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.

Because I was serving mine in sourdough bread bowls [that I bought 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.

I didn't expect them to come bearing gifts because the luncheon was my gift to them, but they did.  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.