Wordless Wednesday: Crown of Thorns

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Does it cost an arm and a leg?

Does it cost an arm and a leg to throw a happy shindig? Because I really don't have any of those to spare.

I recently hosted a Valentine's Day Ladies Tea at my home (for the 5th year in a row), and I've learned a thing or two since I first started. The truth of the matter is - yes, you can throw a good party without spending a fortune. For me, I've invested money in staple items that will be used every year and/or at other events - my china, for instance. Also, my table linens are burgundy, and look very nice when dressed up for Christmas dinner, too. And my pretty serving dishes were all handed down to me from my mother, and can all be used at any meal I'm hosting. So, the first rule is to be wise when investing money on more costly items. Make sure the more expensive stuff can do double duty or at least be used for a long time.

Valentine's Day is typically celebrated with flowers that are way expensive. Yes, the florists' prices do go up leading up to this holiday! There were two ways that I economized with flowers at my tea party this year. The first, was making your own centerpiece. I picked up a teacup and saucer from a local antique market for $2.50. I tapped my good friend (who was a florist before becoming a stay-at-home-mom) to put her mad skillz to work. She put together a lovely centerpiece for me, which would have only amounted to about $7-$8 for the cost of the flowers and supplies. My wonderful friend, however, would not let me pay her at all. The reason being, she said, is that her daughter (my daughter's best friend) often stays with us while my friend goes in to work around holidays. And this seasonal florist is in demand when holidays like Valentine's Day rolls around. She figured the centerpiece was a return favor. The moral of this story that I share with you, dear reader, is to see what kind of things for which and with which you can barter. Have a friend whom you think could help in some way with your party? Perhaps you can arrange a similar situation. The old I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine. I ended up with the perfect centerpiece for my tea party for a miniscule fraction of the cost I originally had budgeted, and coming from my friend, it was so much more meaningful. She was also a guest at my party, and I made sure to let everyone else know that she made it! Public praise is a good thing.

The other way I economized with flowers, was to visit a nearby greenhouse to select fresh pesticide-free flowers to use in the menu and for decorating the food and table. The owner had quoted a cost of 15 cents per flower when I originally inquired about obtaining the flowers. But when I went to pick them up a few days before my party, she was so happy to share the details about her trade and appreciative of my planned use of her lovely flowers (and charmed by my two year old, I think!), she just kept snipping away and giving me ideas on how to use which... she said, "I've lost count" When she had to go after another clam shell container to hold the lavender she was snipping, I also lost count. I was stunned when at the end she said, "It comes to $5." Now, I'm sure I had more than $5 worth of flowers, so I was delighted. I used edible flowers in two different foods at the party, and used fresh flowers to decorate the cake, and used the lavender sprigs as garnish. The tea party's theme was "floral flourish" and boy, did that ever shine through!

No tea party would be complete without tea, right? I happened to pick up some tea at a very unlikely place - the annual state farm show where I live. We take our girls there every year to appreciate the fun that livestock and 4H-like activities can bring to a child. The Dairy Council's milk shakes are always there to tempt me, too! I hadn't even composed my tea party invitations at this point, but I was pleased to no end when I found a vendor selling a large variety of teas at the farm show. I picked enough lavender tea for the party for less than $3. While browsing, I also found handmade earrings that were little teapots. Well, I couldn't resist! So, the best tip I can offer after this experience is to keep your eyes open for party finds, even if the party isn't going to happen right away. You can get great deals by shopping sales and special events!

That brings me to the final nugget of information I want to share on this topic - keeping your eyes open for deals throughout the year, and watch for coupon savings, too. After Valentine's Day, I always hit the sales to buy things that are marked down. I store them, and other things I pick up on sale or clearance the entire time between one party ending and the next one being planned. So about a month before the next party, I can pull it all out, take stock, and then see what else I need to find to fill it out. Places like Bath & Body works often has great coupons (you can find these on the deal sites) that can stretch your dollar pretty far. I picked up items from B&BW throughout the year with coupons when I had them, and then shopped their semi-annual sale, and I was set for prizes for the games I planned.

Having said all of this, there may be the occasion when you find something that you just want to splurge on that is truly an indulgence. I hope that every so often you allow yourself to do that. My indulgence this year was a gigantic diamond ring. No, I'm not talking about something I could actually wear on my finger, but instead, something more along the lines of a paper weight. I saw one of these things many years ago and thought it was hilarious. So when I happened upon one just days before my tea party for $4.99, I knew I had to have it. No, it wasn't necessary, but it sure did spark some funny conversations when made part of my table decor!


I hope that this information demonstrates that you truly can throw a party without having to drop tall cash!

Tackle it Tuesday: What to do with the leftover lavender?

So my big tea party is over, and there are still a few things lingering about that have not been put back into storage - some of the china, for starters. I'm tackling that today, but that's not big thing. What I was really worried about was finding some use for the leftover flowers. I added the droopy blooms to the compost bin, but I still had many sprigs of lavender left over that I was sure could be of better use than compost fodder. I Googled and found several sites detailing the drying process of this fragrant plant. I decided that's what I'd do. So my tackle today is to arrange the sprigs of lavender to let them dry. Although I don't have much in the way of buds (it was more the greenery that I used for the table decor), I read that the dried leaves work in sachets and eye pillows. Lavender mixed with rice (or also salt?) make wonderful heating pads. But those decisions and tasks will be left for another tackle. For now, I'm happy to have the sprigs of lavender drying. I'm thinking of using the end products as part of next year's tea party favors. It would be kind of nice to have it recycled as such.
http://howtome.com/?p=260
http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/lavender3.html

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5th Annual Valentine's Day Ladies Tea: Re-cap

Ahhhhhhh.... the satisfaction of accomplishment! Yesterday's tea party went over very well. That's not to say we didn't experience a couple of blips along the way, though.

There was one mix-up with the first activity, which was the flower meanings match game. I inadvertently copied and distributed the game with the meanings right beside the flower names. Duh! I can't believe I didn't catch that error before it was too late. But my guests are pretty easy going and indulged me by reading through the many meanings and talking about how interesting some of them were. Thank goodness I still had two other activities planned!

I also had a last minute cancellation due to illness, so we ended up with an odd number, making the Complete the Lyrics game have uneven teams. The teams were pretty evenly matched, as it turned out, and the difference in correct answers was only one, so the margin of victory was very slim. When it was time to select prizes for this game, everyone kept what they originally opened - no prize swiping occurred!

The consequences of the heart game went over very well, with lots of laughs. Originally, the prize for this game was going to be taking home the centerpiece. However, when my friend brought it over to me, I fell in love with it, and I couldn't part with it. That meant the consequences game was just going to be a filler activity - no prize. But since the flower meaning match game didn't work out, I moved that game's prize to the consequences game. So, it all worked out in the end.


We enjoyed tea and scones as the first course and nibbled on a seed & dried fruit snack mixture that was on the table upon arrival of the guests. I decided to lay a snippet of lavender on the saucer aside the tea cup, which I thought looked very pretty. I put the lavender snippets in the seed mixture bowls, too, as garnish.


Everyone seemed to like having the menu at the table so they knew what was in store. It helps to judge how much to eat along the way if you know to save room for something at the end! The primroses looked so pretty in the salad, I regret not taking a picture. Also, I didn't stop and take the time to photograph the panna cotta when that was served. Drat! They were quite lovely plated with raspberries and quartered lychees. And the taste combination was beautiful. It is a very creamy dessert, with cream and mascarpone cheese being the main ingredients. The rose water added a touch of delicacy. As I needed to remove the fresh flowers before cutting the layer cake, I did pause to take some pictures at that point.


Before the guests left, I gave them their favor box and sent most of them off with a goody bag filled with homemade heart-shaped peppermint patties and lemon poppy seed cookies. (OK, I let a few guests leave before I remembered to have them fill their goody bag - whoops!)

I dare say that everyone had a good time, and I was satisfied overall. As always, a few things were learned along the way, which help make the next event even better.

I suppose the next shindig I'll be planning is a dinner centered around curry ketchup. A coworker of my husband brought him some curry ketchup from a specialty shop, as my husband had been telling him about having it with sausages in Germany. So we're hoping to have the coworker and his wife over to give it a sample. A much smaller affair than my tea party, but I do so love the German theme...

Delightful, Wonderful, Cheerful, Edible Flowers

I just came home from a short drive to a pesticide-free greenhouse that is serving as my supplier for the edible flowers I'm using at the tea party. What a delightful trip to make in dreary February! With my two-year-old in tow, we walked up and down the aisles of the greenhouses, allowing our senses to be cuddled by the sweetness of the floral bliss. The charming owner led us around snipping here and there, creating a collection of lovely and aromatic flowers for us. I'll admit, I was a little overwhelmed. There were so many choices, but we narrowed it down to shades of pink, and appropriate sizes for the purposes the flowers would need to serve. I ended up with stock, english daisies, snapdragons, dianthus, mini-carnations, and primrose. And THEN, just before we were ready to leave, the owner snipped a bit of lavender for my daughter to sniff. When I told her we were having lavender tea, she suggested taking some snippets of lavender, too. "You could float these in the tea if you like," she suggested. YES! Or even laying aside the teacup on the saucer, I say. It's just so pretty! How surprised and pleased was I when she told me my total was $5?! Happy day. :)



Before we left, I had to take a picture of this awesome plant, called Crown of Thorns. It's name is self-explanatory. Wow.

Valentine's Day Tea Party: Final Details

The tea party is set for the day after tomorrow. I'm excited to see that things are all coming together nicely. I've really done a good job of budgeting my time, which has not always been the case in the past. I still have two days packed full of things to do, but I'm not overly stressed or exhausted - yet. :)

I found a pretty swirly-like scroll frame, which will display the menu and double as a table decoration. I also have two small flower pots with pale pink silk roses and greens to dress up the table. My friend is working magic with fresh flowers and the tea cup and saucer I picked up recently. I don't make place cards, because everyone already has their usual seats that they migrate to upon arrival. If I can think of something fun next year, though, I might implement them just for the fun of it. So, those things, along with the burgundy table linens and my china pattern, should make for a pretty table setting. I realized that if I tried to do much more, there wouldn't be room for the food or table space for the games I have planned.

The prizes are all ready, as are the party favors. I used Valentine's decor take-out boxes to hold the trinkets I picked up. I ended up with six items in the boxes. They are: an empty treat bag (rolled up and tied with a twisty) which the guests will be invited to fill with the cookies/candy I will offer at the end of the party, a 'Cupid's Dart' flower seed packet, a few pieces of tea flavored candy, a small decorative hanging heart, a whimsical flower-themed magnet that I made, and a love-themed note pad. A CD will also be given to each guest that contains the love songs used during the Complete the Lyrics Game (see below).

I have my menu finalized and have already begun some of the prep work on a few of the items. Here is the menu:

First Course

Cherry & Almond Scones

Blueberry Scones

Second Course

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Radish Poppy Seed Sandwiches

Strawberry & Cream Cheese Sandwiches

Salad with Edible Flowers

Deviled Eggs

Third Course

Rose Water Panna Cotta with Raspberries and Lychees

Vanilla Raspberry Layer Cake

Tea Selections

Lavender Herbal Tea

American Classic Black Tea 

I am going this afternoon to pick up the edible flowers. I am planning on crystallizing a few today in hopes that they'll turn out well enough to go on top of the cake. I am also using the flowers for the cold drinks. I am going to freeze them in ice cubes so they'll look pretty floating in the water glasses.

As far as games, I have the following three planned: Consequences of the Heart, Flower Meanings Match, and Love Songs Complete the Lyrics. Here is how we'll go about playing each one:

Consequences of the Heart - Give each person a sheet of paper numbered 1-10 (all have a small heart shaped hole punched in the bottom corner except for one) and a pen. Instruct everyone to write at the top (1) “one or more adjective”. Instruct everyone to fold the paper down over that word so that what has been written cannot be seen. Instruct everyone to pass their paper on to the right, but they cannot look at what was previously written. Instruct everyone to write at the ‘new’ top (2) “the name of a gentleman”. Fold and pass as before. Write (3) “one or more adjective”. Fold and pass as before. Write (4) “a lady’s name”. Fold and pass as before. Write (5) “a place to meet”. Fold and pass as before. Write (6) “something you could give”. Fold and pass as before. Write (7) “an expression”. Fold and pass as before. Write (8) “another expression”. Fold and pass as before. Write (9) “a consequence”. Fold and pass as before. Write (10) “an expression”. Read a sample Consequences of the Heart story that you prepare ahead of time (I played it myself just to see how it would work). Provide the “script” to the first volunteer reader who is to read the poem they were left holding. Everyone takes a turn. When all have been read, ask guests who has the paper without the special marking on it. That person wins the centerpiece.
Here is the "script": The [#1] [#2] met the [#3] [#4] at/in [#5] . He gave her [#6] and said to her, “ [#7] ”. She said to him, “ [#8] .” The consequence of the heart was [#9] . And the world said, “ [#10] .”

Flower Meaning Match - Provide guests with a list of flowers, set across from a list of meanings of flowers. Also rose color meanings. Guests must match the meaning to the appropriate flower/rose color. The person with the most correct wins. In order to make up this game, I researched online the meanings of flowers and picked the ones that I thought had some logic to them. Some of them will be tough, but is a game after all, and I don't want everyone to get them all right! I also have a couple of tie breaker trivia questions set aside just in case.

Love Songs Identification – Divide table into two teams. Each team is given a piece of paper and a pen. Snippets of 20 songs are played as cues. After each snippet is played, the team must decide what lyrics come next. The team with the most points at the end wins. The losing team gets to choose among the wrapped prizes and open them, but then the winners get to select from what has been opened, or they can open a new gift.

I have some more prep work to do in the kitchen today and tomorrow. That should leave me with only a few things to do on Sunday. The tea party is set for 1:30, so I shouldn't be too rushed.

If you're reading this and are planning your own Valentine's Day Tea Party, I encourage you to comment about the fun things you're doing. I truly love to hear the details!

Rose Water Panna Cotta

I have tried to find an online version of the exact recipe I'm using to make the panna cotta, but to no avail. If you have access to the Martha Stewart Living magazine, it is the dessert of the month for the February 2009 issue. But since I've mentioned it so often here, I wanted to provide at least one link to give the gist of what I am talking about. I'm really looking forward to making it and giving it a taste!

Tackle it Tuesday: Out of the Ordinary Shopping

Ever since I decided to make Rose Water Panna Cotta for the dessert at my Valentine's Day tea party, I knew I would have to go out of my way to find a couple of ingredients: rose water and lychees. I did see a recipe online on how to make your own rose water, but it sounded too complicated, and I would still have to go out of my way to find pesticide-free rose petals. No thanks, I'll just buy some! After doing some research, I located a few stores in the area where I might find these two out of the ordinary items.

I first visited an asian market place called Little Saigon. There, I found the lychees. I bought more than enough for the panna cotta recipe, because I found loads of lychee cocktail recipes online, too! The second stop I made was to India Groceries & Fashions. I found the rose water there. Yay! I felt ready to make the panna cotta!

In addition to the food items, I was also in need of a teacup and saucer with which to make a floral centerpiece. It just so happens, my friend and neighbor is a florist, and she offered to make this for me. That will really help bring the cost down. I went to a nearby antique market place to prowl around for one with a pretty floral design. I saw many priced $12 and up, and a few for $5, but then I found one priced at $2.50, and I thought it was just perfect!

I tackled that out of the ordinary shopping list, and I was happy!

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Complete the Lyrics Game

**Update 6/03/09: If you're looking for samples of the lyric snippets or the games I've pulled together, send me an email or leave a comment here. I'll be glad to help!**

The very first year I hosted a Ladies' Tea, we played a complete the lyrics type of game. It was so much fun singing together and being silly. The next year, I didn't put the game together, but firmly decided to bring it back the following year as I discovered everyone missed it!

In a nutshell, I make up a list of 20 love songs (this is for a Valentine's Day party, after all) and select a passage with lines that are somewhat memorable. For the first couple of years, this was very easy as I just picked songs that I've always liked. Over the years, I've found that it has gotten harder to come up with songs that have lines that easily lend themselves to this type of game. My guests number around 8-9, and their ages range from early thirties to mid-eighties, so it has been a challenge to select songs that span generations, as well. When choosing the passage, you have to find a good breaking point, which is where the cue ends and your guests have to write down the lyrics that come next. For example, when given "When I get older losing my hair, Many years from now. Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings bottle of wine. If I'd been out till quarter to three, would you lock the door..." you would need to answer "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, When I'm sixty-four." I've been pretty relaxed in the past on how many words they have to write down to get credit. If it seems that they are having a particularly tough time, I've offered bonus points if they can at least name the artist.

Now, I am not a great singer. But do I let that stop me from singing the lead-ins? No way!! I find it rather freeing, as a matter of fact. I figure that my inability to sing on key just adds another layer of challenge to the game. A few of my guests are quite good singers, though, and so they help me out if they recognize the song and sing it properly to the benefit of the others playing the game. Once we have gone through all the songs, we score them together, and everyone sings out the lyrics with great abandon. It's funny, but we just have so much fun doing this. I always award a prize to the person who got the most correct. However, last year, I awarded a prize for second place, as well.

This year, I decided to change things up just a bit. In order to level the playing field between those who know songs across broad spectrums and those whose scope is more limited, I am going to divide the guests into 2 teams - one end of the table versus the other end. Each team will get one sheet of paper and will have to confer amongst themselves to come up with the right lyrics. In addition, I've decided to try using the laptop and actually play the song snippets instead of singing them myself. I know, I know... I hate to give up that post, but it so happens that I have chosen a couple of songs this time that I just would not be able to sing, not even badly. I mean... Whitney Houston. Need I say more? I am slightly afraid that the game might end up being too easy, as a result. BUT... I'm changing one other thing this year, too. Everyone is going to get a prize instead of just one winner. I'm thinking that I'll have the 'losing' team pick one item from a selection of wrapped gifts. Then I'll allow them to open the gifts, but then the 'winners' can choose to swipe one of the unwrapped gifts or choose from the remaining wrapped gifts. We'll see how it goes over! The final touch to making this game memorable, is at the end, I give each guest a CD which has all of the songs on it that were used in the game.

I have two other activities planned, but will go into more detail on those in the next update. I have a few things I need to get ironed out over the weekend, because it's full steam ahead with several things planned to get accomplished each day next week. And I still haven't gone shopping for those exotic ingredients yet!

Tackle it Tuesday: Tea Party Prizes

Over time, I have accumulated different tea party related items that I found on sale or for which I had a coupon. I pulled it out today to take stock in order to see what else I needed for this year's tea party. I decided to tackle the wrapping of the items that would be used as prizes for the games this year. Here is a picture of the potential prizes, potential favor bags, boxes, etc.

After looking it all over, I had a good idea of what else I needed to get for favors and more prizes. Next, it was on to wrapping! Here is the final product:

So nice to have one more thing checked off the to-do list for the party!

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Valentine's Day Tea Party: Organization

It is my habit to take notes when working on a theme party. I do this with a lot of cut & pasting from the Internet when I run across something that I think may even remotely work in with my theme. I sometimes find I'm working with quite a lengthy document. Just yesterday, I did a review of my current document o' tidbits in order to get a better handle on the information I had culled. When I saw that it was 22 pages long, I figured it was time to do some organizing!

I have a basic template that I use each year for my Valentine's Day tea party. The template basically goes like this:

Valentine's Day Tea Party

Theme: ________________

I. Invitations

A. Guest List

B. Wording of Invitation

II. Menu

A. Tea Variety:

B. Listing of foods

III. Games

A. Game 1 Title and description of how it's played

B. Love Song Complete the Lyrics Game (we always play this game, it's expected!)

IV. Prizes

A. Game 1 Prize(s) & method of awarding them

B. Song Lyrics Game Prize(s) - method varies if playing in teams or as individuals

V. Favors

A. Miscellaneous, theme appropriate small gifts in some container for each guest

B. Always includes a CD I've burned of the songs used in the Complete the Lyrics Game

VI. Decorations

A. List ideas about table setting and room decor here

VII. Tidbits

A. Various information that could be worked into the party somehow are listed here until sorted further, or are kept here as conversation starters if there is a lull in the party.

B. Sometimes, the information is printed out in the form of bits of trivia and placed at each place setting. This provides conversation starters and could be read aloud during the party if there is a lull.

VIII. Itinerary

A. Starting with the time of the party, I sketch out what should happen when to make sure things move along accordingly, and also so that I don't forget anything I have planned.

B. After the party time has been laid out above, I make a list of things that can be done up to 2 to 3 days ahead of the party.

This is what my itinerary for last year's tea party (A Royal Renaissance) looked like:

11:30 - Set out torta & water; have different fact-sharing sheets on place settings for initial mingling; have guests write 3 little known things about themselves on paper and place in bag to use later; heat water & steep tea

12:00 - Serve scones & tea; Start 1st activity (sharing secrets)

12:30 - Set out meat pies/sandwiches/turkey drummies/eggs/arancine

12:45 - Start 2nd game (Love Songs) Phase I; heat water & steep 2nd batch of tea

1:00 - Serve 2nd batch of tea & battenberg cake/fruit salad; Recommence Love Songs Game Phase II

1:30 - Review 2nd game results and award prizes for 1st & 2nd place; invite guests to fill treat bag with various cookies; give Love Songs CD to everyone

**Make sure to take group photo

**Discuss date for next year

So the first thing I did yesterday was to find the document from last year's party, click "Save As" and insert the current year. Then I set about making the appropriate adjustments so that my information reflects the planning thus far for the current party. Once that had been accomplished, I had an idea of which bits of information I am not going to be using for the current party (usually extra game ideas). When that information has been weeded out, I put it into another file called "Not Used" so that I can try to use it in future parties.

I spent a fair amount of time cleaning up the information to be used for the games I'm planning on having at this year's party. There are two main games, Love Songs Complete the Lyrics & Flower Meanings Match Game. I am also having a third game/activity that I'll use as filler to help give me some time in the kitchen to work on getting the food out. It's a variation of the old "Consequences" game, sort of like mad libs. I will be working on organizing these games more over the weekend.

And that is about where I am in this party planning. My RSVP date is set for tomorrow, so I should have my final count, which will make the preparation for the rest of the details a little easier. I'm wiped out now. I need a break from planning. (Of course, my fatigue could also have something to do with having donated blood today....) At any rate, to be continued...

Tackle it Tuesday: The dreaded dining room table

This is my first Tackle it Tuesday! What better way to jump in than with the dreaded, catch-all dining room table. This mess has been a mental block for me for a while. I have been using it as my coupon (yes, I am a couponer!), cookbook software entry, and greeting card writing station for far too long. I finally got my own space in what I now call 'the studio' (formerly the nursery, sunroom, place-to-put-all-the-stuff-to-be-dealt-with-later area). It has just taken me a while to shift my projects up there.

I am at the point in my tea party planning that I want to start thinking about the table setting. It has been lacking luster the past few years, and I really want to do it up this year, what with the floral flourish theme and all. Party time is getting closer, so I need to get to work on it. But I just couldn't make my mind go there because all I saw was this chaos.

Now, I *could* have just cleared the stuff off of the table, polished it up, and voila! But I decided to tackle it a bit more thoroughly and organize this stuff while I was at it. I moved my mobile coupon station and all of the cookbooks and magazines up to my studio to be input at leisure (I would be holed up a year if I tried to glean the good recipes from all of those sources in one sitting!), put my ipod and various accessories where they belong, finished the Christmas cards (yes, I said Christmas cards - long story - company didn't actually deliver these until January, so I went back and forth on whether or not to send them late or just forego, finally decided to send them with the dubious distinction of being the last Christmas card folks got, why not?), put the kids' toys in their room, and put the box-o-diskettes by the back door so I remember to take them to donate to the school. There!

A swift dusting of the table made it shine, and I appreciated that I once again had a dining room table, where I could envision my friends gathered together for fun and companionship. Now I certainly have no reason to not plan a fabulous table setting for the Valentine's Day tea party! Oh, except maybe that I'm just not really really good at that kind of thing. I have my work cut out for me on this one!

Check out more of today's Tackles here.

Menu thoughts

With a little helpful push from a friend, I've started focusing once again on my menu for this upcoming tea party. Why not start with selecting the dessert? She shared with me a recipe for Rose Water Panna Cotta. I had no idea what to expect, but when I saw the recipe picture, I was wowed. It is like custard, and can be molded and turned out onto a plate. And then when I read the list of ingredients, I realized I had some more Googling to do. Lychees? Huh? What's that? I didn't even know how to pronounce that word... which meant I just had to locate and master this exotic sounding fruit. Yes, I verified that it was a fruit, with a taste/texture similar to a grape/pear.

Google educated me that it is a Chinese fruit, but also grown in India and other places. I decided to tap into some of my resources here to get the low down. My husband has Indian coworkers and they directed me to a local market that might have lychees, as well as the rose water that the recipe names. In doing another Google search, I found someone else trying to locate lychees in my area. I took copious notes and now feel prepared to obtain all the ingredients I should need.

So, dessert is settled. Now I can go on to the other areas of the meal...

Some tips I've gleaned when trying out a new recipe:

1) Always search the Internet for the recipe online. Recipe sites or blogs often have comments posted by people who have already tried the recipe and can suggest tweaks that you might find beneficial. Also, seeing different pictures of the recipe helps give you an idea of what yours should look like.

2) Make sure you allow yourself enough time to get all the steps done. That means reading the recipe all the way through first. You will save yourself some stress if you can do as much as possible before hand.

3) When trying to find ingredients that you aren't used to, again, search the Internet. Sites like Yelp can shed brilliant light on services and shops in your local area.

4) And finally, it is probably the responsible thing to suggest you try the recipe out ahead of time before 'going live' and serving it to guests... but... I can't say I've ever done it that way. Sink or swim for me, ya know?

Those are just a few tips. Leave a comment if you have any other tips to share!

PA Farm Show Surprise Valentine's Day Tea Party Find

Yesterday, my husband, my two daughters, and I made the annual visit to the PA Farm Show. Living in the city, we find a natural curiosity for farm living. This event satisfies our curiosity, and provides fun and education for the whole family.

What could this possibly have to do with my Valentine's Day Tea? Well, there just happened to be a vendor offering a plethora of teas (that's agriculture to you and me) and accessories at his booth. My eyes were first drawn to this place by the beautiful Scherenschnitte art that was displayed. There was a lovely picture of a teapot that I would love to have acquired, but at $48, it was a little too hefty a price tag for a tea party decoration right now, but I may have to go to their store, Tea Party Linens & More, sometime in the future. I did find these little earrings that I love! And they were $8, which was a price I could justify.

I offer a new tea at every party, and I had not yet decided what to serve this year. I was thinking of trying the tea that has a flower inside the teapot, but that would mean a new teapot purchase. I just wasn't sure if I wanted to go that route. I searched for inspiration among the vast selection of tea from this vendor. I located an herbal variety that had this year's floral flourish theme written all over it: Lavender! I had never tasted it before, but couldn't resist the theme tie-in, so I bought two small packets that should give all my guests a fragrant cuppa. The vendor told me about his favorite, which is Wild Cherry. As I smelled it, he told me that instead of drinking cherry coke, he drinks this tea. Well! Cherry Coke is my favorite, so I had to have one of those, too!

I was a happy camper walking away with tea and earrings for the upcoming tea party. I must start thinking about the rest of the menu...

5th Annual Valentine's Day Ladies Tea

I am currently planning a Valentine's Day Tea Party. This will be the 5th year for me hosting this event. The guests are my friends and family, some coming from 50 miles away, some from my neighborhood. The first couple of Valentine's Day teas were simply love themed events. That was easy enough! Then I started to run dry on unique ideas. I mean, it was all too easy to get really sappy and fru-fru, but that isn't my comfort zone. I wanted my lady guests to enjoy the sweetness of the holiday, but I wanted a little zing, too. So for the third year, I started developing secondary themes. That third tea party was celebrated with German flair.  And last year's party was a Royal Renaissance.

A few weeks ago, I started thinking about this year's theme, and I was at a loss as usual for ideas. I appealed for help from my friends at a forum I occasionally post to, and I wasn't disappointed. It was suggested to emphasize flowers - crystallizing them for dessert embellishments, floating them in drinks, and decorations in general. And voila! The Valentine's Day Tea Party with a floral flourish was born!

Last year I started sending the invitations out using evite. That worked out so well last year, that I decided to use it again this year. It has some good theme templates, but also allows you to customize the design to your liking.

But before I sent the evite invitation, I decided to do a poll of my guests to try to find the date that would be best for everyone. I am pretty sure that evite has a feature that allows you to poll your guests, but I didn't explore that this time. I sent an email with the subject line "Anyone out there that would..." and the email opened up to this image:

Well, I got responses, and it really muddied the waters. I ended up having to draw a little chart to sort out the information of who would be available when. Armed with statistics, I chose my date and went on to the evite invitation.

I used that same teacup image from the date poll email, and chose coordinating colors, and began to compose the wording for the invitation. Originally, I was going to try to do a play on words with flower names, eg: tulips = two lips, dandelion = dandy lion, etc, but that was impossible. I mean, my botanical knowledge is pretty limited, and the creative juices just wouldn't kick into overdrive to accomplish that feat. But, I managed to round up a herd of meaningful cliches from a website containing earth-oriented expressions (Google is my best friend!). As soon as I spied the phrase "common garden variety" I knew I what I could do. 

"Roses are red, violets are blue. It's tea party time, and I hope to see you! Friends are flowers in the garden of life, and to honor this, you are cordially invited to attend the 5th Annual Valentine's Day Ladies' Tea, celebrated this year with a floral flourish. The word through the grapevine is that Sunday, February 8th, would be the most convenient for the most guests. A garden is a friend you can visit anytime, but we'll begin our merriment at 1:30 PM. This is not your common, garden variety party, as we'll have a lot of ground to cover. Come prepared to cultivate the garden within as we celebrate the season of love with games and food, and maybe even learn a few facts along the way. Don't let the grass grow under your feet, RSVP by January 24th, 2009."

Evite lets you customize the reply area (Yes, No, Undecided), too. So, I named the reply area "Being led down the garden path" edited YES to read as "Dig it!" NO to be "Busy as a Bee" and UNDECIDED "On the Fence". Little details like this thrill me.  

Another fun thing about evite is that I can check to see which guests have viewed the invitation and for all of the guests to see who is coming. So while I continue on with my party planning, I can keep a browser open to evite and refresh to my heart's desire. I am one of those people who becomes obsessed with re-reading what I've written on a regular basis. Weird, I know.

More to come, as the party planning progresses...