An Evening Tea for Moms Moment

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: an evening tea event for mothers of pre-schoolers.

This was what I was charged with for my MOPS group for the annual Tea and Testimony event held this week.  Working moms, stay-at-home moms, some with newborns, all mostly sleep deprived. The challenge? What to serve that would be filling but would not over-caffeinating?  After a couple of months of writing and re-writing the menu, I was very pleased with the final decisions and outcome. 

The Menu

Cucumber Sandwiches

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Waldorf Tea Sandwiches

Goat Cheese, Kiwi & Toasted Pecan Salad

Savory Leek Mini Quiches

Powder Puffs

(Click on menu item above for recipe)

The Tea

Decaffeinated Earl Grey, by American Tea Room

Dark Sri Lankan (“Ceylon”) leaves with copper and silver tips have the bold lemon-bergamot aroma you crave, with nuanced floral and cardamom undertones.

Marrakesh, by American Tea Room

Our own Moroccan mint green tea, based on a tradition dating back to the days of the Silk Road. It is a blend of spearmint leaves and tightly rolled pellets of Chinese green tea.

Andes Breeze, by MyTeaShelf.com

Winner of  An International Tea Moment's 2009 Best Herbal Infusion, this is a delightful organic blend of chamomile, spearmint, lemon verbena, basil leaf, cinnamon, cloves, apple, & raisins

For 2 unencumbered hours, these moms (who I have come to treasure for their senses of humor, energy, support and experience) were able to sit back, relax, converse and enjoy an evening over tea. And once again, I was able to see the power of tea in action. It's an act of small luxury as well as a unifying and cozy-fying (yes, I just made that up) tradition that allows people to simply be in each other's company in such a pleasant way. The conversation ranged from the serious to the absolute silly, just the way a tea moment should be.



Tea doesn't have to be complicated or overly fussy. For this event, each mom brought their own tea cup, and we ate off of paper plates.  (I did bring sugar cubes, however. Some things are just non-negotiable!)  The food was ultimately very basic - simple sandwiches, a salad, a savory quiche and a dessert that I used as a substitution for scones.  As I always say, what's most important is the company you share the tea moment with.

By the way, a special thank you to American Tea Room for providing door prizes of loose leaf teas for three lucky ladies! They were very excited to be able to bring home their own private tea moment.

Spring is here! If you haven't done so already, grab a friend or several and create your own tea moment together. It doesn't have to be elaborate, you don't need settings of china, silver and crystal - you just need each other and a nice pot of tea. (And send me photos! I'd love to see what creative tea ideas you have!)