Emma's after-school tea parties always had pink-lemonde "tea," plus fruit, cheese, a mix of candies (here, little ice-cream cones and white-and-dark chocolate mushrooms from the Japanese grocery story), a chocolate umbrella (wrapped), a raspberry marshmallow stick, and apple chips.
Other goodies I've used are, from left, a cheeto stick, chocolate marshmallows that I cut into pieces and skewered on a pretty toothpick, caramel-filled pretzel bites, cookie sticks in either strawberry or chocolate, Hello Kitty cakes, and Kuala bear cookies with chocolate or strawberry filling.
These are some of the cute toothpicks I use to skewer pieces of fruit and cheese (Emma particularly likes boccacini, which works beautifully). Sometimes, instead of the teapot, I serve the pink lemonade in champagne glasses with plastic flower ice cubes and the pretty flower straw.
Emma was missing her little-girl after-school tea parties, and asked if we could have one of our own. Just when I thought she was too old, too cool, too jaded, she was my baby again! We made this high tea together, and what a lovely afternoon we had!
Emma and I made these jelly rolls for our tea--it's a favorite of hers, and I used to make platters of them when I was the soccer-snack mom. Just de-crust the kind of white bread you never want your kids to eat, flatten with a rolling pin, spread with strawberry or raspberry jam, and roll. You can cut the rolls on the diagonal and stand up, or slice thinly.
We also made ham-and-cream cheese roll-ups that we sliced.
Instead of giving Emma and her friends a standard fruit-and-goldfish or granola-bar snack when they had a playdate after school, I used to prepare a tea party. I found a pink flowery tea set at an antique store, and I was always on the lookout for fancy toothpicks and other hors d’oeuvre servers. I filled the teapot with pink lemonade, the little bowl with some kind of chips or crackers, and the plates with fruit, cheese and special cookies and candies I’d find, mostly in a Japanese grocery store. I loved searching candy and specialty stores for goodies, and found all sorts of great marshmallows, gummies in animal shapes (the favorite was the peach-flavored penguin), little cakes, and candies. I was on the lookout wherever I went, and so was Emma!
Truth be told, I’ve been missing those tea parties, too, along with all sorts of things we did when Emma was too young to say, “I can do it myself.”
Emma loved her tea parties so much she often made her own to share with Guthrie--she fixed herself a plate of candy; he got a plate of chicken and cheese...and was VERY patient!
How sweet! You both are so cute! Those jelly rolls really look good!
By: zoe on July 16, 2009
at 8:07 am
How lovely! Can I just say that gracious Guthrie has infinitely better table manners than Barney. That’s probably just as well as by the look of him, he could eat the whole table – cloth and all – if he put his mind to it.
By: lickedspoon on July 16, 2009
at 8:25 am
Sweet!
)
By: Christelle on July 16, 2009
at 8:42 am
this reminds me of the tea parties i use to have at my grandmas place long time back
beautiful!!
By: nora@ffr on July 16, 2009
at 9:41 am
This is so cute, I love your dog just sitting there.
By: Helene on July 16, 2009
at 9:58 am
Very sweet. My mom would have picnics for us, either in the backyard or the family room if it was inclement. What a well behaved dog!
By: Bob on July 16, 2009
at 10:40 am
I just love Emma and Guthrie stories! They are both adorable!
By: Phoo-D on July 16, 2009
at 11:17 am
Very cute!!!!
Make me want to have a daughter now.
By: elra on July 16, 2009
at 1:48 pm
That picture of Emma with Gutherie is one of my favorite all time pics ever!
By: Kim on July 16, 2009
at 2:12 pm
What a fun thing to do with children. And puppies. Big puppies!
By: duodishes on July 16, 2009
at 2:53 pm
What a beautiful tradition! The picture of her and the doggie having tea is just precious!
By: Reeni on July 16, 2009
at 5:26 pm
I love the prettiness and sweet simplicity. The jam rolls are delectable and the ham rolls are a hit here. And I really love Emma and her four-legged best friend at her side. Yay for those times when you still want to be a litle girl.
By: Claudia on July 16, 2009
at 5:46 pm
How very sweet. You are the best kind of mommy there is! She ..Emma.. will always remember these times!
By: donna on July 16, 2009
at 5:46 pm
This is soo cute and sweet! I love those roll ups and candies..heck! i love the whole idea of this tea party! I will be having a tea party with my daughter..lol!
By: peachkins on July 16, 2009
at 8:06 pm
Ohhhh, this is so sweet. My girl is still a aby but I can’t wait to do these kind of things when she grows. I wonder if I should I ask my son if he wants a tea party with me. He is usually asking to make smoothies.
By: Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. on July 16, 2009
at 9:03 pm
Ohhhh, this is so sweet. My girl is still a aby but I can’t wait to do these kind of things when she grows. I wonder if I should I ask my son if he wants a tea party with me. He is usually asking to make smoothies.
Sorry… forgot to say great post – can’t wait to read your next one!
By: Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. on July 17, 2009
at 2:36 am
So Sweet! Emma will always treasure this special Tea Partys !!! Your Dog look so Cute
Beautiful Post !
Thanks for sharing
Have a wonderful Day~
By: fooddcreate on July 17, 2009
at 2:25 pm
How adorable! I want to have a tea party.
By: alexandra on July 17, 2009
at 4:04 pm
That is too cute! I’m glad that you can still bond with her in that way. She’ll always be your baby!
By: Monica H on July 17, 2009
at 10:08 pm
Great site, I now have you bookmarked to come back again.
By: biscuit recipes on July 17, 2009
at 10:35 pm
The tea party is so enchanting, isn’t it? I still remember my little tea set.
By: Angela@Spinach Tiger on July 18, 2009
at 5:04 am
oh I used to LOVE having tea parties with all my friends and our dolls as a kid! But never with such cute food!
By: burpexcuzme on July 18, 2009
at 9:55 am
Isn’t that nice that she wanted to do that with you?? I love when my older son asks to do something with me as a teenager!! I’ll take what I can get!
I love your tea party fixin’s!! So cute!
By: Jenn@slim-shoppin on July 18, 2009
at 9:58 am
This is beyond cute!
I love your/Emma’s china set. I want one like it! And those Japanese snacks are quite popular in my house as well
By: Marta on July 18, 2009
at 10:33 am
AAAAAAh,…how lovely that is!!!
hahahahah,..;with your dog!
By: Sophie on July 19, 2009
at 5:21 am
How adorable! Looks like a good time is being had by all – especially the dog! Cute!!
By: Stephanie on July 19, 2009
at 5:44 am