Project Baking: A Mother's Day Tea, 2025

Thank YOU! Everyone was so helpful and encouraging.

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I wondered about that, too. I don’t salt mine, I think the mayo takes care of that. It is her recipe though, and it suits her taste, obviously. To each their own.

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Some mayo is saltier than others. I tried the Blue Plate mayo; it’s thinner, less salty, less tangy than Best Foods. I prefer Best Foods.

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Of course! :slight_smile:

I’m always surprised when recipes call for salt in addition to celery salt, or hot sauces, or mayo, or Worcestershire. I don’t bother adding salt if several salty things are going into the recipe.
But other people salt their pizza, etc. It’s definitely to each their own.

I felt extremely invested in your success :sweat_smile:

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Me too.

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It’s been many years since I’ve done a homemade afternoon tea, but reading along with @mig’s project inspired me to propose having one with my cousin and her daughter when they were visiting from out of town this week. Everyone was enthusiastic about the idea, and it was a lovely sunny afternoon, so we had it outside on the deck at my father and stepmother’s house.

To eat…

Savory: Little tartlets with sautéed onions, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, Parmesan, and herbes de Provence in smoked paprika pastry, and open-face cucumber and cream cheese and chicken salad sandwiches.


Dried cranberry scones with Meyer lemon curd.


Sweets: Blueberry cheesecake tartlets, orange marmalade almond cakes, pretzel-topped brownies.

I made all the baked goods. Timing-wise, last week I made and froze the scones (unbaked), the orange almond cakes (unglazed), the brownies, and the pastry doughs. Three days ahead, I moved the doughs to the refrigerator to thaw. Two days ahead, I put the doughs in the tartlet pans and refrigerated them, and put together the aromatics for the savory tartlets. The day before, I thawed and glazed the orange almond cakes and made the fillings for, assembled, and baked both tartlets. The morning of, I thawed the brownies and baked the scones from frozen.

My cousin and stepmother made the sandwiches, and my stepmother and my cousin’s eight-year-old daughter made the lemon curd and a pitcher of lemonade using some of my folks’ backyard Meyer lemon trove.

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Looks fantastic :heart_eyes:!

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I call that a feast!:yum:

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What a gorgeous spread!! Really nice variety!

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That Meyer lemon tree is AHHHHMAYZING!!! Lucky Lucky you and them!

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That tree was big and mature when I moved into that house with my parents as a wee one in 1969 and has been going gangbusters ever since. When I lived in far-away places, I used to haul bags of lemons back with me after visits.

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This looks delectable, and the setting is swoon-worthy.

I wish I could be as adventurous with my menu as you were!

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Luckily, I had five others (including the eight-year-old) who are open to lots of flavors.

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So much more interesting than freakin chicken salad :sob:

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Well, there was chicken salad. :slightly_smiling_face:

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scrolls up

HAH! Missed that!

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The lemon tree you’ve mentioned often! I pictured it as a sort of person-height tree–it’s enormous!

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Yeah, I’d say the fence behind it is six feet high? And it takes up a whole corner of their backyard. It’s an embarrassment of riches, especially because backyard trees here bear twice a year. We just pick lemons as we need them.

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