We are blessed with precious women at Grace Bible Church who love to help minister through the gift of hospitality. So I wanted to take this time and opportunity to do something special for all of them. Enter: the first annual Ladies' Christmas Tea! Before I share anything further about the details and dainties, let me just say this: NONE of this would have happened if not for the selfless help of my fantastic husband.
The tables were set with varying tea cups and festive holiday decor. All that red and sparkly silver made me sigh-in-my-heart happy. *sigh* Although I'm pretty certain that my sweet Ellie's favorite part were the peppermint kisses... ;)
The menu included a variety of freshly brewed loose leaf teas accompanied by a collection of both sweet and savory delights. In case you might be interested, I have linked and/or listed the recipes at the end of this post.
Along with the tea and treats, we had a quick game of "draw a Christmas tree on a paper plate... on your head". These were some seriously competitive artists!
My favorite part of the game came from some of the youngest party goers who opted to draw their tree on the table because (and I quote)... "It was too hard to draw it on our heads. This is better."
I loved preparing and serving and ministering to 22 ladies from different aspects of my life-- ladies from our church ministry, ladies from my school connections, and even a friend from my early morning swimming time! How I pray that the Message of hope of the season was clearly conveyed to each precious woman who was there.
Swig Sugar Cookies (these things are DIVINE!)
Scones with butter and jam
Fruit Salad
Banana Bread and muffins, adapted from this recipe
Ham and Cheese Pinwheels
Crackers and Chicken Salad
Leah's Homemade Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
5 pounds chicken
1/4 cup minced garlic
1-2 cups Duke's mayo
2 tbls. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. dried dill weed
1 tsp. fried chicken seasoning
1 tsp. onion powder
1 small jar diced dill pickles, including juice/vinegar!
1-2 cups dried cranberries (depending on your preference)
Place chicken breasts in crockpot and spread minced garlic evenly over all the chicken. Cook on low for 5-7 hours (depending on the size of your chicken breasts).
Once the chicken is cooked (but not overcooked!), remove from the crockpot. Allow the chicken to cool before spreading. I will also usually add a few tablespoons of cooking juices to the chicken to prevent it from drying out.
While the chicken is cooling, whisk the remaining ingredients together. Now, I know that the mayo listing is a little bit of a wide range. However, depending on your dressing to chicken ratio preference, use less or more mayo. If the mayo/seasoning mix seems a little thick, even after adding the jar of diced dill pickes with joice, I will add a splash of rice vinegar to thin it out (but not TOO thin!).
After the chicken is cooled, shred the chicken using your favorite method. My personal favorite method (other than having my husband do it! ;) ) is to put the chicken in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and "mix" it using the paddle blade. Fantastic.
Carefully and completely mix the mayo mix/sauce with the shredded chicken and allow to chill for several hours before enjoying with your choice of crackers or bread or even just a spoon!
NOTE: You may notice that there isn't a bit of salt and/or pepper listed in this recipe. I don't really need it with all of the other flavors. However, feel free to season as needed!
