A Tea Luncheon with Friends

Yesterday I hosted a small tea luncheon for two lovely ladies.  Roxanne is the mother of my daughter-in-law and I've known her for over 20 years.   I just met Laure on July 4th.  She attends a Bible study with Roxanne.  She is from England and has a beautiful British accent. The Girl Scout song came to mind: 'Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.'  Laure knew I'm planning a trip to England and offered several tips.  

I used my Sandy Clough Blessings Among the Roses china that hasn't been used in quite awhile.

The menu was simple.  We began with Coconut Scones and chilled Strawberry Soup.  I was reminded to always check the expiration date on baking soda [and baking powder] before using in a recipe, because while the scones tasted good yesterday, they didn't rise as high as they normally do.  When I looked on the box [after-the-fact], sure enough the baking soda had expired.

Next was a Chicken Salad Croissant and Tuna Macaroni Salad.  I needed a longer burning tea light candle in my teapot warmer, because it burned out by the second course.  I served Earl Grey tea with the meal.

Dessert was a Hot Fudge Sundae Cake.   Since I was using Sandy Clough china I decided to use her chocolate cake recipe that she mandated we serve at all our home party demonstrations [without the ice cream and hot fudge sauce].  It's actually a Texas sheetcake recipe that Sandy altered slightly.

I remember several years ago being able to buy pre-cut, individually wrapped vanilla ice cream slices [and neapolitan too] in the supermarket ice cream section.  But they told me at Kroger they haven't carried them in a long time.  It was easy enough to cut my own slices.

We sat around the table talking for almost three hours and spent a delightful afternoon together.  

[Standing L-R:  Laure and Roxanne]