Mr. Toast's First Annual Christmas Tea

This afternoon will be special. Mmm, also known as Mr. Toast, my ex-pat blog friend in Colorado, is welcoming each of you to a Christmas tea.

Singing Christmas carols and songs will be enjoyable...............always fun with a group of friends. Come on, don't be shy, nobody cares if you can't carry a tune or hit the high notes.

We Brits are almost always 'tea-aholics'. Ingrained since birth, we are drowned in it from early morning until afternoon tea time............then later a quick stop at the village pub for something a wee bit stronger in the evening!!!

So dear blog friends, grab your warm sweaters, wrap your muffler around your neck, pull on tall boots, and throw on a toasty warm coat............hop a plane, ride the rails, buzz over on your snowmobile, roll up in a trusty 4-wheel drive.........but be sure to head for Aspen, Colorado where Mr. Toast will have a crowd of merry bloggers ready to join in the fun at tea time.

The warm and wonderful party outfit I will wear to tea, complete with wrist warmers - it looks perfect for chilly yet stylish Aspen.

Tables are set with special china cups and saucers. Teapots are steaming in their holiday themed cozies. Silver spoons and delicate cake forks add shine and say, "stir me, dig in". So many goodies to taste, holiday foods we save especially for Christmastime to nibble, munch, bite into and say, "Yummy, that's so good, worth waiting for all year". I know the candles will be burning brightly welcoming one and all to tea.

I carefully carried my special teatime treats across the miles last night. Luckily an old bearded guy in a bright red suit let me use his sleigh as he doesn't need it until Dec. 24! The journey was chilly and the reindeer, although friendly, kept trying to nibble the treats!


The British sherry trifle. Bottom layer is spongecake spread with raspberry jam and soaked heavily in good cream sherry. Real thick homemade custard, no instant pudding allowed here. Freshly whipped heavy cream topped with sliced, toasted almonds and strawberries. So absolutely fabulous, and it's not only made at Christmas - any time during the year when a really wonderful dessert is needed for a celebration, a Brit can whip up one of these beauties - our Mums taught us well!!

Beside the promised trifle, I also brought along this yummy chocolate no-bake torte - quite easy to make, rich and delicious, and any leftovers (that's a joke) keep well in the 'frig....................................


.....................and one more very English cake, always served with tea, the Victoria Sponge. This recipe every school girl learns in her first year of home economics - but it doesn't always turn out looking this good - I'll be honest, mine didn't!!

So hurry over to visit a fun and talented Englishman at his blog Hot Toast and Jam. He'll be waiting to pour you a cuppa and you'll enjoy meeting other bloggers who love tea. Let's celebrate the season with warmth and friendship.

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