I love an elegant afternoon tea on any given day of the year but there are certain holidays and special days that really open up many options for creative and inspiring tea events. For me, St. Patrick’s Day is one of them as the colors of the Ireland flag are great inspiration for the color theme of the tea table as well as for the food itself. What follows is my Irish-themed St. Patrick’s Day Afternoon Tea. Continue reading St. Patrick’s Day Afternoon Tea
It’s no secret that I love anything to do with afternoon tea. Living where I do, here in PEI, we do not have places that offer afternoon tea year-round but that really does not make a huge difference to me as I like to prepare and enjoy afternoon tea at home, whether that’s for one or more people.
Today, it’s a prelude to St. Patrick’s Day afternoon tea for one and the color theme is distinctly green with a hint of orange as, at the time of writing, we are mere days away from St. Patrick’s Day. Continue reading St. Patrick’s Day Afternoon Tea for One
Tis the day for the wearing of the green! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
My teatime today offers some aspects of a time-honored classic menu but also offers some more modern fare to tempt the palette.
Teatime Menu
Warm currant and orange zest scones served with a selection of jams
Spinach Pinwheel Wraps filled with roasted turkey breast, cheddar cheese, and fresh spinach
Pistachio & Chocolate Pudding
Tweed Squares
Lemon Spritz Cookies
Tea Selection: Twinings Irish Breakfast
Instead of the traditional sandwiches, I opted to serve these pinwheel wraps which are super easy to make. I used a garlic herb cream cheese spread mixed with a good quality olive oil to make it almost the consistency of mayonnaise. I spread that over each spinach wrap, then added two thin slices of roasted turkey. I added some chopped orange pepper and fresh spinach and then sprinkled grated cheddar cheese over the top. I rolled the wraps and placed them in the refrigerator for about an hour before slicing and serving them.
After the sandwiches came the scones, fresh and warm from the oven.
I brought the wee bottles of jam home with me from Stratford-Upon-Avon last October. I knew they would fit in perfectly with my teatime menus and would bring back nice memories of a wonderful cream tea we enjoyed in Stratford-Upon-Avon!
In keeping with my green theme, I made these small pistachio puddings.
The base is ground up chocolate cake (ground Oreo cookies would also work). My featured Island product today is chocolate sauce made on PEI by J.J. Stewart Food and Soda Company. I drizzled a couple of teaspoons of the tasty sauce over the chocolate crumbs then added some pistachio pudding, topped with Cool Whip and sprinkled with chocolate crumbs. A tasty little dessert!
Tweed Squares and Lemon Spritz shortbread cookies decorated with orange and green gumdrops rounded out the dessert course.
My tea choice for today was Twinings Irish Breakfast blend.
Since we were having our tea around noontime, I figured I could get away with a breakfast blend tea and this black tea is one of my all-time favorites….anytime of the day.
And, of course, I used my Shamrock-patterned dishes
and my Irish linens that I bought some years ago at the Blarney Castle.
Instead of flowers on my tea table, I chose a small Oxalis plant, more commonly known as the Shamrock plant, with its tiny star-shaped white flowers. (I looked but didn’t find any four-leaf clovers on this plant!)
And, of course, I wore the sweater I also bought at the Blarney Castle.
And, when it all came together, this is what my tea table looked like.
I hope you have enjoyed a glimpse into how we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. What are your St. Paddy’s Day traditions?
Pistachio and Chocolate Puddings
Assemble ingredients.
The little glasses I used only hold a scarce 1/4 cup so, if you are using larger dishes, you will need to vary the amounts accordingly but it is easy as there is really no right or wrong measurements in these puddings!
Add about 1 – 1 1/2 tbsp of ground up chocolate crumbs to each dish. Lightly tamp the crumbs on the base of each dish. Drizzle about 2 tsp chocolate sauce over the chocolate crumb base.
Prepare instant pistachio pudding mix according to package directions. Spoon about 2 tbsp pudding onto chocolate base of each cup. Top with Cool Whip (or your favorite whipped topping). Sprinkle with chocolate crumbs.
An Irish Blessing
May your troubles be less
and your blessings be more
And nothing but happiness
come through your door.
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! Today, I am sharing photos from my St. Patrick’s Day Afternoon Tea.
I love this little square tablecloth and matching napkins. I bought them some years ago at the Blarney Castle on a visit to Ireland. It has been a tradition since to display this cloth on St. Patrick’s Day and it always evokes great memories of my visit to the Emerald Isle.
Of course, it’s also a time for me to bring out my small collection of Irish-themed dishes.
The tea offering from the teapot was English Afternoon Tea.
My choice of tea table flowers centered around the colors in the Irish flag – the green mums and Bells of Ireland, the orange roses, and the white tulips which, of course, came from our local PEI tulip growers – Vanco Tulip Farm in Mt. Albion, PEI.
I love these Canadian “loonie” chocolate coins!
On the tea tray menu – Currant scones with homemade raspberry jam, chocolate cupcakes (flavored with a bit of Irish stout, filled with whiskey-flavored chocolate ganache, and frosted with Bailey’s Irish Cream-flavoured icing), and chocolate drop cookies. The cookies are my March 2013 Cookie of the Month.
These scones are delicately rich!
And, my seedless raspberry jam only makes them that much more delectable!
And, of course, there would have to be a green beverage on the table.
The scones may have been good but the cupcakes were the “icing on the cake”, so to speak!
I like the white and milk chocolate swirled chips in these chocolate drop cookies.
The green color always makes for a bright, colorful, and cheery table!
I hope you have enjoyed a glimpse into my version of an afternoon tea to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I’ll leave you with this Irish blessing:
May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.
Thank you for visiting “the Bistro” today. There are lots of ways to connect with “the Bistro” through social media:
Join My Island Bistro Kitchen on Facebook
Follow the Bistro’s tweets on twitter @PEIBistro
Find the Bistro on Pinterest at “Island Bistro Kitchen”
Follow along on Instagram at “peibistro”
