CCC Women's Leadership Appreciation Dinner

My new Italian friend, C.

Strangers are just friends waiting to happen.  ~Rod McKuen, Looking for a Friend 

Dear Reader, last night was one of those delightful, surprise evenings when you meet kindred spirits, share an impeccable meal and lose all track of time because you're completely relaxed and have forgotten all about the responsibilities and pressing worries you've been carrying around lately.

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive. ~Anäis Nin

Asparagi: fresh asparagus wrapped in bacon, grilled and topped with a gorgonzola sauce (my favorite thing on the whole menu!)

What's this deliciousness, you ask?  Well it's just the appetizer from our Christ Community Church (Women's Evening/Weekend) Leadership Appreciation Dinner!  This was my first year serving as an apprentice community group leader and I was delighted to be invited to join so many fabulous ladies from church for an evening of fellowship and great food at Geneva's most charming little Italian place: Villa Verone. I'm told this is the second year the ladies have spent a gorgeous evening in the picturesque courtyard dining area at Villa Verone.  What can I say?  They have excellent taste!

The Lovely Lady Leaders

Many Thanks to Our Fearless (and Gorgeous) Leaders: L & B for such a wonderful evening!

These ladies also work very hard, giving of themselves to pour into the lives of women in their community groups.  I listened to them speak of juggling families, work, serving at church and a myriad of other responsibilities.  But whatever their struggles, as I listened, I heard their hearts for God and His work.  I heard how their experiences are shaping the way they minister to others--and how others minister to them.  They are a strong, vibrant and very diverse group of women.  Did I mention their sense of adventure?

Italians got talent!

Oh, but wait!  We'll get to that in a minute.  First, we have to talk food.  Below is some of the incredible deliciousness that came across our table:

Chicken Marsala

Who cares what it's called?  You know it was good!

Plate of Culinary Art

Oooooo, Tiramisu

 Yeah, I have to say, despite the yum-factor of every dish, I restrained myself during dinner...but then the tiramisu arrived.  I'm not exactly sure what happened next.  I snapped this photo and the next thing I knew, there was an empty plate in front of me and a cleanly-licked fork in my hand.  Poor thing didn't stand a chance.

Anyway: on to the fun!  Here are my favorite candid shots of the ladies and our servers having a wonderful time:

Oh, but the fun didn't end there!  Just when we were all full, contented and relaxed, the restaurant's owner appeared to serenade us with his favorite classic Italian songs.  That was about the time my new Italian friend, C, decided she was gonna get in on the act...

And she wasn't the only CCC Song Bird to step up to the mike that night!

All in all, an amazing evening!  I left there feeling so rejuvenated and refreshed.  All that laughter and sharing of experiences--it's powerful stuff!  How wonderful then, that God made us to live and thrive in relationships.  I am keenly aware these days that He has brought us all together in this season of life to prepare us for the works that lie ahead.  Whatever the path, He will provide all we need...including fellowship and laughter.

Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.  ~Malcolm Muggeridge

All quotes courtesy of The Quote Garden.

Spring Tea & Garden Party, March 2012

Table Setting: March Spring Tea & Garden Party

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.  ~Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

 All right, dear Reader.  I know this post is abominably late. But, seeing as I have all the lovely photo evidence and it looks like we'll be hosting several more delightful tea parties this year, I thought it best to show you the impetus for our tea party revival.

Me (left) and H with tea accompaniments.

Looking back on it now, it seems inevitable that we (the lovely Ms. H & I) would begin throwing the kind of ladies' teas we've read about in books but never actually attended ourselves.  After all, who throws tea parties these days?  I don't know a woman (of any age) who's been to one (let alone, knows how to throw one).  And that is simply unacceptable.

 For me, getting here began with tea cup collecting in 2005.  Along the way, other seemingly disparate parts of my life began to converge: the life-long influence of consummate entertainers Aunt & Aunt Chef; many years of merchandising retail housewares; a whole lotta Candlewick luncheon trays (something else I've been collecting); way too many Jane Austen movies and an ever-evolving sense of culinary adventure.  Whisk all those things together and what do you get?  A single thirty-something girl just itchin' to show her friends a good time by throwing a classic tea party. 

I imagine my friend, H, came to this point by a similar route (with even more Jane Austen movies under her belt). 

Whatever the path, we found ourselves quite bored this past February and in need of something to look forward to.  I was cleaning and organizing everything I own, which included unpacking some of my lovely tea sets still in boxes from my last move.  Long story short, I decided to throw a combination tea & garden party for one of my bible study groups and H had to be on the guest list.  

Had a ball making the invitations...they doubled as place card holders.

I ordered a special Teatime Bliss issue of Victoria magazine (my all-time favorite) and we ooh & ahhed over the clever recipes.

We incorporated some tea party staples with our own go-to show-stoppers to create a delectable menu: a spring greens salad w/homemade garlic vinaigrette; herbed cheddar scones w/ fresh chive or oregano butters; chevre-stuffed dates wrapped in basil & prosciutto; Parmesan carrot phyllo bites; cranberry chicken salad tea sandwiches with candied pecans (we cut-out bread slices in the shape of flowers and butterflies); assorted petit fours; artisan ribbon candy and the big finale: mango and blackberry Cabernet sorbets garnished with edible flowers.  WOW!

Mango & Blackberry Cabernet Sorbets with edible flowers

But, what is a tea party without fabulous teas?  H is the Queen of Tea, so I left the selection up to her.  She served a robust English Breakfast Tea with the salad and  hors d'oeuvres course and a creamy Madagascar Vanilla Red Rooibos Tea for our main course and with dessert. A-mazing!

Pinkies Up!

Sooooo, Reader, this is where I admit that all the time we spent planning and preparing the tea menu actually pales in comparison to the amount of time I spent setting the table.  The wonderful thing, is that after several years of working at Pier 1 and shopping discount stores and flea markets, I had plenty of spring serve-ware and napkins to choose from.  I also have enough tea cups to do several color schemes (she admits sheepishly).  I chose the following silver, green and pink floral theme to compliment a variety of tea cup patterns:

  

Homemade Oregano Butter

Wheat Grass Centerpiece

The wheat grass centerpiece was an idea I'd seen done in magazines and had been dying to try myself.  Voila!  In March, they became available through my employer and I was able to order an inexpensive flat.  What a lush, springy addition to our party!  

But, just in case I couldn't get into enough decorating trouble on my own, Aunt offered us a few more necessary accessories.  Fortunately, she also instructed me in what they were and how to use them properly (it's always better when you don't look like you're clueless--especially when you are).  Note: the best thing about nobody really having tea parties anymore is that no one will know if you aren't doing it exactly right.

Remember the tea kettle - it is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings!  ~Author Unknown    

      
 So, after weeks of planning, the day of our Spring Tea & Garden Party finally dawned and our guests arrived ready to live it up!

The Lovely Laura Comes to Tea

I have to admit, this was the prettiest table I'd set to date.  So, it was extra delightful to show each of my guests into the dining room and hear them squeal with the same girlish joy I was experiencing.  We set the mood with a fabulous French/Early 20th Century Jazz playlist and Citrus & Prosecco Spritzers.  Then the party began in earnest!

The girls had a wonderful time--yay!!!

Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.  ~Catherine Douzel

Thus began what I've come to call the Year of Tea Parties.  Before the gals had even left, H and I were hatching plans for our next tea soiree (and for the one after that).  

The funny thing is, I feel like God made me for stuff like this.  I love to host parties--and spoil my guests rotten!  I think He wants me to use these gifts of hospitality for fellowship and for caring for the women in my life.  Just because I don't have a husband (yet), doesn't mean I should fore go the hostess part of who I am as a Godly woman.  He's blessed me with ample resources and it just seems silly to let them collect dust when they could be used to bring happy memories to the people I encounter. So, I guess you could call this...a tea ministry...what a good idea...

 The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose.  ~George Gissing, The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft

Tea quotes courtesy of The Quote Garden.