Tea and Scones

For my ward's Relief Society birthday party we had a fun tea party where we were asked to wear hats. Besides cowboy and baseball hats, I only have a bright pink hat that I bought on our honeymoon cruise gift shop and I hardly ever find occasions to wear it, so I thought I would use this opportunity. I talked my mom into coming with me and we had a fabulous time. The woman in charge is a chef and always makes fantastic food for our Relief Society gatherings. Not your typical Mormon recipes we all know and love. She made crustless spinach quiche, salmon and cucumber tea sandwiches, ginger almond biscotti, and chocolate dipped strawberries. There was also a huge cake that we all thought we were too full to eat, but managed to take a few bites of the cake we could find underneath the mounds of buttercream. I offered to make some tea desserts since I used to make them daily, and it sounded fun. I made some pistachio, raisin scones, and strawberry shortbread cookies dipped in Chocolate. I made them a couple days ago and froze them. I baked them off this morning so they would be fresh. We went a little early to help set up. Mom and I arranged the food on plates and tiered platters. The tables we set so beautifully with a huge pots of cute Voila flowers, and several sets of detailed cup and saucer tea sets. There were also a variety of nice herbal and fruit teas. There was even sugar cubes and honey for those who so desired. I wish I'd taken a picture of the whole room because it really transformed the cultural hall into a very elegant tea party setting. We had lovely conversation, and mom joined right into the chatter, even though she didn't know anyone there. I was glad to have her there with me. It was a wonderful St Patrick's Day morning and after we helped clean a little, we were happy to be on our way to see our cute husbands waiting for us at home. We brought them a nice variety of tea party treats. From the picture, it looks like I'm the only one wearing a hat, but there really were several ladies wearing a variety of different hats, so I really didn't stick out too much with my bright pink accessory.

I'm always amazed at how giving of their time and talents the woman of the church are. I know so many women who have so much going on in their lives and could easily rationalize a little church gathering as unimportant. They put so much thought detail into this tiny party that was over in about two hours. The women would've been just as happy with much less, yet they went above and beyond anyway. I find that a lot of my friends and family are the same way. I am always inspired to put more energy and love into the things I do, by watching those around me. It's nice to get a little push to be more giving and more creative with my time.