A Holiday Tea Party… and savory butter recipe

A few weeks ago I asked my eleven-year-old if she wanted to have a tea party with her friends and their moms. I love tea parties, especially preparing them. It made me miss my friends from far away back home, because it reminded me of so many an afternoon we had spent together. There was a lot of cleaning to do, the kids are just getting over colds and the house always needs a good scrub come Monday. Luckily I had spent some time Sunday evening reorganizing bits of my house, and the swoop to get tea-party-worthy-clean wasn't too bad...

We did the classic gingerbread cookie bit...

 We did all the cookies beforehand...

 So as not to have a crazy kitchen...

 "Too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil the...

 FLOOR!"

 But cookies are christmasy and fun to decorate...

 On Sunday while I was at the truck, I baked our desserts...

Apple Custard Pie with a gingerbread crust...

 And Brandy Poppy Seed Cake…

  (This link is to a different recipe, I thought it was the same one, but I guess I have two) 

I brought home leftover biscuits and made the most tantalizing savory butter to spread on them...

The very rough recipe is:

Rough Savory Butter

Please use your tongue as your guide, if at some point I get an exact recipe I will update this.

In a bowl combine:

1 stick butter room temperature

1/2 or more teaspoon summer savory

1/2 or more teaspoon tarragon

1/2 or more teaspoon onion powder

1/2 or more teaspoon sage

1/2 or more teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon toasted ground cumin

1 pinch nutmeg

zest from one lemon

Whisk until evenly distributed. Taste and adjust. 

We set out oranges and cloves to make hanging orbs of heavenly aroma. 

I remember doing this with my mom when I was very little…

 The cloves always hurt so much to push in...

 All in all it was lovely and very sweet. A very nice bunch of girls and their mamas...

                                                       All my best ~

                                                                    Marica