St. Patrick's Day Tea Luncheon

The St. Paddy's tea luncheon that I hosted on Tuesday for three ladies from my church has come and gone, but a good time was had by all.  I had a festive St. Paddy's Day flag flying outside to welcome them.  

In addition to my St. Patrick's themed tablescape, I also had a few decorations.

I used the new shamrock dishes and teaware that I recently acquired from HomeGoods.

The Irish Stew turned out good but I'm not sure I would make it again.  I'd be just as happy with Shepherd's Pie.  While I was researching recipes for the Irish Stew I was amazed how many variations there are and decided every Irish cook has her own version with a tweak here and there.   I learned the difference between and Irish stew and American stew [besides the Guinness] is their stew isn't thickened or gravy-like.  It's more of a broth/soup as pictured below.

Photo: Tea For All Reasons

Because I was serving mine in sourdough bread bowls [purchased from Panera], I knew I'd have to thicken mine or the bread would become soggy and collapse.

I didn't take any pictures of the food courses.  Our dessert was Irish Apple Cake and I found it to be like the Irish Stew in that recipes abound and each one is a little bit different.  I made a custard sauce to pour over it before serving which was a nice addition.

The two gals on the right are sisters.

Gifts weren't necessary because the luncheon was my gift to them, but they came bearing gifts. I loved the card that said Dia Beannacht Leat which is Gaelic for God Bless You.  The tin of Irish Breakfast Tea came from Ireland and the adorable Alex & Ani bracelet is tea themed.

I spent yesterday packing everything and putting it away for another year.  The next holiday will be Easter.  Today is the last day of winter - on the calendar anyway.  Here in Michigan we'll probably see a little more snow even though spring begins tomorrow.

Getting Ready for St. Patrick's Day

I've been absent from my blog for a while, but I'm alive and well - just a lot of things going on. I started working on a Saint Patrick's Day Shutterfly album to honor my maternal grandfather and mother [who are of Irish descent].  It's almost completed, but I won't submit it until after next Tuesday [St. Patrick's Day] when I'm having three ladies over for an Irish tea luncheon.  I want to include photos taken that day.

I follow a wonderful blog called Home Is Where the Boat Is.  Mary [the author] shares many lovely tablescape ideas and recipes.  She loves dishes even more than I do!  On February 20 she wrote a post titled, What's New at HomeGoods for Spring & Easter Decorating. Her photos of the shamrock dishes definitely piqued my interest, and sent me on an expedition to several local HomeGoods stores. She's responsible for aiding and abetting my dish addiction!  ;-)

~ Mary's Photos ~

She lives in North Carolina, and I concluded [a] not all HomeGoods stores carry the same merchandise [b] Mary's local store carries a larger inventory with a greater variety [c] I was too late shopping for St. Patrick's Day things. I should have started in January or [d] e-Bay sellers had already visited the HomeGoods stores in my area and pretty much cleaned them out. A quick e-Bay search shows the Gracie teapot and teacups selling for almost three times as much as HomeGoods sold them.  

My expedition wasn't completely in vain, however, because I did manage to find a few things such as a different Gracie shamrock teapot with five matching teacups [shown below] and three luncheon plates. 

I really wanted the shamrock dinner plates for Tuesday, and after many phone calls to HomeGoods stores a little further from my house was able to find some.  They're a little different than the ones in Mary's picture, because mine only have shamrocks around the edge instead of the entire plate, but they are Gracie china and I'm happy with them.   Do you shop at HomeGoods?

The teapot didn't come with a sugar and creamer so I ordered one online from Bewley Irish Imports.  The pattern isn't identical to the teapot, but it has shamrocks on it so it'll work.  I couldn't resist the shamrock charcuterie board.

The dishes got me in the mood to decorate the house a little bit too.  In my tote of Irish things I think I have a St. Patrick's Day flag to fly on Tuesday.

Years ago - when the grandchildren were younger - I used to decorate a miniature artificial Christmas tree for all the major holidays.  I still have the St. Patrick's Day decorations, as well as the miniature tree stored in the basement, but I'm not sure I'll get it decorated for Tuesday.

My menu is set and I grocery shopped today, but I won't start making anything until Sunday afternoon and Monday.  

Irish Soda Bread [instead of scones]

Reuben Soup with rye croutons

Green Fruit Salad in Jasmine Tea Syrup [Grapes, Kiwi & Honeydew] 

Irish Stew in Bread Bowls

Irish Apple Cake

Irish Cream Black Tea

The Irish Stew calls for red wine and Guinness beer, so I had to pay a visit to a nearby liquor & wine shop and pray no one I knew saw me entering or exiting!   The clerk was very helpful in making my selections as I am completely clueless about liquor. The beer and wine are a key flavoring in the stew and the alcohol evaporates during cooking so I don't need to be concerned about making my guests tipsy!  ;-)

Tis the season for tea parties.  The Whitney is doing a Lion King tea this Saturday to coordinate with the Lion King musical being performed at the Detroit Opera House.  I talked to our tea blender about coming up with a tea to coordinate.  She sent me four samples.  Two were Rooibos [representing Africa] and two were black Chai teas [representing India].  I did a tea tasting a week ago for one of the managers and three servers and we all agreed Vanilla Chai

was the winner, so we'll be serving that this Saturday.  

Tea with the Easter Bunny is coming up and I'll be putting Easter baskets together again for the children in attendance.  Then there's the Generations Tea [honoring Mother's Day].  I haven't thought about what the favors will be this year yet.  

And last but certainly not least is the ladies Spring Tea at church.  I've established the theme: "Bee All That You Can Bee".  I have the tablescape in mind and am excited about it.  There's lots of things on the horizon to keep me busy.