Cheerio! It’s time for tea!

I have two boys. I think most of you know that because I talk about them incessantly. If you’re near me and they aren’t, I’m showing you pictures of them on my phone (today’s response to wallet pictures). I always thought I’d have a girl or two, I never expected to have TWO boys. I think I’m still in shock. My oldest is four. I am not very good at “boy” stuff. I try, I do. I am really good at dressing in cutoff jean shorts (my daily uniform – I LOVE getting dressed up, but I live in my cutoffs, but I DO love matching my boys and then matching myself TO them.)  and shopping for boy clothes, but when it comes to boy things – I struggle. I just don’t have that gene. Try as I might! I is who I is…

But I’m grateful. They’ve shown me how cute bug catching can be (I don’t quite touch the bugs myself), to let go when they get a little dirty, to eat like cavemen with their hands (okay, so I’m big on table manners, so this particular attribute isn’t so cute), to play superheroes or dinosaurs. I can cut my Bigs’ hair like a salon would do. So I’ve adapted, I’ve learned, and I’ve always been so grateful for them.

But I’m still a girl (well, a WOMAN now, but you know, girl-Y). I do what I can with these boy themed lunches.

Except for today. Last night I made a lunch that is definitely more “girly” for today, but since I added a blue background and my boy is eating it, it’s boyish. Or we can call a spade a spade and just say it’s a girly lunch. Who cares. His favorite color is pink and his besties are all girls. He’s great at karate, running, and yardwork. He is who he is, and I love him.

I spread strawberry cream cheese on melba toast, there are two little sandwiches of that. I had a conversation last week with my Mom over tea (more on that later) and I was inspired to get some melba toast (okay, impulse buy!). I packed seasoned corn (have to have a veggie!), oyster crackers, raisins, colby jack cheese, sliced plum, and a slice of chocolate cake (with star sprinkles). Looks like a kid’s “high tea” to me!

My inspiration behind this whole meal was the high tea I shared with my Mom last week. We used to do that a lot when I was little, and sporadically throughout our lives, together. We found a really cute place and it was the best tea we’d ever had, and we’ve enjoyed it in England! Making that kid lunch might be the closest thing to having tea with my kid since I do not have girls. Back to the REAL tea…

We had the most delicious Peach Melba tea (hence the Melba talk – I had remembered that I had a Sunday school teacher named Melba and it always reminded me of melba toast and peach melba, even as a child). This was the best hot tea I’d ever had.

The food spread was insanely beautiful – the bottom tier was tea sandwiches, the middle was British desserts, and the top was scones with jam and clotted cream.

Turkey & Cranberry, Egg Salad, & Cucumber with Cream Cheese, all on British bread

Berry Tart, Baby Cupcakes, Zucchini Walnut Bread, Bread Pud, & Jam Roly Poly

The scones were perfect (as was everything). The Ex-Pat owner of the tea shop showed us the “real” way to eat them, to maximize jamming and clotted creaming.

Heavenly

Anyone who has known me knows that I’ve been an Anglophile since before it was cool. I’m glad I found a way to sort of share that with my Bigs, in my own way.

Blessings!

Kristin