Tea for Two

Isn't Seattle gorgeous when it wants to be? Yesterday my girls sat in the backyard for a proper English tea party. They ate tiny cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches along with mini tuna fish sandwiches (for the protein) and snacked on a bowl of cherries. For dessert they ate chocolate chip, cranberry scones and short bread cookies that had a smackeral of dark chocolate layered on top. The scones, homemade; the cookies, courtesy of Pepperidge Farms.

I bought real china tea cups from Value Village for less than $5 so I wasn't the least bit worried about a 5 and 3-year-old handling them. The teapot was purchased several years ago from a mini Harrods store inside of Heathrow Airport. The cherries were placed in a beautiful white bowl with scalloped edges that once belonged to my grandmother. The tablecloth was purchased during a vacation I took with my husband to Spain. All together, though unmatched as it was, it made for a really nice table setting.

The tea: An organic tea made especially for children called Nighty Night. It's marketed as a calming and relaxing tea to help children wind down after a busy day. It smells and taste wonderful (just add a bit of honey if your child prefers it sweet). The tea comes with an adorable bedtime story about Oliver Owl who has trouble sleeping. The hero of the story is Tea-ger the Tiger who makes a special bedtime tea for Oliver with chamomile and linden tree blossoms.

Nighty Night tea also steeps into this pretty pink color -- how cute is that?

The tea party was a success and my children, though not completely soothed by the tea because I think the chocolate gave them a little boost, in the end were very thankful for the lovely tea.