Tea Party: 20 Themed Tea Parties with Recipes for Every Occasion, from Fabulous Showers to Intimate Gatherings

by Tracy Stern, Christie Matheson

Enjoy life. Drink tea. Celebrate often.
Tracy Stern is passionate about tea. She has created wildly popular lines of teas and tea-based beauty products and has hosted hundreds of stylish tea parties to celebrate all sorts of occasions. She has introduced a new generation to the pleasures of tea without any of its traditional stuffiness. In Tea Party , she encourages everyone to make their next gathering that much more special by incorporating tea into the menu.

Starting with tips on choosing and brewing teas–from white and green teas to herbal rooibos and different black teas– Tea Party then shares more than seventy-five recipes, both savory and sweet, as part of twenty themed tea parties. Stern features classic tea accompaniments such as Scones with Clotted Cream and Cucumber-Mint Tea Sandwiches as well as novel recipes that use flavorful and healthful tea as an ingredient, including Homemade Potato Fries with Ceylon Tea Salt and Tea-Scented Chocolate Truffles. Above all, the focus is on fun, not fuss.

The party suggestions are perfect for afternoons with friends, bridal and baby showers, cocktail and dinner parties, picnics, and brunches. A Mad Hatter’s Tea Party–for a birthday or an unbirthday–will delight kids and adults alike with tea sandwiches made with edible flowers followed by Eat Me! Cupcakes. Chai Breakfast Tea reveals a fantastic recipe for the sweetly spiced irresistible drink along with recipes for chai-scented pancakes and candied almonds. Ideas and inspirations abound for fabulous, easy, and affordable invitations, decorations, table settings, and charming party favors that tie into each party’s theme.

Featuring beautiful color photography throughout, Tea Party is a hip, up-to-date slant on a beloved tradition, inspiring everyone to drink a little more tea, celebrate a little more often, and enjoy life a whole lot more.

Genres: Cookbooks, Tea, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food, Reference

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a tea-lover and hostess, I really enjoyed this title. Twenty different themes of tea parties to host! The themed decor, invitation, favor and recipe ideas are simple, inspiring and potentially feasible. An excellent starting point for anyone interested in hosting a tea party gathering.

[Kissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely book to spark inspiration for parties (doesn't have to be just tea, in my opinion) and provide easy recipes for any occasion. I appreciated there were themes presented for various occasions throughout the entire year and that there were both feminine and masculine themed ideas. Also, having recipes that are approachable and could be accomplished through store-bought items (if one isn't feeling adventurous enough to try handmade or is limited on time) was quite appealing- and loved that the author was encouraging if one needed to take that route, rather than reprimanding on how it would "lower standards" as some recipe books do. Overall, I am quite happy I picked up this book and look forward to potentially making an assortment of the recipes presented for my own parties.

[Juli Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope, this one hasn't aged well. Contrived recipes and themes with over-the-top, outdated etiquette (party favors? for a casual tea party?!) and a pinch of harmful orientalism for good measure. I hope to forget this one very soon.

[Cynde · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful introduction to the world of tea parties - tea, food and decor. I am researching tea parties for a cozy mystery tea party book chat monthly I am leading at the library where I work. This book is very helpful.

[Dolly Garnecki · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some great recipes and menu planning ideas with themes, but some have nothing to do with a tea and rather just parties. But, I did get some ideas and note some recipes and meal themes, specifically the men's tea which sounds like a very delicious and hearty fall menu.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good afternoon tea book. I made their recipe for clotted cream and cucumber mint sandwiches.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute ideas.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay. The photos were the best part, I think. I did not expect that the majority of the recipes would include tea as an ingredient, however.

[Kathy McC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book to see if there was something that I could use for special activities at school. Didn't find any, but I did find some interesting ideas for other areas and also discovered some interesting recipes. Who knew tea could be used for martinis and other cocktails?

"Drink tea, enjoy life, celebrate often."

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite idea is the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, I wish I had a kid already so I could throw this for a birthday or an "unbirthday"! You can have pink lemondade with kiwi, heart-shaped scones with apple butter and clotted cream and eat me! cupcakes! Not to mention one of those "topsy-turvy" cakes with tiers at wacky angles and give out copies of Alice in Wonderland for party favors!

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great photos and interesting recipes. Inspirational for hosting my own parties, altho the author is a bit out of touch regarding how much prep and cost she puts into these parties (she is a professional event organizer).

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very beautiful photos...Neat theme ideas for Valentine's Day and Children's Tea Party

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

More modern, funky ideas for tea parties...different themed teas.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would be good for adult teas.