Nesting and watching "Gone With the Wind"

It's cold [20 degrees] in Michigan today - a good day for 'nesting' with a movie and lots of hot tea.  Gone With the Wind's 3 hours 52 minutes run time, is the perfect choice.

The movie, based on Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel, premiered in Atlanta on December 15, 1939, and it's still enjoyed by movie watchers today.   I love the quote written on the sundial at Twelve Oaks Plantation:  "Do not squander time.  That is the stuff life is made of."

When I attended Magnolia & Ivy in March 2002, the conference opened with a Gone With the Wind tea.  [That's me sitting at the head of the table].  Off to the left you can see the life-size cardboard standup figures of Rhett Butler [Clark Gable] and Scarlett O'Hara [Vivien Leigh].  The movie makes a great theme for a tea party.

The two hot teas served were Peaches & Cream and Magnolia Blossom.  The tea began with a cup of Tomato Dill Bisque and a miniature quiche.  The three tiered server had two kinds of scones and fresh fruit on the bottom plate.  The middle plate was sandwiches and roll-ups. Regrettably I only wrote down two - Scarlett's Radish Tea Sandwich [open face], and Country Ham on Sweet Potato Biscuits.  One of the desserts was Bourbon Balls but I didn't record the rest.  

If I were going to host a Gone With the Wind tea party, I'd want one savory to be barbecue, since early on in the movie there's a barbeque at Twelve Oaks.  What would you include in your tea party menu? 

A few years later, a tea room where I worked did a Gone With the Wind theme tea for St. Patrick's Day since Scarlett was Irish.

L-R: Cheryl [owner]; and Carrie, special guest who impersonated Scarlett [and the handsome Rhett Butler in the middle].

Scone Course

The scones were followed by Chicken and Dumpling soup.  Three savories pictured below were:  An open-faced tomato/bacon sandwich [upper left]; a "Potato Poundie" - baked round of mashed potatoes with cheese, topped with a dollop of sour cream, garnished with parsley and pimento [upper right]; a mini open-faced Reuben sandwich on scalloped rye bread topped with a dollop of coleslaw [bottom right]; and a custard tart [bottom left], surrounded a pasta salad.

Dessert was a Lemon Tart with a Shamrock [Oxalis] garnish.

I purchased the tea scene photo of Scarlett.

Gone With the Wind "tea trivia":  In the scene when Rhett hands Mammy a glass of whisky, you can see her sniff it before drinking.  When it was originally filmed, tea was supposed to have been in the glass, but Clark Gable [Rhett] substituted real whisky as a joke.  The actress playing Mammy downed the glass not realizing what was in it.  The scene had to be redone with tea, and the actress didn't trust Gable after the first incident.