Wimbledon Breakfast- An annual affair

Every year I host a Wimbledon breakfast for my friends and family. We start at 10 AM and we have coffee and tea, crackers, cheese, and fruit, scones, frittata, and dessert. Occasionally, the menu varies.

I always have my favorite trophy filled with purple and green flowers. This serves as the centerpiece on the dining room table.  Pondview Florist did a great job with the flowers. I picked up the flowers the day before and placed it on the mantel so the kitties couldn't get at it. Percy of course, was able to jump up and take a nibble so I moved it to atop of the china cabinet. He gave up.

Here is a closer look at the centerpiece. I love it. It looks so elegant and I love the little tendrils of ivy.

We started with a fruit plate and lemonade with mint. When I went to the cheese shop in Winchester, a woman offered me a taste of stilton cheese with mango and ginger. It was so delicious I bought some for the party. We also had Wensleydale cranberry cheese and brie plus crackers and red grapes.

For tea, I went with a Lady Grey followed by Harney's Earl Grey Supreme loose tea. It was very nice. The Harrod's teapot always makes an appearance at the Wimbledon breakfast.

Here's an aerial view of the table. I took all of the photos with my phone. It's so much easier than lugging out the big camera.

My sister made a cold cucumber and dill soup. It was nice and refreshing for a hot and humid day. I got to use my pretty soup tureen.

Mary made plain scones. They were still warm from the oven, heavenly! I prefer plain scones so I can....

..do this to them. My sister made the mock Devonshire cream. I had the cream and strawberry preserves on one half and cream and lemon curd on the other half.  So good!

Mary also made a frittata of bacon and baked potatoes. It was surprisingly light. Mary bakes the potatoes first then shreds them before adding them to the frittata. Did you know my friend Mary is a TV star? She debuted on local cable in Wilmington around Easter time. She made her famous Easter bread on the big screen.

Now for the desserts, Debbi brought a cinnamon coffeecake from Kane's Donuts in Saugus.  It was too die for. I got the leftovers and believe me, it is decadent.

The cupcakes pictured above were from Cupcake City in Reading. They make the best cupcakes bar none and I am a connoisseur. I am partial to the signature chocolate but I also served the lemon curd and strawberry flavors. They are all spectacular.

Mini fruit tarts were also on the menu. They came from Roche Brothers because I like them the best.

I was prepared to make some tea sandwiches as well but we had so much food it wasn't necessary.

So there you have it, another Wimbledon breakfast put to rest. The tennis was great and the food and company was even better!

Breakfast at Wimbledon

It's that time of year again, time for the Wimbledon breakfast.  I was really busy last week so not a lot of planning went into this party. I mean look I didn't even use a proper tablecloth!

I did remember to bring my trophy to Pondview Florist in Winchester so they could make a dazzling floral arrangement for the centerpiece. They always do a great job and they are super nice there.

I brought a tea tin to the florist as well. This small arrangement was switched with the bigger one when the meal started. That way we can all see each other when we are eating.

Here's a closer look at the big arrangement. I asked for purple and green flowers as those are the colors of Wimbledon. The trophy is from an antique store.

The bottom plates are new and the smaller plates on the top are from an estate sale. They went perfectly with the tennis theme. The green glasses you may recognize from my Easter tablescape.
They are from Brissonte of  North Reading, from the owner's personal collection and now they make their home with me. Most of the time they reside in my grandmother's china cabinet which is in the dining room.

What was on the menu you ask? Baked french toast, bacon and potato frittata, coffee cake, fruit salad, and blueberry scones with mock devonshire cream, lemon curd and strawberry preserves.  We had a fruit tart and cupcakes for dessert and of course tea and strawberry lemonade. The breakfast is kind of a potluck, everyone brings a dish.

The match was quite exciting and Roger Federer won again but Andy Murray gave him a run for his money.  It was another fun event at Cafe Chatelaine!

Wimbledon Breakfast Party

 Last Sunday I hosted my annual Wimbledon Breakfast party. It is always the morning of the gentlemen's final.

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The nice people at Pondview Florist in Winchester accommodated me and did custom floral arrangements for me. I brought them two tea tins and one trophy and asked them to design something wonderful in the Wimbledon colors of purple and green.

I got this tea tin when I was in London in 1998. I bought the tea specifically for the tin since it was a Wimbledon tin.

 My sister made strawberry lemonade. Yum! Here's the recipe.

Here's the trophy I used as a vase. It's actually a loving cup.  And those vintage photos are from an antique store in Concord.

My friend Mary made the scones.  We had lemon curd, strawberry jam and mock devonshire cream.

I used my prettiest tea cups for the occasion. And tea strainers were needed for the Harrod's No. 42 loose tea. That's an Earl Gray tea.

I collect footed lustreware teacups.  This one is from an estate sale.

Here's a closeup of the Wimbledon Tea tin.

I used the table runner I used for my Easter brunch tablescape. I never get tired of those twinkle lights!

 Another view of the floral arrangement in the Wimbledon Tea tin. 

 I took this sign out of storage for the event.  Seemed appropriate.

Molly was a little put out by all the company but she warmed up to them eventually.

Another tea cup from my collection. I used some of my cups with green and purple colors. I have a few violet motif cups and they fit in perfectly with the color scheme.

Before the main course,  the guests munched on grapes, crackers, cranberry cinnamon goat cheese, sharp white cheddar, and an English Wensleydale with cranberries.

The other tin was also purchased in England in 1998.  And this one portrays Kensington Palace.

Here's my overnight baked french toast.  It's so delicious and easy to make.

Here's the fruit and cheese plate again. I used a silver tray underneath a square doily. I bought a package of square doilies for a song from a shop that's going out of business.

The Harrod's teapot always makes an appearance at the Wimbledon Breakfast.

For dessert, a fruit tart on a wire cake stand.

Again the fruit tart.  It was store bought and very good.

This is a lemon zucchini bread.  I had purchased it at the Winchester Farmer's Market the day before the breakfast.

We also had fruit salad of strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. I love my little bluebird bowl.

After all that caffeine, we switched to a Lady Grey decaf tea by Twinings.

Saturday Breakfast

Saturday breakfast at Aroma Cafe in Reading. Sometimes my sister joins me and sometimes friends but sometimes I even go there by myself. I love the place.
It's fun to chat with Lynda, my favorite server. She's quirky and fun and she adds a lot of personality to the place.

Yesterday, I had eggs benedict with spinach. Yum! It comes with lacy potatoes too.

This looks like a face or two eyes and a mustache. A very full mustache.

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The hollandaise sauce was perfection. I really hate the kind that's too yellow or
too thick. This sauce wasn't too thin or watered down, it was just the right consistency.


I just had to smoosh one of the eggs and it made for a better photo too! It had the precise amount of runnyness. (Is that a word?)



Doesn't that look delicious? Nice and fluffy.


And on to my favorite potatoes.

Aroma Cafe, 607 Main Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Check it out if you're in the area.

Breakfast at Wimbledon

I held my annual Wimbledon Breakfast party on Sunday, July 4th. I had hoped the Gentleman's Final would not fall on the fourth of July but it did. So we celebrated the fourth of July with a British theme.



We had assorted crackers and cheese to start. Then some fruit salad served in a bluebird bowl I picked up on the Cape on Wednesday. (see prior post)



I went with a white theme with purple and green accents. Purple and green are the colors of Wimbledon. The teapot napkin rings were a gift.



My sister made panko crusted goat cheese for the event.



Here's the goat cheese atop mesculun greens with red grapes and pecans. We served it with a raspberry cabernet vinaigrette dressing.



My friend Mary made the bacon and onion frittata and I made baked french toast.



Even my teacups had the purple and green theme. I served a loose tea (Harrod's No 42) and Twinings Earl Grey and Harney's strawberry kiwi in tea sachets.



Mary also made scones for the occasion and we had lemon curd and strawberry preserves along with mock devonshire cream from my sister.



I had favors for those in attendance. Little note pads with big ben and a double decker bus on the cover.

We had a great time eating and watching Rafael Nadal win the Championship. The match was shorter than usual this year only three sets. Plenty of time to go for a second round of everything!