Every year in autumn, we typically begin to start nesting again.  We start spending more time indoors, and instead of having picnics, we go out to dinner, have dinner parties, or happy hours with our friends.  It's usually in autumn when I start my tea parties back up for the season.  Starting in September or October, I invite some friends over to drink tea, eat finger foods and just chat.

A tea party is a lot easier to organize than a dinner party; so if you aren’t a chef, even you'll be able to pull it off.  I get a lot of stuff from the bakery and deli, so there's really little cooking that I actually have to do, it's mostly just assembling everything. 

 I can host the tea party for six of my friends for about $30.  What do I buy?  Well, I buy a couple of pastries, some gourmet bread, lunch meats, a fruit salad, dates and spreads, and some chips.  One way to stretch your foods out even more is to cut them into little pieces.  If you have a large pastry, you can cut it in half or in quarters. 

 Now, I call it a tea party, but I serve other beverages than just tea.  I get some of those boxes of European coffee, and let my guests choose which flavor they want.  What matters in having a tea party is that everything looks good.  I make sure that I have clean table linens, and I use my Lenox holiday nouveau china.

 Chatting with friends, enjoying something small to eat, and relaxing is a pretty good way to spend a cool Sunday afternoon.  I know that my friends enjoy this time as much as I do.