Southern Tea Parties

There are two days that stand out in the "Book of Kim" as the best days of the year: First, Christmas, the most wonderful and blessed day of the year (need I say more?) and second, the Oakwood Tea Party.

Each year for my Mother's Day gift, my sister, niece and Mom attend this event.  My daughter Rachael went a few times but didn't seem to enjoy wearing a dress, so alas, she bailed on us years ago. https://www.historicoakwood.org/garden-tour-tea

Why is the Oakwood Tea Party so amazing?  Well, first of all, my family doesn't live close to each other, so its the one time a year that us girls get to go out and have some fun. The venue for the first couple of years was always at someone's home.  It was an outside event so you could see the lovely gardens while you sipped your tea, however, in the past couple of years it's been inside.  I know weather played a part in why that was changed, but I think it takes away from the romantic outside adventure that it used to be!

When you arrive, you are able to sit at the table with different types of tea cups and plates--the napkins are actually handkerchiefs.  I wish I could say that it didn't feel exciting looking around and deciding which plate to sit at!

Mom and I dressed in yellow this particular year (though now that I look at the photos, we seemed to pick yellow several times).  Why I chose a bright blue straw bag to go with yellow, is beyond me.  I will never say for one minute I know how to coordinate!

Then, there is the fact that I am all about the food.  There are literally tiers of delicious food.

Each tier represents a biscuit (scones as the English call them), a savory and a sweet sampling of food.  The teas are then brought out one at a time that are carefully selected to match the tier you are eating.  The waitresses will show you the tea leaves before they bring each tea out and there is always a reason they selected each one.  The whole process takes about an hour.




















As you can see to the left, the savory tier might consist of tea sandwiches or small quiches.  It's something different each year, but I delight in finding out what tasty samples they have for us!  Some years we have cheese straws, cucumber sandwiches--chicken salad is my personal favorite.  But when you think of the endless combinations, we never know what each year will be!









My favorite dessert in the world is macrons--make no mistake, they are not macaroons (southern coconut yummies).  I've now been to Paris twice, and I can tell you, they are pronounced "mac-a-rons" (yes, Ron, like the man's name).  There are tons of Youtube videos, blogs, websites, etc. showing you how to make them.  I have made them once, and I will tell you, it is like any other meringue, it takes patience.  I will do a post on those later for sure, showing you step by step on how to do it--if you love them as much as I do, it will be worth it!!





Our first year going was in 2013, and part our ritual was picking out a hat from my beloved Grandmother's (GiGi) "hat stash".  We all take a look at them, pick one, and show up to the event in style.  I must admit, we are like the only group, year after year, that dresses up for the event.  People sort of look at us like we are weirdo's, but every year I want to say, you can never overdress for a party!



I have also now traveled to London, and later I will post "Afternoon Tea" from London.  Something that I learned in those teas, is that you serve these tiers with scones and clotted cream, jam and lemon curd.  If you love tart things, you must try lemon curd--you'll feel like you have died and gone to heaven.  "Clotted cream" is like a heavy whipped cream--it doesn't taste like butter, but it's also so light and melt in your mouth, you'll never forget it.  Again, I am going to post how to do that later too.

I take a lot of care to go buy a dress that I think will be comfortable, yet different than what I normally wear to work.  It's my coveted "tea party dress".  I can tell you, when I add gloves and a little pin to my sweater, I feel like I have fallen back in time.

Here's a side table with a small chocolate cake, some ice cream glasses and adorable napkin rings.  I love thinking of sitting for a small taste of cake while breathing in the warm Carolina sun.               

We always start and end the event at my parent's house.  They live in a large, wooded and deliciously green yard during this time of year.  Here's a picture of me swinging with the house in the background!  It's seriously like a Tara in the middle of North Carolina (for those Gone with the Wind fans!).

For the first several years, we also did the Oakwood Historical Gardens Tour.  You get the chance to walk around people's yards who go to extraordinary lengths to make their yards look amazing.  You get so many great ideas, though I must admit, it takes a lot of money and time to be a real green thumb in the yard.  I will share some things I have done in later posts.

Here is my favorite dress from all the years--I wear it to this day, but need to lose a few this year, I think!

Signing off for now--hope you enjoyed my little yearly time travel adventure! (I think I might wear this hat again this year--it looks pretty good--thanks Gigi!)

So I decided to add 2019 so you could see what an amazing time we had again this year!! 

This was me and Mom.  We went with some bright colors.  I thought she looked like an American girl doll with her felt hat.  She made her dress and the yellow collar was adorable.  They warned me not to wear a flowered sweater, but I just had to do it--and I now reflect that it may have been a tad too much! I loved my hat--there is close up of the top of it. 

 The food was very good, but a lot of sweets and not enough savory.  You need both to balance.  I love the pansies below.  You can add them to almost anything for an amazing pop of color!