That wasn't quite what the guests arrived to...
The table was partially set with flowers and tea cups and looked stunning.
However, the towers were empty and the kitchen was a war zone. The baby was screaming, the 2 year old was sheepishly hiding after tipping an entire tea pot of flowers and water all over the freshly laid children's table and having earlier broken a porcelain tea spoon, and the 4 year old was sulking about having to clean up the playroom for our guests. I hadn't brushed my hair, cleaned my teeth or managed to put on any jewelry.
Thankfully the guests flew into action upon arrival. G-G nursed the screaming baby and put her to sleep (the magic touch). Pop finished grilling the vegetables for the sandwiches. Nan and the Aunts stacked the dessert towers with the aforementioned delicacies (most of which they had craftily created themselves) warmed quiches and helped make the sandwiches. Someone put on the kettle and made tea. The cousins distracted the children and ran outside to play. Phew!
The table was set and we finally sat down for the most decadent High Tea! It was exactly what I had envisaged...
I loved picking the different camellia's from my garden for the table decorations and used old tea tins (now residing in the children's play kitchen) as vases. I used these tins as vases when I hosted a High Tea for my sister's baby shower over a year ago and got many compliments, so I recycled the idea. I discovered I have 6 different varieties and colours of camellia in my front garden - white, blush pink, light pink, dark pink, fuchsia, and fuschia with white spots! I am loving my winter garden. We even used the children's play teapot for a vase on the children's table.
My Mother-In-Law has a beautiful eclectic collection of fine china tea cups which looked beautiful on the table, along with some of my sister and mine Limoges Legle tea cups, and my Grandmothers bone china teapot.
The children's table was set with the Royal Dalton cups and plates which my boys received for their Christenings and 1st Birthdays. The children all enjoyed baby-chino's, quiches, gravadlax, chocolate waffer sticks, macaroons and meringues. Not to forget the gingerbread men the boys made with their Dad the morning of (these may, or may not, have been the reason for much of the chaos when everyone arrived...).
So what was on the menu?
A lot of the above was made by my talented mother, sisters and mother-in-law. My husband made the house-cured gravadlax, and my creation was the sandwich.
Char-Grilled Vegetable Ciabatta with Marinated Goat Cheese and Avocado.
The ingredients:
3 Zucchini, sliced thinly
1 Jap Pumpkin, deseeded and sliced thinly
4 Red Capsicum, deseeded and sliced
3 Avocados
Goat Cheese (we used a marinated peppered balls goat cheese which was marinated in lemon and pepper).
Sourdough Ciabatta Load
The recipe:
Toss vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper and lay on grill of BBQ. Turn after several minutes and grill for a further 3 minutes.
Slice ciabatta thinly, spread goat cheese on one slice and avocado on another.
Layer vegetables on top of goat cheese and top avocado slice. Slice in half.
Makes 14 half sandwiches.
The result:
Delicious, fresh and creamy.
I wish I had a photo to show how gorgeous these sandwiches looked but alas I do not - they were eaten too quickly! (Saved by my sister who snapped this photo).
Tune back in for my husbands Gravadlax recipe in a couple of days.
Do you enjoy entertaining? Are you ever prepared when people begin arriving?
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