High Tea with Su @ The TeaCentre

How was the HighTea event on Saturday afternoon?

It was MARvellous! I had a wonderful afternoon despite not having had time for a pot of tea myself; but it was a sensational experience!

What did the guests think?

Oh... hehe *blush* they thought everything was marvelous too!

It was a busy busy weekend for me; I hadn't had time to recuperate from my sickness last Tuesday; and had been fulfilling obligations as per usual without being able to "call in sick to work" *sniff* I tried to do all I could the night before on Friday; but left the bulk of it for Saturday morning as I wanted everything to taste freshly made and still scrumptious by afternoon! I got up at 7 that morning; instead of 5 like I had expected to; and *sigh* slave drove my 4 poor little worker drones like a Nazi! *laughs* I had only 2 hands... and at the 9am mark... I was needing 20! I wished I had a commercial kitchen at least a million times as I was stressing away with my lack of space and my little baby oven. It was ridiculous! I was more than 60 pieces of everything; and I had 9 different items!
Lucky I had made the Florentines and the brownies a couple of days earlier; If not I would have collapsed for sure.
There were bookings coming in for the HighTea long after they had closed and for those who missed out; I do sincerely apologize. I hope to have this again soon; and I'll make sure you're informed so you can book in earlier. It was a little disappointing for me as there were at least 4 last minute cancellations on Friday night, 2 early Saturday morning and 2 no-shows that afternoon. I could have given the tables to the other callers who were very keen on coming. The centre could only accommodate a maximum of 30 sets of 60 people spread out from 12-4pm for me; and I had to make sure everyone was comfortably seated. I guess this is what happens when you have faith in mankind and not take a deposit. *laughs*
Oh well; enough ranting for me; it was a success... I shouldn't be complaining 27 out of 30 ain't too bad! There were people who walked pass who requested to have an impromptu set as well. They mentioned the platter looked too delicious to resist and asked if they could please have a set too! For everyone who made bookings and came by; I wrote a special thank you note for them which doubled up as a menu. There is one item missing from the menu though. *shrug* Here is my team of "cutter's and paster's" the night before *giggle*Everyone was fascinated with the array of food I had prepared; it isn't exactly your typical swank British HighTea with foiegras and buttermilk scones; *rolls eyes* I wanted to have something different; something to match the unique theme of this quaint little tea centre. The decor is a touch of spice, and has an inviting cozy theme to suit their international teas and teapots available.

savories,

Curry puff pastries - not exactly a curry puff; but more like thick chicken curry in a pie ;)

Smoked Salmon and Dill on garlic toasts - These were my FAVOURITE! they tasted so nice; the base was crisp and flavourful; combined with the drop of cream cheese and smoked salmon...oh.. *heaven*
Sandwiches with Egg and alfalfa sprouts - A small classic high tea item with cold thinly sliced cucumbers and crunchy sprouts to accentuate the creamy egg filling and soft bread.

Sweets;
Tropical Florentine Cookies - A touch of summery feel with dried papaya; pineapple, white chocolate and macadamia nuts.Decadent Chocolate Brownies - A little something rich and deliciously Chocolatey.

Lemon citrus 'Cheesecake' squares - A light puff with creamy citrus cheesecake cream in the centers and lemon rind on the tops~

My famous chocolate Timtam truffles - They weren't too attractive once I got there as the evil sydney sunshine was at it the entire way to the teacentre! *sigh* at least they still tasted divine! The guests were loving them! Even asking for more! *laughs* I had the largest strawberries from the grocer! Everyone was impressed.

Chocolate mascarpone Coffee cupcake layers - A tiny little morsel of coffee liquor goodness! With a light mascarpone cream in between and a rich chocolate ganache frosting for a sweet sweet finish.

And now for the Thank you's:
A big thank you to

• TJ: for the opportunity to work with the TeaCentre
• Amanda: For showing TJ my website ;) *giggle* thanks for being a champ!
• Huixieng: For coming in to work on your day off. Your 'cuteness' made my day! now stop gossiping and start stacking the food! *laughs*
• All the staff at the Tea Centre: Thanks for being supportive and helping out with allocating tables.
• My family - This is cliche; but it had to be done :P. Thanks for the encouraging advice mom and dad.
• My housemates: Pinky+Amrit - You both are my ANGels! Thanks for helping out and being such great encouragement when I'm in doubt.
• Shian yi: I don't know how much to thank you; You should be having a holiday at mine; but you've ended up my Personal Assistant for the weekend. LOL; I do apologize, I hope you've had fun staying with us anyway.
• Jo: WOW... just too much to thank Jo for; *laughs* He just is the backbone of all my work; my transport, my kitchenhand, busboy, cleaner, my inspiration and my hero. He is Su yin's 3rd and 4th working arms. *laughs* Thanks Jo for helping entertain Shian while she's here; and being helpful with the hightea. Thanks for always being there holding me up when I'm too tired to stand on my own. Now if you'd finish that Monday assignment for me as well; that'll be good! *laughs*
• Everyone who made bookings: Thank you so MUCH for the overwhelming support! It was a mindblowing experience for me; I couldn't imagine how many people wanted to eat the food I made! *blush*
• Guests who attended the HighTea: Thank you guys so much for turning up and having a great time; I hope I got to have a chat with everyone; I'm sorry if I had missed photo opportunities with everyone who came by! I had been real tired and photography wasn't exactly on my mind that afternoon.*laughs* I admit, even my photos of food this time around weren't exactly my best shots. Thanks so much for the supportive and encouraging comments throughout the afternoon, they really made all that fuss in the morning worth every drop of sweat! Thanks for the nice things said about my cakes and cooking; I truly appreciate knowing how well you think I've done. I met so many amazing and friendly people on Saturday; blog readers and non-blog readers; you guys are all fantastic!
  

For those who requested for a HighTea encore; I'm thinking of having another one late November! What say you?