California Coastal Tea

I planned this Tea in honor of an English friend, who came to visit my parents.  I wanted to make her feel at home, but I also wanted to showcase the bounty of California.  On top of that, she is vegetarian, so I factored that into my menu, as well.  I will never forget the look on her face when she walked into my living room.  My tea table was ready with all my tea things, and everything looked so tasty and fresh – it was absolutely lovely!

I sourced my ingredients as locally and organically as possible – sometimes from my own backyard.  It made my preparations even more personal.  Some of my sandwich inspirations came straight out of Tricia Foley’s Having Tea, a treasure-packed book of ideas and recipes.  We had a marine layer that afternoon, so I had lit a fire in our fireplace.  And I had just enough time to cut some roses and make a beautiful bouquet.  It seemed everything just came together to make that afternoon truly memorable.