Time For Tea

We went to the most lovely bridal tea party over the weekend. Such a wonderful day for the two families to get to know each other. And it was surely a day of making memories.

The nieces from the bride's family got to meet the nieces from the groom's family. Between the bride and groom, there are seven nieces, ages 3-16. And they were instant BFFs. (That's "best friends forever" if you don't have younger folks around to keep you up to date on such things.) All of them will be in the wedding party. They are so excited. The grownups were happy to meet each other, too.

There were many questions ahead of time from our little ones. They learned that you dress up to go to a tea party. ("But I want to wear my cow shirt!" The cow shirt had to wait for another time.) And they knew that tea party manners meant sitting still in your chair. And they were instructed on what to do if they didn't like a certain food on their plate.

We had tried to explain to our little girls that a tea party meant small sized foods. And they were relieved to learn that they were not required to drink tea. They had their own little tea pot of lemonade on the table. But they did have real china cups and saucers. Not a styrofoam cup with a lid and a straw in sight! And the smallest girls rose to the occasion and were perfect little ladies.

At bedtime that night, Baby Girl told us, "That was the best tea party I've ever been to in my whole life." She's three. And just as she was being tucked into bed she added proudly, "And I didn't break anything."

I dug back through older posts here on the blog and found a recipe that we used for a bridal shower here at our house several years ago. I love this recipe because it can be made ahead and popped into the freezer for baking later. Make them small and fill them with thinly sliced ham and they would be perfect for a tea party at your house!

SWEET POTATO BISCUITS

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup butter

1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato* 

¾ to 1 cup buttermilk

1.  Combine first 3 ingredients.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

2.  Stir together mashed sweet potato and ¾ cup buttermilk; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.  (Add remaining ¼ cup buttermilk, if necessary.)

3.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead 3 to 4 times.  Pat to a ½-inch thickness.  Cut dough with a biscuit cutter and place biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet.

4.  Bake at 425º for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden.

Yield:  3-inch cutter makes about 14 biscuits

            2-inch cutter makes about 36 biscuits (this time I got about 48 biscuits)

* 1 (15-oz.) can sweet potatoes, drained and mashed, may be substituted.

Note:  To freeze, place unbaked biscuits on a baking sheet in the freezer.  Once frozen, place biscuits in a zip-top plastic freezer bag, and freeze until ready to use.  Before serving, bake frozen biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet at 425° for 15 to 16 minutes.