Oh my goodness, wasn't the Royal Wedding on Friday one for the ages? I had hoped for a grand event and most certainly was not disappointed! My first girlfriend arrived a little after 4 a.m., and before I knew it the others were here and we were all eagerly awaiting that first glimpse of the beautiful bride. How elegant she looked! I so admire her choice of a wedding gown, and I thought the sleeves, neckline and classical styling showed uncommonly good taste! I think those of us who watched Charles and Diana's wedding 30 years ago felt a bit like "the boys" belonged to us, too, so naturally we wanted to be there as the eldest got married! In the spirit of the day, I decorated my table with this corset-style planter since it rather resembles a wedding dress.
I really did things differently for this Breakfast Tea, and my friends seemed to like it. The night before I had prepared a Breakfast Casserole (eggs, cheese, a mild sausage), so it was ready to pop in the oven when I hit the ground running at 3:45 a.m. I'd already made zucchini bread and square-shaped blueberry muffins, which were displayed on this antique writing desk in my living room. Two of the "serving dishes" were actually metal crown-shaped decor loaned by my shopowner friend. Coffee was waiting in the kitchen for those, like me, who needed a mugful to wake up. With the "royal" teawares my friend had loaned me for the morning, this was just enough to get us going as we prepared to watch that lovely ceremony!
To my surprise and delight, the royals had made the wedding program available for free download online, so I printed out copies for all of us to follow along in the ceremony. (You can go
here if you'd like to print out a copy for yourself.)
On the mantel, I had displayed a few royalty-themed collectibles. The little Union Jack teapots and "Beefeater" tins of tea were actually treats that went in my girlfriends' goodie bags along with some teacup notecards, those Will and Kate teabags I wrote about last week, and a few other goodies.
We just oohed and aahed over the wedding, and we so enjoyed speculating about what cute Harry must have been saying to his brother during the ceremony and then to Pippa when he escorted her out of Westminster Abbey afterwards. Fun, fun, fun! Eventually, it was time for my friends to join me in the kitchen and dining room. All I had set out so far was the Chocolate Crunch Cake made with Prince William's beloved McVitie's tea biscuits, so I definitely required help getting this teatime to the table. I had a second television set up by our table so we could continue watching all the post-wedding festivities and wait for the balcony kiss -- or kisses, as it turned out! (Here we were obviously watching the replay, as Carole Middleton -- whose dress I loved! -- is entering the church.)
We had Cranberry Whole Wheat Scones and Raisin Scones with whipped cream and lemon curd.
Our sandwiches included Ham Salad Mini-Croissants.
And of course we had to eat something heart-shaped, so we had Olive and Walnut Spread on Whole Wheat Bread, which remains my favorite tea sandwich so far this year!
There were Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Pinwheels, prepared the night before.
And there were the "fancy" Cucumber Sandwiches I wrote about on Saturday.
In addition to the Chocolate Crunch Cake I had made Chai Tea flavored mini-cupcakes in honor of Prince William, who is said to have developed his friendship with Kate while enjoying cups of chai tea. (Easy recipe: Use a box cake mix and add the contents of two chai teabags.)
The cupcake toppers were pieces I made myself. I printed out Union Jacks from a free download online, punched them out using a teapot paper punch, then glued a nice thick toothpick inside. Super easy!
We of course drank the Royal Wedding Blend Tea from Harney and Sons, but we also had Earl Grey in honor of Kate since I'd read that's what she used to have while Will was enjoying his chai. I poured it from this lace-design teapot, a gift from my mom, which is a musical teapot but I hadn't realized what it was playing until one of my friends pointed it out.
It was "A Time for Us," the love theme from "Romeo and Juliet." Perfect! Oh, friends, I wish you could have been here! I so enjoyed everything about the Royal Wedding, and having my girlfriends beside me as I watched made it quite a memorable day! So I'm dying to know ... what did you all think of the Royal Wedding?
With little luck growing herbs from seed this year, I broke down and went in search of plants last week. I had these tiny little clay teapot planters I found on clearance in Kohler, Wisconsin last year, and I was determined to use them! While last year I was able to find all different kinds of mint, I did not come upon very many healthy looking plants in my search last week. I ended up finding just two kinds of mint, labeled "Mint" and "Sweet Mint," at a local discount store, and mint is a necessity with all the iced tea we drink around here in the spring and summer. There was also some variegated lemon thyme I liked the looks of, and the grocery store had a single dill plant, so that's what I ended up with.
When I divided the plants, I put the smallest sprigs (with roots) in the teapot planters.
Next, I added some of the plants to this medium-sized McCoy planter my mom found for me last year. (May I digress and tell you a story about McCoy? In addition to the well-known pottery, McCoy is also the name of some Texas Longhorn football player and, in tribute, the name of my sister's little dog. McCoy was getting shaggy so she gave him a haircut the other day. It was such a drastic change, my 5-year-old niece asked, "Is that the real McCoy?" and didn't understand why my sister was laughing!)
In addition to the McCoy planter, I thought I could fill my largest herb planter, a treasured piece that was a gift from a girlfriend years ago. I think I need a few more plants, and I'll search for some when I go to Atlanta later this week.
Also, I must confess that I'm really a trial-and-error kind of gardener. I had some Royal Wedding Sweet Pea seeds that I wanted to start on the day of the royal wedding. And did. Only after I put them in this teacup planter did I realize I had used dry, crumbly topsoil and not potting soil. Uh oh. Might not be transplanting these flowers after all.
But I watered, and watered, and ... now I have sweet peas coming up! If you'd like to see what else is growing in the McRae garden this year, and see photos of my husband's unique new method of vegetable gardening that has drawn quite the interest from family and friends, please come back tomorrow!
