Afternoon Tea at Nola's

It is a beautiful day for afternoon tea on my front porch. Not exactly tea at The Ritz, but special occasions such as that can be recreated and for a fraction of the cost. (You can read more about The Bloom Girls taking Afternoon Tea at The Ritz below).

Afternoon Tea Menu

Blueberry ~ Cranberry ~ Black Tea Blend with Lemon

Tuna Sandwiches on wheat toasted with Arugula and Tomato

Egg Salad Sandwiches ~ Cucumber Sandwiches with Ranch and Cream Cheese

Apricot and Cranberry Scones with Strawberry Jam

Fruit Tarts ~ Cream Puffs with Chocolate ~ Fresh Fruit

I prepared the scones. The desserts are from Whole Foods.

Fresh baked apricot and cranberry scones. My favorite are strawberry scones, but I haven't found a reasonable source for dried strawberries....they are so expensive!!! I love clotted cream on my scones, but find thickened yogurt a suitable and healthier alternative. I planned on serving it and had some of my favorite, Stoneybrook Farms French Vanilla , thickening in the refrigerator, but I ate it!

Tuna sandwiches prepared with a tsp. of mayo, tsp. of caesar dressing, red onion, s/p, arugula, chopped grape tomatoes.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Karyn prepared Cucumber Sandwiches for our luncheon at Susan's at Between Naps on the Porch. I used her recipe of one package of ranch dressing mixed with 8 oz. cream cheese for the spread. She garnished hers with fresh dill from her garden and they were delicious!!! Not having any fresh dill, I sprinkled mine with a little parsley.

Teapot and teacups from Homegoods. The teapot I bought years ago on clearance for $2.00. I purchased the teacups and saucers recently for $2.99 each. Did you notice the little s/p shakers? They went on a trip with me over Easter and I snapped photos of them the entire time we were gone....even on the airplane. I was preparing for Susan's party, but I dropped my camera on the last day of the trip!!!
The blue and white plates were purchased at a Spiegal auction years ago for $1. I don't even know if the Speigal catalog is still in existence. I use to love their catalog!!!
Pillow covers from Aix-en-Provence. If I remember correctly, they were 2 for $10. Inside are down pillows forms from IKEA, they are super nice and less than $6 a piece.

My afternoon tea wasn't tea at The Ritz, but it was equally as special. I am so grateful for my home and the many blessings I have and now I have the memories of both occasions. I love to dream about and anticipate many more adventures whether abroad or at home in Nashville.

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Read about The Bloom Girls taking Afternoon Tea at The Ritz

Itinerary

Flight departs Dublin 7:15 PM ~ arriving London Heathrow 8:45 PM.

Go through customs.

Collect bags

Rent car

Dinner at McDonald's (I know....)

Drive to hotel in Knightsbridge.

Our first clue things were about to go south should have been when the directions from the car rental station to the hotel in Knightsbridge took six full pages. Karyn and I left the driving up to our 'younger' traveling companion, Julie, as she had already chauffeured us through Ireland and was now quite adept at driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.

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An hour or so into our "short" drive to the hotel and after getting lost numerous times, we were stopped by a police officer for going the wrong way on a one way street. The police officer asked Julie to step out of the car, she immediately began sobbing uncontrollably. The police officer reluctantly began to hug her in a consoling manner as she was telling him every detail about our trip from the moment we departed Nashville. After several minutes of discussion, the officer hurriedly directed us on how to turn around and sent us on our way....without writing Julie a citation. We finally arrived at the hotel and got snuggled in for the evening around 3 AM.

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Why the stop in London for ONE day? To have Afternoon Tea at The Ritz......

Group picture in the lovely loo at The Ritz.

The Palm Court at The Ritz.

Afternoon Tea Menu

Your choice of a selection of Black, Green, Oolong or Scented Tea.
Smoked Salmon Sandwiches ~ Ham Sandwiches ~ Chicken Sandwiches ~Cucumber Sandwiches~ Mature Cheddar Cheese Sandwiches ~ Egg Mayonnaise and Cress Bridge Roll
Freshly Baked Raisin and Apple Scones with Devonshire Clotted Cream and Strawberry Preserve
Assortment of Afternoon Tea Pastries ~ Ritz Chocolate Cake

There is no picture taking allowed in The Palm Court, so Julie snapped these pictures with her phone camera. The service was very simple, but lovely. It is extremely formal as one might imagine. I was most surprised that men attended...it's quite frou-frou.

It was all delicious, but the scones and Devonshire clotted cream were TDF!!!!

Now is a good time to mention that I had around three hours of sleep the evening before.....

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I want to send a special shout out to:

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Thank you Julie at Hooked on Houses for hostessing this weeks Hooked on Fridays.

Thank you Michael at Designs by Gollum for hostessing Foodie Friday.

Thank you Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hostessing Tablescape Thursday.

Thanks Melissa at The Inspired Room for hostessing A Beautiful Life.

Go get a cuppa coffee or your favorite beverage, sit in your comfy chair and go visit the blogs of these ladies....they are delightful!

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Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!!!

Nola