Decorative Paper Plates

A party fit to a tea

Hints from Colin Cowrie, party planner extraordinaire and author of “Effortless Entertaining with Colin Cowie”:

•Tea sandwiches are diminutive and delicate. It takes only one or two bites to finish one, so each piece must be flavorful and distinctive.

•The bread should be very thin. You can ask your bakery to remove the crust and cut it horizontally instead of vertically or buy a loaf of unsliced bread and slice it yourself. Or you can use a rolling pin to flatten it.

•For most of the sandwiches you can use a spread made of equal parts of softened butter or margarine and cream cheese, white pepper and a dash of Tabasco.

Most afternoon tea parties are not sit-down affairs; instead, guests are encouraged to mingle and graze. So, the tables should not only be gracious and inviting but carefully organized.

Amid the lovely linens and sumptuous spring flowers, create a tea area with all the accouterments, a sandwich section with accompanying napkins and plates, and a tray of desserts. There are lovely 3-tiered platters available and perfect for a tea party.

Guests pick up a lightweight plate to fill with bite-size sandwiches and sweets. Utensils are not usually offered as guests will be walking around nibbling from their petit plate of treasures and taking a sip of tea.

In my grandmother’s china closet I found kidney shaped Depression glass plates with an indentation for the tea cups. These are perfect for a garden party as everything can be placed on one plate. Since tea parties are becoming a popular way of entertaining, expect some resourceful manufacturer to bring them back. If you don’t have a set in the family or can’t find them at a nearby antique store or yard sale, select dishes, cups and glasses that are lightweight and lend themselves to being carried around. Or you can use decorative paper plates.

Fandango Catering and Events Blog: Fandango Catering and Events ...

These, like plastic bags, can take hypothetically hundreds of years to biodegrade.  It's now easy to buy eco-friendly serveware/picnicware at places like Whole Foods.  Good old Chinet is another eco option--did you know that it decomposts quickly? For more formal or elegant events, use real plates and glasses.  Or for casual to casual elegant entertaining, buy a set of plastic plates and glasses in festive colors (cutlery too) and use and reuse for summer events.  Even decorative paper plates and plastic forks can be put in recycling if scraped. Hi! I'm Kristina Rios de Lumbreras, Ph.D., Director of Sales and Operations/Event Manager with Fandango Catering and Events in Houston, TX. My husband, Jesus Lumbreras-Calvo (a Scottsdale Culinary Institute grad and Madrid native), is our Owner and Executive Chef. After leaving academia I apprenticed at two major financial firms to learn business mgt. and then at the Houston Ballet Development Dept., where I learned the importance of listening to and putting clients and their ideas first and also learned to create beautiful and artful designs for events large or small, formal or informal. We are passionate about deliciously, beautifully memorable events and are here to help with entertaining tips, trends, and ideas.

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