Southern Belle Tea

When most people think about tea parties, they automatically picture the light sandwiches and snacks of afternoon tea. But there's another option -- high tea, a full meal with traditionally consists of:

Bread and Butter
Jam
Desserts
A Meat Dish
An Egg Dish
A Fish Dish

I usually skip the fish dish (I have a friend who is allergic) and substitute a couple of fruit or vegetable options, just to make things a little healthier. Taking tea is still a Southern tradition, and this party should have a comfortable, lived-in setting.

Menu:
Hand-Rolled Biscuits
Home-Made Strawberry Jam
Unsalted Butter
Rosebud Red Velvet Cupcakes
Punch-Bowl Cake
Pineapple Glazed Ham
Green Chili Casserole
Three-Bean Salad

Suggested Teas:
If you're only going to serve one tea, choose a black tea blend with peach flavor. Nothing is more quintessentially Southern than peaches. If you want to try something a little lighter, look for a green or herbal tea flavored with blackberries, which grow wild on the roadside in parts of the South.

Setting the Scene:
Look for real or silk magnolia blossoms, and place three blooms in the center of each table, surrounding a candle. Choose an ivory china pattern, either plain or with a simple rose motif. If you know someone who does calligraphy, consider sending hand-inked invitations, sealed with mailable wax.

If you want to add a note of Gone With The Wind, visit a costume shop and try to find a couple of Civil War Era dresses to hang on the wall or drape strategically. Alternately, find a pattern to make a dress to fit you at either Patterns of Time or Peggee of Williamsburg. If you don't want to go quite that over-the-top, look for tiny-teapot jewelry, which was worn by women during the Civil War who were waiting for their men to come home. These tea-lovers' accessories have recently regained popularity.

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