Tea Goodies

I hosted a Tea on Sunday.  Family and friends descended on my house with all sorts of food and we spent the afternoon sharing stories, drinking tea and eating all sorts of delicious stuff. 

The Tea is everyone's to try out new recipes.  We've learned to convert dishes to gluten- or dairy-free to accommodate peoples' allergies, with mixed results.  We've had cookies that crumbled or spread out and bars that imploded and the mix-ins sunk to the bottom.

This time we had a lot of great cookies, most of them gluten free.  There were  meringues,  coconut macaroons, cardamom snaps, mocha tea cookies and maple cookies.  I was so relieved the mocha cookies didn't fall apart.  I have also discovered that using almond meal in the macaroons is a delicious addition. 

I've made bacon wrapped chicken for the last several Teas.  I was going to try something different but they're back due to popular demand.  People brought a variety of savory dishes, including other favorites:  tongue of the judge, meatloaf, Waldorf salad.  Everyone looks forward to packing leftovers to bring home.

The Tea is a chance to show off our current crafty projects.  One of my friends has been doing a Block of the Month quilt and the results are stunning.  This is her first big quilting project and BIG is an accurate description.  This is just the center, it still has a large border to go.  I can't wait to see the finished top.  The colors are wonderful; the piecing looks great.  Isn't it beautiful?

Just in case you think a Tea is serious business, it's not.  (Well, other than the food - that's serious.)  Can silly behavior be blamed on drinking too much tea?  Maybe it's caused by too much caffeine.  I found out that bowl cozies are more versatile than I imagined.  Nice hat, eh?