— Dr K Kimmel

This is, uh, a wide open question, which can be the most difficult kind of question, but let me, uh, I'll share, uh, maybe some sort of images that come to mind for a, a tea party. Um, let's see here. You know, I, uh, you know, think about, um, tea sandwiches, um, that are made with fruit, um, like sliced strawberries or mango or kiwi, something that's fairly delicate. Um, and, um, you can make these delicate sandwiches, uh, with a whipped cream. And, uh, if, if you're, if you're plant-based, you know, find something that you like that's plant-based, if you're not, um, a hundred percent plant-based, then you might consider, uh, you know, heavy cream, you know, a Chantilly, uh, and you make these delicate sandwiches, um, you know, in, in that fashion. Um, let's see, you know, the, um, uh, you know, quick breads, of course, you know, always have a, a place, uh, in tea parties. And I guess depending on, uh, your, the, the, the, the food preferences, you know, of, of your three granddaughters and, and their audience, right? Their friends and family, um, you know, you can spice up, uh, a quick bread. You're, you know, take whatever your starting point is, zucchini or, um, banana or something else, and then, you know, add some cloves, some, some ground cardamom, a little more, um, uh, you know, cinnamon or, or whatever it happens to be. And, uh, just bring a little more personality, more aroma, um, you know, with, uh, with that food item. And those flavors go really nicely with these hot beverages, you know, if it's, if it's tea of, of, of any sort, really. And, and, you know, I'm, I'm looking at a cup of Earl Gray right now. And so those sort of things come to mind for me. Um, excuse me, you know, savory items, uh, I think are desirable as well to balance the very common sweet items that we see, um, you know, at, uh, at tea parties. And, uh, you know, I had mentioned a few minutes ago, you know, the idea of, uh, little triangles, right? That are made from, um, philo that's stuffed with some sort of a, a filling your choice cheese or, or vegetables. Uh, you know, potatoes are common in the spirit of a, of a, an Indian samosa, uh, or spinach in the spirit of, of something, um, from the, uh, the Mediterranean. Um, and, uh, you know, you can again, flavor those and add textures through nuts and, and dried fruits to take these in many different directions, okay? And, uh, you can, uh, you know, have some fun with those. They're, they're finger food. You can, you can alter the size as well, depending on the size of your diners and, and you know, what's comfortable for them. That's one of the things I like about these little philo delicacies, uh, is their flexibility internally as well as the size. Okay? Um, but, you know, those are a, a couple of, of broad areas that come to mind. You know, as far as the philo goes, you can also roll them up, um, same fillings, uh, and then, uh, so you have a different sort of presentation. So maybe you, you do two varieties, right? Some triangles that have one filling and, and some rolls that have a different filling. Um, just like we might see among the varieties of, of baklava, uh, in the world, right? Some are rolled up, some are in the form of a, of a cup with, with those nuts as a filling drizzle of, uh, of honey. Uh, sometimes they're in triangles, sometimes they're in squares or rectangle, sometimes they're in diamonds. Um, so, so there's different ways, you know, to make, um, these things using something like phlo. Um, and then in a similar manner, you could use puff pastry and, um, you can create these little containers, um, called a and, um, you can then put fillings, um, you know, a savory filling is pretty typical, uh, in, in the classic, uh, you know, kitchen. And, uh, you know, these can vary in size from small to like main course size. Uh, and so you can have some fun with those things as well. They, they look beautiful. They're very light, of course, and, and, uh, you know, buttery and all that. Uh, goodness. All right. So, uh, hopefully, uh, there's an idea or two in there that works for you.