Ideas for a baby shower/tea party

11 years ago

Next Saturday I'm hosting a family shower/party for my daughter & her newborn baby girl. Some relatives live out-of-state, so everyone decided to wait until after the birth to plan a get-together. My daughter-in-law is in charge of bringing an assortment of teas and preparing a fruit tart for dessert. I'm providing most of the other food. (I also am providing the plates, cups, & flatware and cleaning the house inside & out in preparation for the big event.) Altogether there will be 9 women and 2 school-age children.

This is what I've come up with so far. I think the menu is OK as it stands, but I'm not adverse to adding more items. At this point, I'd only want to add things that are either super easy to prepare or that I can purchase ready-made. I'm relatively close to a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Costco. My local supermarkets are very good too. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Here is what I'm gearing up to prepare:

*Trader Joe's mini croissants filled with chicken salad with toasted almond slivers & dried cherries (Inspired by wizardnm)

*Trader Joe's mushroom turnovers

*Cucumber & cream cheese finger sandwiches

*Fillo cups filled with shrimp & dill salad

*Ribbon sandwiches with ham salad & pimento cheese spread (Cindy Mac's recipe)

*Brie squares on crackers dressed with apple/garlic/jalapeno jam

*Artichoke nibbles (Jkom's recipe)

*Cranberry/orange scones (Ann T's recipe) with Devon cream subsitute (Joy of Baking recipe)

*Petit fours (Local grocer has them on sale, so I thought I'd give them a try.)

This post was edited by shambo on Fri, Feb 15, 13 at 19:55

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Comments (15)

nancylouise5me
11 years ago
What you have sounds delicious to me. It covers the bases, assorted meats, fish, vegetable, bread and dessert. The only thing I might suggest is a light side salad of assorted greens. I always like to have a salad of some sort for a luncheon. You didn't mention beverages. So besides the tea/coffee I would have bottled water and a punch. But other then that it sounds great. Congratulations to you and your daughter on the birth of her daughter also! NancyLouise
triciae
11 years ago
Gosh, Shambo, I think the menu sounds wonderful. I don't think you need anything other than a salad as Nancylouise noted. I'm imaging your party with wonderful chintz teacups/saucers all in different patterns. :) Wish I lived closer - I just happen to have a couple dozen. :(

Congratulations on the new babe!

Have a wonderful celebration.

/tricia
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Some finger foods that are easy to make are crostini topped items. Buy/make a baguette. Slice 1/2" sized rounds. Brush with garlic oil. Place on a baking sheet and put into a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Cool completely. Then top with whatever you feel. We have done spicy shrimp, goat cheese and black olives, mashed cannellini beans and tomato. Whatever you like can be made into a topping. You can also use grilled polenta as the base for toppings. Curried chicken salad tea sandwiches on rye bread, salmon tea sandwiches(sliced salmon onto of a mixture of cream cheese, parsley, watercress and a pinch of cayenne and lemon juice). I love a nicely presented Cobb salad. On top of chopped romaine and iceburg lettuce arrange cooked chicken, hard boiled eggs, crumbled bacon, diced tomatoes, chopped black olives, and crumbled bleu cheese either in a wedge shape or running straight across. Just a few ideas to get you started. Have fun at the shower and enjoy your new kitchen! NancyLouise
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When I found you asking for ideas I had to call my friend from church, as she host some of the most fun tea parties in her home in the summer, this is what she e-mailed me back. She says she gets her ideas off of different forums she belongs to- Girlfriend Tea- What's a GIRLFRIEND tea? The invitation (sent on a beautiful stationery teacup) said, "Bring a best girlfriend." The proper morning tea started at 10:25 A.M. Wearing a pretty hat was optional, but not necessary (and about half of the ladies wore one). We started with orange-tangerine tea and scones (including lemon curd and clotted cream) on the back porch (I planned on having it in the back yard, but it rained too hard the night before!) Then we adjourned to the dining room where we had Orzo-Asparagus Salad, Ham salad on a thick slice of cucumber, Fruited chicken salad on a small piece of crescent roll, Cucumber fruit salad, a square of broccoli-cheese quiche and a bumblebee that was nestled beside a Brown-eyed Susan. The bumblebee was a mixture of graham cracker crumbs, dried milk, peanut butter and honey. I used a small tube of black icing to make the stripes and eyes. Slivered almonds made the wings. Dessert was a Strawberry-cheese pie in a graham cracker crust. And everything (except the scones) was made the day before. I introduced "my friends" and told how we met and became friends, and then each of them introduced their "friend" and explained how they became friends. We talked for hours. About such things as our favorite childhood toy, our first kiss(!), a memorable event that happened during our wedding, the way our mothers cleaned house -- way back then... We remembered songs we used to sing and sang several "rounds" of White Coral Bells and Make New Friends but Keep the Old. Oh, yes! On one particular tea, the electricity went off during the afternoon, but we lit a few oil lamps and kept on talking. It was a wonderful time -- one we'll cherish a long time, this is one of my favorite Teas to host. I will host this tea for my co-worker friends as well as my church friends and neighbor friends as well.
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Since everyone was so helpful, I wanted to pop back and share the final plan! Things have become even more hectic than I spoke of before.. so took a deep breath and decided to order almost everything from a local coffeehouse/bakehouse. I had planned to make muffins but I just don't have the time to do it. I trust this place and while it isn't cheap, it's very low stress. The team nixed yogurt -- we did talk about a sweet Pongal but opted to nix that also. Someone else is handling decorations and was *very* excited to get blue Gatorade. Not my choice but I have decided I am too much of a control freak and I can roll with it :) BTW my suggestion for drink was iced butterfly pea flower tea -- a beautiful indigo blue with no artificial colors! I'll save it for the 4th of July! Here's the menu.. Asparagus Leek Quiche Mini Croissants with apricot nut chicken salad Mini savory bagels shipped in from NYC + butter/cream cheese Scones - two flavors: blueberry lemon ginger and apricot almond with a citrus glaze raspberry coconut thumbprints (a team favorite-- and they really are amazing!) fruit platter - I will do this piece but will keep it super easy and casual .. like this The team requested cake instead of cupcakes. I intend to order a cake similar to this and add a "welcome baby boy" cake topper thingy: Thanks again for all your help-- I am sighing with relief now. My food order is complete and the gifts have arrived. All I need to do is order the cake!
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caliloo
11 years ago
I think you menu is lovely too! A salad would be welcome by many, but I would not miss it with all the other wonderful offerings.

Congrats and best of luck to the whole family!

Alexa
shambo
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for your kind words. I, too, was thinking about a salad. I wanted to keep everything but the fruit tart as finger food just because we won't be sitting at a table. So I'm not sure how a salad of greens would work. There's always a veggie platter. I did consider skewers of grape tomatoes with balls of marinated fresh mozzarella. I couldn't think of any other vegetable to add to the skewers, though.

I also wondered about having other beverages available. I'm not a fan of punch but like the idea of bottled sparkling water. The out-of-town relatives might bring some things too. Anyhow, tomorrow I start the cleaning. I've got seven giant picture windows running along the back wall of our house. So I'll try to tackle cleaning them. Wish me luck!
teresa_nc7
11 years ago
Your menu sounds varied and delicious, but maybe a little heavy on the bread/filo/pastry/crackers. Little skewers or toothpicks with 2 or 3 small pieces of fruit on each would be easy to eat, give a pop of color and freshness and refresh the palate. Or, a bowl of cut-up fruit could gracefully be eaten from the plate with just a fork. And, you can order a fruit tray from any of those stores you mentioned.

Have fun!
Teresa
User
11 years ago
Sounds wonderful. I would keep with all finger foods rather than add a salad. If you want to add a veggie just go with a small plate of cherry tomatoes, marinated mushrooms, marinated artichokes ....things like that.

Congrats on the new baby and enjoy the day!

Editted to add.......

Would really appreciate Cindy Mac's ham and pimento cheese recipe.

This post was edited by chase on Sat, Feb 16, 13 at 14:03
Fori
11 years ago
It depends on the kids, but you might want something less gourmet for them. :) Otherwise they'll eat all the petit fours!

But I would certainly be pleased with that spread.

(Congratulations!)
compumom
11 years ago
I agree, lovely, but a bit heavy on the breads. As a substitute, how about TJ's stuffed mushrooms rather than the mushroom pastries? I can attest that they're always scarfed up when I've served them and the easy button is there because they're premade from TJ's.
Just a thought...CONGRATULATIONS on the new Grandbaby!
shambo
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for all the ideas. Compumom, unfortunately, I bought the mushroom turnovers last week, so I'll stick with them. However, I agree that a few more fresh items would be nice. I think I'll make some cherry tomato & fresh mozzarella skewers. Marinate the small mozzarella balls and use both red & golden tomatoes. Depending on how energetic I am, I might even add some marinated mushrooms too. I also will include a bowl of cubed fresh pineapple. I don't want to add any other fruits because I don't want to upstage the fruit tart my daughter-in-law is making.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions. I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time. Here's the Pimento Cheese recipe:

Posted by: woodie2 on Mon, Jan 24, 05

I don't really have many suggestions for tea sandwiches, but I do have this lovely recipe from Cindy Mac for Pimento Cheese, that Teresa made me remember.

WORLD'S BEST PIMENTO CHEESE

4 tbls. mayonnaise
1 (3-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cloves garlic
Handful of fresh parsley
Several vigorous shots of Tabasco and Pickapepper sauces
1 cup pecans
1 (4-oz.) jar diced pimentos with the juice
12 ozs. extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

Puree until smooth in food processor the mayonnaise, cream cheese, garlic, parsley and sauces. Turn into a bowl. Coarsely chop pecans. Add pecans and pimentos with juice to the mayonnaise mixture. Add grated cheese. Stir well to combine. Store in refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving. The spread is even better the next day. Serve on bread, crackers or on vegetables.
riverrat1
11 years ago
Congratulations on the new GB!

Your menu seems to be perfect and I happen to LOVE bread so it's perfect for me! ;-)

If you offered a salad I would partake...but I'd gorged on all the other offering first. Perfect menu!
annie1992
11 years ago
Like Riverrat, I love bread in all its forms, so that menu sounds delicious to me. I also don't care about lettuces, so I wouldn't care about a salad at all, but many people do. I do think finger foods are much easier to deal with, especially if you cannot seat all the guests, it's sometimes cumbersome to try to eat something like salad holding a plate or having it on your lap. I like the idea of the tomato/mozzarella skewers, much tidier and easier to manage.

Congratulations on the grandbaby!

Annie
annie1992
11 years ago
Like Riverrat, I love bread in all its forms, so that menu sounds delicious to me. I also don't care about lettuces, so I wouldn't care about a salad at all, but many people do. I do think finger foods are much easier to deal with, especially if you cannot seat all the guests, it's sometimes cumbersome to try to eat something like salad holding a plate or having it on your lap. I like the idea of the tomato/mozzarella skewers, much tidier and easier to manage.

Congratulations on the grandbaby!

Annie
User
11 years ago
Thanks for the recipe Shambo and have a great party!
lpinkmountain
11 years ago
I can't eat a lot of cheese so I am one of those people who would appreciate a veggie platter or deviled eggs. That said, I love and adore breads and cheeses so I would not complain and enjoy the menu! You could also sub something with avocado for the cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches. Like guacamole with cucumber and lettuce and bacon crumbles. I have made and liked that. But really just .02, it sounds like a great menu and just because I have dairy issues doesn't mean it's a common thing or that your crowd will.
elisamcs
11 years ago
Congratulations on the birth of your granddaughter. They sure do make life a lot of fun. Your menu sounds great for the adults, but will the two children have anything they like? Some kids will eat anything, but others won't. Just a suggestion to consider the issue. Regardless, have a wonderful time.

Ideas for a baby shower/tea party

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