Hello sweet friends! Today I am participating in the Holidays At Home Hope hosted by Amber of Follow The Yellow Brick Home. If you are coming over from Common Ground I am so glad that you are here. Wasn’t Debra’s mantel absolutely gorgeous! Today I will be featuring recipes and entertaining ideas with a Little Women Inspired Holiday Tea.
Little Women Inspired Holiday Tea
I recently hosted a Little Women themed tea for a few of my costuming friends. I began to decorate the table by layering a crocheted snowflake tablecloth over a solid white cloth.
Linen napkins were crisply ironed and folded.
I love to use place cards. It helps your guests to not worry whether or not they are sitting in the wrong seat.
Free Printable
I found the lovely antique printable on The Graphics Fairy website.
The red glass candlesticks belonged to my husband’s great Aunt Mildred.
I talked about my red transferware dish collection HERE.
The sideboard held a variety of delicious desserts.
The Menu
A secret that I love to share is that it is absolutely ok to offer a combination of store bought and homemade treats. No one wants to be cooking over a hot stove all day.
You can find my step by step apron tutorial HERE.
For the first course we began with a cream of potato soup. I added a spring of dill and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes for a bit of seasonal color.
Cream of Potato Soup Ingredients
- 2 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes (4-5 medium) peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
- 2 tbsp. of olive oil
- cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 1vmedium yellow or white onion, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup of whole milk
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 3 cups of chicken or veggie broth
- Optional: fresh ground black pepper to taste
- Optional: 1 spring of dill for garnish
- Optional: A sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes for garnish
Directions
- In a large pot over medium heat, add potatoes and cover with about 2” of water. Boil potatoes until just fork tender. Drain.
- In a medium pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add in the onion, celery, and carrot. Cook until soft. Add in the garlic and cook for one minute.
- Sprinkle flour over veggies and stir to coat. Slowly pour in milk and cream. Whisk until no flour lumps remain. Add broth and the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until potatoes are very soft. If desired whisk until smooth.
The second course was a selection of dried fruits, nuts, meats and cheeses.
The grand finish was an Italian Cream Cake as well as cranberry orange scones with whipped cream and lemon curd. My friend Michele brought pumpkin Bundt cakes with cream cheese icing.
It was a truly delicious day! I’ll be back on Friday to share the 1860s fashions my delightful guests wore to the party.
Up next is Christy from Our Southern Home. You will love her decor.
Laura
More Holidays At Home Inspiration
Such a pretty table – and the soup recipe looks delicious! Your Christmas dishes and those napkins are so classic and elegant…and I love your outfit! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, friend!
Shelley
I love your table Laura, and your Little Women theme was so fun – right down to the place cards! Makes me want to go re-read the book for maybe the 50th time! 🙂 Your transferware is beautiful too, and those napkins! Hope you’re having a magical season!
Beautiful table setting! And your recipe for soup sounds delish! Merry Christmas!
Your table is so pretty, Laura, and oh my your costume is wonderful with that adorable apron!! Of course I so love the red tranferware! and the placecards. Hope you’re having a wonderful Christmas week. The potato soup is a favorite of mine and now I need to get a pot going for the cold weather on the way!!
Oh Laura this is so festive and charming! The attention to detail makes everythign so magical! I love your costume all the Little Women inspired touches. Thanks so much once again for piquing my interest in the books and tv series. It has been one of the best “gifts” I have received this season!
Merry Christmas!
What fun this must have been! Your table is so pretty with the red transferware. I like how you all entertain in costume. It looks so fun. Merry Christmas. I’m off to watch Little Women.