Fall Tea Party

Fall Tea Party: a fall inspired tea party menu enjoyed in a fall garden.

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• The Garden
• Mums and Pumpkins
• Fall Tea Party
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Every season has its charm, but is there anything more pleasant than a warm fall afternoon, with the sun shining, and the leaves turning? And there's nothing better than tea parties, so enjoying afternoon tea in the garden before the cold weather arrives, seemed like the recipe for a great time.

The Garden

I love to add a few seasonal touches outside for fall. I'll be sprucing up the front porch in the next few days. This year though, I started with my favourite spot, my white garden.

It was the spring before last year when I started a bit of a refresh in this black and white garden. I made this garden about 10 years ago, and it was time to refresh the paths, and sort out some of the plants. I loved the little space between the house, deck, fence and pergola, and the way that it was almost like a little secret courtyard garden. So I decided to widen out the pathway and create a sitting area, where I could enjoy it even more. This has definitely become my favourite spot to be. So I thought it would be the perfect spot to add a few fall touches to with some mums and pumpkins.

Now that I've decorated this spot for fall, I think I always will in the future. It's just such a lovely spot to sit, and every time I do sit here this time of year, I think that soon we'll have to pack up the furniture for winter, so I better enjoy it even more while I can.

Once I started thinking about pretty mums and heirloom pumpkins in this space, I started thinking about a cup of tea to enjoy too, and before long I was having dreams of a fall tea party.

You know we love a tea party around here, and the garden decorated for fall seemed like the perfect complement. We've had many tea parties over the years, but never before a fall themed one, with special fall treats. So I got planning and came up with the loveliest menu, which turned into a truly delightful fall afternoon in the garden with friends.

Mums and Pumpkins

To get the space ready, I bought a few white mums for the space. Since the beds are full of perennials, I decided to add some galvanized steel containers into the garden. This way they stand out a little more for fall, and don't disturb any of the perennials that are taking up all the space.

I had some kale, dark potato vine, and dusty miller already, and I mixed the mums in with some of them. The star of the show is the lovely pumpkins. I bought a mix of white, pink, and grey. The mums and the pumpkins gave an instant feeling of fall, helped by the changing leaves in the forest in the background.

For the tea party, I brought out some cozy indoor blankets and throw pillows. Is there anything cozier on a fall afternoon than curling up with a throw outside?

And even the little fountain looked ready for fall with a few mum blooms floating in the water.

Fall Tea Party

For our flavorful autumn tea menu we served:

• mini sausage rolls
• turkey sandwiches with cranberry mayo -recipe here
• scones-recipe here with apple butter-recipe here and cream
• fall leaf sugar cookies -delicious recipe here
• pecan madeleines -recipe here
• pumpkin blondies -recipe here

Sandwich Ideas

We wanted to include the flavors of fall with our harvest tea party. First things first, we started with the sandwiches. Turkey was the perfect choice, with a perfect cranberry sauce mayo, to make you think about Thanksgiving flavors. We have a favourite British bakery that makes delicious sausage rolls, so they are an easy choice for us. You could also include traditional finger sandwiches like cream cheese and cucumber,don't forget to cut the crusts off. Salmon tea sandwiches would be a good choice too. And if you're serving kids, you really can't go wrong with the classic peanut butter and jam. Use seasonal cookie cutters to cut out the pb&j sandwiches for a fun festive touch.

Scones:

You can't have a high tea without scones. This is the perfect time of year for some apple treats, and we paired our plain scones with some homemade apple butter and sweet whipped cream. It's difficult to find real clotted cream here, but whipped cream makes a great substitute. Other great choices would be serve mini pumpkin scones. 

And don't forget a good, big, hot pot of tea for tea time. I love regular black tea, but a herbal tea for fall would be lovely too. If everyone enjoys somethingAnd don't forget a good, big, hot pot of tea for tea time. I love regular black tea, but a herbal tea for fall would be lovely too. If everyone enjoys something different, be sure to have a few smaller pots, tea bags, and the kettle boiled.different, be sure to have a few smaller pots, tea bags, and the kettle boiled.

High tea traditionally involves a three tiered tray. Each level is a different course -savoury sandwiches, scones and cream, and lastly sweets for dessert. We created the same feel with three separate footed plates, one for each course. 

For our savoury course I picked up the sausage rolls at the bakery. And you could certainly pick up the scones, and the sweets at your favourite spot and make this tea party a little easier to put together. 

We were inspired by the flavour of the seasons. We were sure to include turkey and cranberry, pumpkin, apples, and pecans.

This tea party was so fun to put together. And even more fun to enjoy. Perhaps every season change should be greeted with a special seasonal tea party in its honour.

Whether it's just a few pumpkins, and some store bought fall treats, or lots of homemade favourites a fall tea party is the perfect way to make life a party.

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