Hosting an Afternoon Tea Party

Here's how this Tea Party happened and a few tips that you can try to host your own Tea Party.

It started as an idea from a gift that I received from a gift that I received from my blogger friend Mary (Maryshappybelly) at a pre Christmas Gift Exchange dinner with my other blogger friend Natalie (cooking quidnunc).  It was supposed to be a bigger group but because of a snow storm we were down to just the 3 of us.   We had a great time anyway and in between dishes we exchanged gifts.  I got a gift of Pepperidge Farms jams and shortbread from Mary and I said that would be great for a tea party and they both thought it was a great idea.  I like having tea parties because it can be a relaxing Saturday or Sunday afternoon thing and simple or elaborate.  That began the idea and Mary said she wasn't available until the beginning of February so that's when I decided to do it but I decided to wait a bit to invite everyone else to see how the weather would be this time.   I decided to have it at my place because I am on the subway line and if everyone cancelled I didn't have to go anywhere for nothing.  I also had so many food gifts from Christmas that I couldn't possibly finish that I knew I already had the makings for a great tea party, plus I have lot's of teas because I like different teas.

As is turns out Mary wasn't able to make it because she fell the week before and her family plans got pushed to the weekend of the Party but I decided to go ahead because a lot of other people were available and the weather was going to be not too bad.

(Nimu, Sue, Martina, Amanda, Natalie, Loren, Cliff, Domenica, Denise, Adam & Jenny)

It started as an idea to get some of the bloggers together but I decided to invite the ones that I know pretty well and some that were close to where I live.  It was also Superbowl Sunday so a few weren't available so I opened it up to other people.  I decided to include a couple of friends other than food bloggers but ones that would really enjoy the party.  One of my friends works with one of my blogger friends and one of my other friends' daughter works with them.  One of my Tiff friends works in a hospital and one of my Gastropost friends is a radiologist.  There were all sorts of connections I didn't even think of.  I invited a couple of my Tiff Entourage friends and a couple of my best friends, some who have met each other and some who had some sort of connection in one way or another.   One of my friends lives in the same area as one of my blogger friends and as it was pointed out many of my friends at the party were Gastropost contributors who I met through Gastropost or otherwise.  It was kind of ironic that there were so many as days later Gastropost announced that they were ending.  It was almost like a farewell party.

TEA PARTY TIPS

TIP 1.
What made it work was that they were all friendly people who love food and can chat without me having to make the connections.  I was the connection but some knew of each other already.
The other thing that worked was that there wasn't anyone who dominated the party.  Everyone just jelled really well.

TIP 2.

Because I live in an apartment I had to buzz people in and then open the door to greet them so I was constantly answering my phone and busy so I tried to set up as many things that could be self serve as possible.

I opened the closet door so that people could hang their coats if I got distracted by other things.

TIP 3.
I set up stations for different things so that people could help themselves to the Hot water and Tea in the kitchen and the table with the plates and utensils.

TIP 4.
I placed white linens on 3 tables where the food was being placed.  I also had 2 3 tier stands to elevate the food vertically to save space. It's good to have things at different levels to present better.

TIP 5.
I tried to have all sorts of platters and utensils at the ready for anything that people would bring to the party.

TIP 6.
Prepare as much as you can in advance but know that there will always be something that happens to throw off your timing.
One of my friends decided he wanted to bake his frozen appetizers at my place earlier but of course I had to set him up with trays for it.
Another friend offered to pick up any last minute things I needed but he arrived as people were coming in so I had to stop and cut the ends of flowers to put in a waiting vase and transfer milk and orange juice into other containers.  I also tried to set up water and I had a Hot water thermos beside the kettle to keep the hot water flowing.

TIP 7.
The Tea Cups.  I asked everyone to bring their own tea cups for a couple of reasons.  I thought it would cut down on the amount of dishes that would accumulate in my kitchen along with all of the serving platters after the party but also I thought it would be a good ice breaker hoping that everyone would bring interesting cups or mugs that would get conversations started and it did.  Of course there were a few people that didn't bring cups so I had to provide them with one and I wish I had the time to set a few up around the tea area but time got away from me as usual.

TIP 8.
Don't do what I always end up doing.  I try and do too much.  Make too many things, plan to make too many things and then run out of time and energy to do them.
Case in point.  I wanted to make finger sandwiches but I didn't want to make them too far in advance because they become stale quickly and I didn't end up making them until most of the people actually left because I didn't have the time and there wasn't any room to put them.
I also made Tea Pot shaped cookies that I would have liked to decorate but that takes a lot of time to do so I skipped the decorating part.

TIP 9.
Prepare things that you know might be safe for people with restricted diets.  I made mini quiches using prepared tart bases but had some extra filling mixture so I made fritattas using the mix in a muffin tin so they were single servings without crusts which would be great for people that can't eat gluten products.

TIP 10.
I never seem to have enough time to sit and chat with everyone because my friends stagger in and out at various times even though I try to get them all to come at relatively the same time.  This is why I try and prepare as much as I can in advance so that I can have some time to enjoy the food and the people.

And not so much a TIP but an FYI... know that there will be people that might be offended because you didn't invite them to the party.  My place only holds about a dozen people comfortably and although I would love to invite all of my blogger friends, film fest friends and other friends there is only so many people that can fit in a small space so try and choose people that will bring something to the party and make it fun for everyone.

Dufflet brings Sunday Tea to the Beaches

Who:            Dufflet
What:           Sunday Tea
Where:         1917 Queen Street East (Beaches)
When:          visited November 15, 2015
Why:            Sample new Sunday Tea menu

Dufflet Rosenberg reminds me of my mom.  She is a tiny dynamo baker in Toronto who has expanded her empire of tasty dessert delights.  She now has her sight set on expanding her empire in new ways.  I was invited to the exclusive location of the Dufflet bakery & cafe in the Beaches to try their new Sunday Tea Menu.


Dufflet started her first Bakery in 1975 and has been steadily building up locations, and offshoots of her business.  The Beaches location was opened in 2007.  I used to spend a lot of time in the Beaches years ago but way before this location opened so I haven't had a chance to visit this cafe until I visited it to check out their new special Sunday Tea.

I love spending a sunday afternoon having a relaxing Sunday Tea or Afternoon Tea or High Tea or whatever it's called depending on where you are and what time of day.  Either way I really like the relaxing ritual of enjoying hot tea and fresh pastries and little sandwiches with friends or family.

I spent this gloriously gorgeous sunday afternoon with my friend who is originally from Ireland so she knows something about enjoying a cup of tea and was excited to be able to join me.  Other than the fact that it was at the same time as the Santa Claus parade we couldn't have picked a better day for it.  Both of us had scratchy cold throats so a comforting tea was in order for the day.

I arrived at 2pm and had only driven by this location and never been inside so I was pleasantly surprised at how lovely the back cafe section of the bakery/cafe was.  To indicate that the table was having the Tea service there were formal white table cloths so there was only 2 tables with the tablecloths,  ours and one other table.  Other people just ordered food and beverages from the regular lunch menu.  I had a lovely reserved table right at the end where there was a glass full length door/window looking out to a tiny pretty courtyard with a supervising cat.  The sun was flowing into the space and later on as the day got darker some beautiful warm hanging lighting gave the room a warm glow.

I was presented with a list of the Tea selection which were all Sloane Teas™.  I chose the Green Tea and my friend chose the traditional Earl Grey Tea.  We were given special hour glass timers to choose our steeping strength.  I have never seen that before so I didn't know what it was.  Very interesting.

We were then presented a 3 tier selection of Tea sandwiches, one kind with smoked salmon and the other cucumber with cream cheese.  The next level was 2 kinds of scones, blueberry and black currant, they were still warm and so soft and creamy and perfect.  The top layer was a selection of a few flavours of Macarons including coffee, pistachio and raspberry.  Also a dacqoise and a chocolate cheesecake mini dessert.    We pretty much ate everything on every level and enjoyed it all.

But it was a bit light on the savoury side since we didn't have lunch beforehand so we were still craving a bit more savoury so we ordered a Turkey, cranberry and brie pannini and a Leek and cheese phyllo pastry tart.  We split them and shared them.  The leek tart was warm just out of the oven and just the most delicious and light tart that I have had in a long time.  The panini was grilled and I think the turkey must have been smoked because it tasted more like ham than it did turkey but the sandwich was good non the less.

We lingered in the cafe and caught up all afternoon and the sun was going down by the time we left.  That's how relaxing it was there.  This is the kind of place I have been craving in my neighbourhood which is filled with Asian cuisine and noisy bubble tea cafe's.  I crave a chill good quality cafe that I want to meet friends in and enjoy a little quiet catch up time.  I think this is what's missing in this city,  a quiet place to think and talk.

The Sunday Tea is only available at this Beaches location at the moment but if you go there and tell them how much you love it maybe they will add more of them.

After you enjoy your afternoon tea don't forget to pick up some cake and they have some new products that make great gifts especially with the Holidays coming up.  If you are stuck on what to get someone they have a whole assortment of chocolate letters and some cute cards too. One stop shop.

I found the price quite reasonable as I have had afternoon tea in a few other spots that cost a lot more.
You can select from 2 different Selections,

• Buttery and Sweet for $19.95 per person/plus tax 
• Savoury and Sweet which is what we sampled for $24.94 per person/plus tax.  

Minimum 2 persons per reservation.
It is available from 1pm to 5pm on Sundays only at the Beaches location.
To Reserve call (416)-699-4900

For more info check out their website at http://www.dufflet.com/About
Check them out on Social  Facebook,  Twitter,  Instagram

Beaches Location:  1917 Queen Street East.  just east of Woodbine.

*Disclaimer:  My meal was complimentary but all the opinions in this blog are my own.

A spot of Afternoon Tea at the Old Mill

A friend of mine invited me to go for Afternoon Tea at the Old Mill in Toronto because her husband received a Gift Voucher but had no interest in going, so I was the lucky next person in line to go with her.  Also one of the perks of not working a day job is that I was available to be able to go with her.   I like to feel like I am still doing something productive and will take these opportunities to blog about the experience.

Imagine 3pm on a gloomy grey Friday afternoon in the New Year.  Where is everyone?  We arrived at the Old Mill and walked through a cavernous, dark and empty restaurant to a large window bright little room where there were only 1 table of guest seated beside where we were seated.   They were only there for about 15 minutes into our visit and after that we pretty much had the whole restaurant to ourselves.   It kind of felt like we were in Old Time Jolly Old England in some Great Mansion House that had Servants...think Downton Abby style.  Very old fashioned but at the same time really relaxing and peaceful.  It felt more like a loungey Sunday afternoon.

We were presented with a menu of Teas from which we were to choose one flavour of Tea.  My friend chose the Masala Chai Tea and I went all English and had a Black Harrington Tea.  I think i drank at least 2 pots of my tea.

What occurred to me later was that it seemed to be an old tradition that could probably use a bit of a modern makeover.   The practice of Afternoon Tea is a good idea.  It lets you slow things down in a relatively quiet environment and catch up with friends.   Drinking Tea is a great thing because of all the Health properties of a really great tea like Chai or Green Tea.

The thing I think I would like to shake up and modernize is the decor,  make it a little more of a balance between modern and traditional.   Less flowery and dated and more zen and relaxing.   The food was a lot of sugar overload and I think this is where a creative pastry chef or healthy chef could work some magic.

 I think that the little finger sandwiches might be modified to use a whole grain bread with high nutrient, low calorie items in the sandwiches like maybe some goat cheese and roasted red peppers,  or some turkey salad made with low fat yogurt and maybe some curry.   I am sure there are some creative options that a talented chef could come up with.   The pastries,  that's where a huge overhaul might be needed.  With so many people giving up white flour, sugar, salt and fat, with so many people going gluten free out of necessity or choice and so many others with high blood pressure and diabetes and other conditions these days.   Maybe it's time for a revamp of this nice Afternoon Tea experience to make it more like the Experience of a Tea Ceremony in Japan.  An event that leaves you feeling better when you leave than when you went in.   Maybe a kicked up Spa type menu but maybe less Spa deprivation and more flavour and health boosting properties.
I have been baking a cookie recipe recently that uses whole wheat flour, no butter, and no white sugar.
They still taste delicious and everyone loves them. Maybe that's the answer to reviving this Old School Traditional Tea.

Yes, I would do this myself if I had the Royals bank account, but alas I am not independently wealthy so all I can do is dream about the kind of place I would like to spend my Sunday or Friday afternoons in sipping nice tea with friends.

There is a trend to high end Tea shops but they are just grab the tea and tea accessories and take them home to enjoy there.   What if there was a Tea Starbucks shop?   Instead of Venti, half foam...etc...  there was a Green Tea with Ginger and Blood Orange with some Agave Nectar on the side?   Add a health scone on the side instead of a piece of cake.   Hmm... wonder if that would become the next big trend?   Well I am putting it out there for anyone that has Millionaire cash to burn and need a place to put it.   You could give it to me and I will make it happen for you...

One can have Fancy Tea wishes and Afternoon Tea Dreams.

Photo credit: Joanne Vekar and Linda Matarasso