Tea Luncheon by Linda

Awhile before my mom became ill, my friend, Linda, who I met through the world of tea, had scheduled a tea luncheon at her home for Barb Gulley [Detroit Tea Examiner columnist and fellow tea blogger] and myself.  It so happened the date fell in between my mom's passing and her viewing, so I opted not to cancel knowing it would be an emotional oasis.

Upon arrival Linda served refreshing glasses of sparkling white grape juice using her Victorian silver sippers.

Then we went to her cheerful sun porch for delicious appetizers.

[Linda]

Linda is a foodie, and fabulous cook.  She served luscious strawberries with cruets of Chocolate Balsamic Vinaigrette and Blueberry Balsamic Glaze [from Fustinis in Ann Arbor]. Both were delicious!  There was also a plate of assorted crackers to accompany a fabulous Salmon Mousse.   We could have gone home very fulfilled after pleasant conversation and delicious food around this table, but there was lots more to come.

From the sun porch we went into the dining room for the main course.  Linda is a tablescape artist as you can see in the photo below.  Both a crisp white vintage linen napkin, and a blue silk-like lapkin were layered together in napkin rings at each place setting.  

We began with a refreshing salad of mixed greens, blueberries, raspberries, chocolate chips and a succulent wedge of watermelon topped with a dollop of goat cheese.  We dressed our individual salads with the gourmet balsamic vinaigrettes served on the sun porch.  

The tea served throughout the meal was a delicious English Breakfast tea from An Afternoon to Remember Fine Tea and Gifts.  Typically an English Breakfast tea is a robust, full-bodied tea, but this one wasn't overly strong, and needed no milk or sweeteners.  It was the perfect accompaniment to our meal.

The coconut, white chocolate scone was served with a pina colada spread, pineapple rings sauteed in butter and brown sugar, and a Pirouette French rolled wafer.  Heavenly!

The main course was Chicken Wellington, with a delicious pasta salad, and baked spears of breaded squash.  I would have been hard pressed to pick a favorite.

The grand finale - dessert - was a scoop of butter pecan ice cream on a bed of coarsely chopped Pecan Sandie cookies, topped with caramel sauce and candied pecans. We ate this using Linda's beautiful Victorian ice cream forks.  The tea served with this course was a flavored black dessert tea, Butterscotch Caramel Toffee.

Needless to say, Linda had to provide take home containers for some of our food.  We whiled away five and a half hours, and it was just what I needed to fortify my spirit.

Mother Nature even added her touch by providing rain drops tapping on the metal roof of the sun porch.  

Thanks Linda, for providing such a wonderful, leisure afternoon of delicious food and fellowship.  Barb and I will be reflecting on it for many days to come!