Cottage Chronicles: Tea for Two, and Two for Tea. Except There Were Three of Us.

Don't be fooled--this isn't some fancy dining establishment!

Today I hosted some friends for a formal tea at the house. The initial plan was to have four lady friends over, but one is currently attending a wedding and one is unfortunately getting over a very nasty cold. So we three who were able came together for a lunchtime tea.

The initial plan was also to dine al fresco on the deck, but rainy weather had other ideas. To be honest, lugging a lot of very fragile china and servery all the way out onto the deck was probably going to be a disaster. So it all worked out and simply tucked into the dining room table, which I of course spruced up to rival that of any of the tea houses I've been to. White table cloth? Check. Mismatched collected place settings and teacups? Check, check. Teapots, sugar cubes, and milk? Well, see for yourself:

It was a potluck event, for which I provided the location and all the fixins as well as scones baked this morning and pumpkin spice cupcakes which I baked last night. Dianna brought a very yummy quinoa and spinach salad and Jeanette brought an assortment of hors d'ouerves that just needed to be popped into the oven to cook.

The party also afforded me an opportunity to work on my piping skills. I am determined to master this whole frosting thing. When lazy, I will still totally just grab my offset spatula. But sometimes I want to kick things up a notch, and I am slowly learning the intricacies of using a pastry bag and piping tips. This first attempt was with a large star tip, since I wanted to create little grooves to catch the pearl sprinkles (yeh, still patting myself on the back for that notion). While I wasn't very happy with the dismounted tips on the cupcakes, I was overall happy with the look!

It also felt good to be working with my own scone recipe again. After trying the two pumpkin varieties here, to knead the familiar dough was like slipping into my favorite jeans; I knew perfection was only a short blast with 400 degrees away. Yum.

Everything was delicious, and I would--and will!--totally host another fancy tea. We even dressed up formally. I channeled Jane Austen because really, what better muse could I have (disclaimer: I've never seen Downton Abby, if that was going to be your retort).