Mad Tea Party 2013

Mad Tea Party

Press play

"Mad World"

All around me are familiar faces

Worn out places

Worn out faces

Bright and early for their daily races

Going nowhere

Going nowhere

Their tears are filling up their glasses

No expression

No expression

Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow

No tomorrow

No tomorrow

And I find it kind of funny

I find it kind of sad

The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had

I find it hard to tell you

I find it hard to take

When people run in circles it's a very very

Mad world

Mad world

Mad world

Mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good

Happy birthday

Happy birthday

And to feel the way that every child should

Sit and listen

Sit and listen

Went to school and I was very nervous

No one knew me

No one knew me

Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson

Look right through me

Look right through me

And I find it kind of funny

I find it kind of sad

The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had

I find it hard to tell you

'Cos I find it hard to take

When people run in circles it's a very very

Mad world

Mad world

Mad World

Mad world

And I find it kind of funny

I find it kind of sad

The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had

I find it hard to tell you

'Cos I find it hard to take

When people run in circles it's a very very

Mad world

Mad world

Halargian world

Mad world

*********************************************************************************

In the midst of a storm, I hear a slight sound, a soft knocking.  As I approach my front door, it becomes louder.  I open the door, and the wind rushes swiftly past bringing with it a soft mist.  Nothing.  Then as I glance at the door, this is what I spy:

 

An invitation to a Mad Tea Party at A Fanciful Twist.  How lovely!  Tea parties are my very favorite kind of party.

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."

"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Upon our arrival, the guests are told to don aprons, and then get to work.  We are required to iron our napkins before being seated!

 

As the last napkin is ironed and the aprons are returned to their hooks, our host asks us to hold hands and sing the most macabre of nursery rhymes:

Ring around the rosy,

A pocket full of posies,

Ashes, ashes,

We all SIT down!

....as we walk around a dining table.  As the rhyme ends, we sit down.  There are no place cards here!

“Tea to the English is really a picnic indoors.”

― Alice Walker, The Color Purple

We have the most delicate finger bowls before us.  Our host suggests we wash our fingertips before we take our refreshment.

I can't help but notice that there are no servers to remove the finger bowls. Our host then asks us to look under our teacups.  The guest who has the rose underneath is the server for the day.  There is a rose underneath my teacup.  Back to the aprons!

“have i gone mad?

im afraid so, but let me tell you something, the best people usualy are.”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

I begin serving the beverages for the day:  Double Earl Grey Tea and Chocolate Lavender Coffee served with lemon or cream and sugar.  Our host chastises me because cream always precedes the sugar.

“You may be the only guy my age I've ever met who knows what bergamot is, much less

that it's in Earl Grey

tea."

"Yes, well," Jace said, with a supercilious look, "I'm not like other guys. Besides," he

added, flipping a book

off the shelf, "at the Institute we have to take classes in basic medicinal uses for plants. It's

required."

"I figured all your classes were stuff like Slaughter 101 and Beheading for Beginners."

Jace flipped a page. "Very funny, Fray.”

― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

The first course is a Passion Flower Sundae.

Next, fresh fruit and Strawberry Rhubarb Tarts.  Obviously this is a sweet tea. Nothing savory here!

Our host dominates the conversation.  He seems obsessed with our dreams and claims to collect them.  As I am busy serving, I never share mine.

The final course is Fairy Dust Cupcakes.  Finally!  They appear to be the most delicious of the offerings.  One guest begins to yawn, and soon the entire table is yawning in unison.  Our host reveals that the Fairy Dust Cupcakes are dusted with sanding sugar from the Sand Man himself!  I hear a soft snore to my right.........

"Are you sure/That we are awake? It seems to me/That yet we sleep, we dream"

— William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

The next thing I know, I'm waking-up after a nighttime of storms.  I'm startled because the dream seemed so real.....

“If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again.”

― Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

Resources:

Tablecloth and oversized Kabaya teacup:  Anthropologie

Napkins:  Shabby Chic

Sweet stand and candlestick:  Mosaicwares

Square cake plate:  Aplico via Williams-Sonoma
Pedestal candle holder:  Pottery Barn
White and silver glitter candle:  Pier 1
Vintage glass candles:  Vintage Aroma
Lily of the valley vase:  Dana Gibson Pottery
Honey pot set, high tea pot, flower frogs, white thistle vases and small dotted vase:  MacKenzie-Childs

Family Vintage China and Silver:  Johnson Bros. Plates; Rosenthal Antoinette Finger Bowls; Wedgwood Rosedale cups and saucers
Glass sherbet:  Vintage Mardi Gras glass
Cake Servers:  Gifts from friends

How to Make the Perfect Pot of Tea

1.  Fill a kettle with cold water.  Bring it to a full bowl, then turn off immediately.

2.  Pre-warm the teapot by pouring in hot water and swirling it around.  Empty water into the sink.

3.  Add tea leaves to the pot, one teaspoon per cup plus one for the pot.  Fill with hot water and stir.

4.  Put the lid back on and steep for around five minutes.  Pour though a tea strainer into cups.

Floral Finger Bowls

This makes enough for six medium-sized finger bowls.

4 cups distilled water

6 drops floral essential oil (I used rose oil)

6 fresh flower blossoms (I used roses)

1.   Boil the water.  Add the essential oil and set aside to cool.

2.   When cool, fill each finger bowl halfway with the scented water.  Before the guests arrive, add the flower blossoms to each finger bowl.  

3.   Place a bowl at each setting when you serve dessert.

Hibiscus Greek Yogurt Sundae

Ingredients:

1 jar Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup

1 pint vanilla Greek Yogurt

1 cup fresh berries of your choice, such as raspberries or strawberries

whipped cream for topping

1/4 cup pistachios, chopped for topping

Procedure:

Drain the hibiscus flowers and reserve both the syrup and flowers.  Cut each flower in half.  Scoop 1/2 cup of yogurt into each of 4 servings bowls.  Scatter berries over yogurt and drizzle each with the reserved hibiscus syrup.  Top each sundae with whipped cream, hibiscus flowers and chopped pistachios. Serve immediately.

Inspirations:

Graphics in post from:

Thank-you for hosting, Vanessa!

I will be visiting all the Mad Tea Parties the next few days.  I will be back Tuesday for My Happy List, and unless you're at the Tea Party, I'll catch-up with you after Tuesday!

Until next time...

Blessings and Sweet Dreams!
Ricki Jill