High Tea by the bay

In my last post , Patricia's Tag, one of the questions was "What inspires you ?" and my answer was "Company of other inspired people, my friends and of course my two boys!". This post is about one such person who is my good friend and a constant source of inspiration:
My dear friend, Minnu.

She is an artist , and now a full-time mom. She is the girliest girl I know and my one-stop rescue point for design consultation, DIY emergencies, Quick n Easy recipes, hot-off-the-rack fashion trends and 90210 updates.

Last weekend was her daughter's 2nd birthday, and she had invited a couple of us friends over for tea. She had gone to great lengths setting the stage- which seemed so effortless at first look, but was carefully brought together. Here are some shots of the tablescape .

Below: Chunky Brownies & Pastries . I love the Pink spray-roses in the earthenware jar. They are so beautiful and I have tried to include them in every shot possible.
Below: Simple snacks liven up the table. Home-made Crispy Crust Pizza & Fish Puffs, Banana Muffins from a nearby bakery and of lots of seasonal fruits. Her collection of simple linens and white china lend a grace to the table, and make the food even more appetizing.

High Tea or Afternoon Tea is a light meal including Tea (or sometimes Coffee, to accommodate regional priorities) typically eaten between 3 pm and 5 pm. The custom of drinking tea originated in England when Catherine of Braganza (of Portugal) married Charles II in 1661 and brought the practice of drinking tea in the afternoon, with her from Portugal. (Source: Wikipedia).
Note: Technically- the general term "High Tea" which we use for drinking tea with snacks in the afternoon is a misnomer. High Tea or "meat tea" originated in France and England and was typically heavier food with tea at around 5:00-7:00 in the evening (Not Afternoon), with dinner following much later in the evening. You can read the whole history of High Tea here.

Below: I take a short break from the snacks to find a cup of coffee in the kitchen-nook with an inviting bay-window, and a old cane settee riddled with blue and white pillows to snuggle in.

Above: A mickey-mouse cake for the 2 year old and her friends. The kids had a lot of fun digging into it after the official cake-cutting .
We all had a great time at the party.. Well, who wouldn't when surrounded by such pretty things and good friends?

Below: Minnu is re-orienting herself with her artist's tools after a rather long break. On one of the previous evenings we had met up, she made this sketch of me. I was modeling for first time and it was one of those spur-of-the-moment thoughts to sit for a portrait. I kept fidgeting the entire time , kept changing my expressions and had to offer-up my comments every now and then. Nevertheless, she did an impressive job for a midnight , right-under-the-lamp portrait of me :)

Below: Home-made Strawberry Jam from Minnu's Kitchen. This is a gift she had given me a while back and I thought this would be good time to share it with you. Often we overlook the possibility of giving our friends, home-made gifts like these, which are relatively inexpensive but absolutely delights the receiver!! The next time before I run to the store to pick up an off-the-shelf-gift , I would definitely reconsider . Would you ?


Here is to friendship and friends !!

-Aswathy