream based soups do not freeze well.
Friday night I also made egg salad for sandwich filling and finely sliced cucumber. I layer the cucumber slices on paper towel and sprinkle each layer with salt, another paper towel, repeat, and chill over night. To make sandwiches , I butter bread slices, cut off the crusts and place 4 cucumber slices on top. I cut each slice into 4 squares. They are wonderful.!
I also layered cheese and ham on Hawaiian rolls and made a special Carrot Cake Sandwich (recipe courtesy of Tea Time Magazine) that they all love.  I took a fruit tray to the last pot cluck and the kids all loved it, so I cut up tons of fresh fruit the night before, too.
 I had some sparkling lemonade for the kids and made several pots of different teas for the ladies to try. I am the only real tea drinker, so I am always trying to sway them to the right path! For dessert I baked (from an Aldi mix) strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting. Most missed baby Oliver's first birthday party because they all had the flu, a cold, an ear infection or something - so we ended the tea party by singing happy birthday! 

7 comments:

  1. What a joy to see your family all together! I love that so much. Thank you so for your visit and kind words. Looking forward to catching up. Blessings, Martha

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  2. Wow! It would take me 2 weeks to make all those wonderful dishes! Your family is really blessed to have you! Thank you also for all the tips and ideas. It looks like you all had a wonderful time! I just can't get over the fact that I did not know that you had a blog all this time! I also thought you were a young mother....not a grandmother! You looked so young in your picture! I feel like I just found a long-lost friend! I have a lot of catching up to do! Again, I apologize...you must have wondered why I never came over here.....can I blame it on old age?
    Your family is so cute and lucky you with daughters! I have one and she is precious. And grand babies...no more for me....and they were far away when they were little but look at you with those cuties! I bet your grandchildren adore you! Have a great weekend! You're on my sidebar now so I can see when you have posted!

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  3. What a wonderful party! Everything looks and sounds delicious. I know it was a good day to remember.

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  4. Oh, Miss M! What a fabulous time you must have had! And what joyous preparations and painstaking care you have gone to to make all those lovely goodies for your family. I, too, used to take all the baked goods out of the house, so my children always knew to ask before cutting a slice of anything.

    such a beautiful day and such a lovely tea table---all those recipes sound wonderful right now. Besides the one family here, Our nearest Grands are exactly an hour and forty-five minutes over into Ohio, and all the rest live in five other states, so tea party time is absolutely in fractions and whoever is here at the time.

    I love hearing about all your sweeties! Is it getting about time for CAMP???

    rachel

    PS I've MISSED you!

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  5. Hi Miss Merry :)

    It looks like everyone had a blast! And no wonder with all the great food you made. Everything looked delicious :)

    xo,
    rue

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  6. I just showed Chris all your fabulous GRANDS in the latest post above, and we mused about our own, four of whom we spent Saturday with at a wonderful graduation/going away party.

    I ran on down the blog, with the GRANDmothers and the pictures of older times, and then back through this dear lovely tea party with all your group. What a glorious thing it is to sit at a table with all those young minds and hearts, just looking out at your future surrounding the family table.

    And I just noticed the CUTEST typo---I think a "pot cluck" would be a fabulous event to attend!!

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  7. Our fence looks swell. Ken has volunteered to finish it off. We might have some volunteers to help. Or, I'll attach the toppers tonight a few pickets every week until it has been completed.fence contractors amarillo tx

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Miss Merry