Last month, we had a family afternoon tea at my folks’ home to celebrate my sister Juji and my dad’s birthdays (my brother’s birthday is also in September, but his official celebration was at the recent 62nd birthday party). Everyone brought something along for afternoon tea, and it was quite a feast!
Jac and I made mini bacon and egg pies.
We also made a few caramelised onion pies too. Jac usually uses shortcrust but I was really in a puff pastry mood, so she made them with puff for a change.
Juji made mini Portugese custard tarts. When I laid my eyes on these babies, I couldn’t wait to try one.
The tarts were flavoured with real vanilla – see those little black specks in the custard? The sweet custard was lovely. It was hard to stop at one or two tarts!
We brought the little pies to the party in my cake carrier. We’d warm the pies in my parents’ oven before serving.
My brother and sister-in-law made a batch of brie and leek tarts. We’d really enjoyed these at the 62nd birthday party, so they were eagerly received.
Juji also made mini sausage rolls. They looked and smelled magnificent – I LOVE sausage rolls, especially homemade ones.
My eldest sister CW made three different kinds of sandwiches – ham, hard-boiled egg, and cucumber dipped in vinegar. I’m always partial to boiled egg sandwiches and was quite greedy over those. :-P I was thrilled to see the cucumber in vinegar combo – in Famous Five book #7 Five Go Off to Camp, the Five picnic on sandwiches that include ham and lettuce, egg, sardine, and cucumber dipped in vinegar! :D Hehah!
My plate, round one (believe me, there were quite a few rounds)- an egg and bacon pie and two mini sausage rolls, one with tomato sauce.
Mum made the birthday cake – one of her freshly homebaked super-moist banana cakes.
We had a second birthday cake, mainly for Dad – a special diabetic fruit cake (or, more accurately, a diabetic-friendly fruitcake, with no added sugar – see this old post for the diabetic fruit cake recipe).
There was enough cake for everyone to have some on the day and take some home for later. :D
I’m not as fond of the diabetic fruit cake – but it’s good that Dad can eat cake too.
I love the banana cake – you can smell the banana, you can see the banana. It tastes so very bananary (yes, I made up the word “bananary”) – oh! It’s just so beautiful and delicious!
Little Ruby had a great time – she loves eating! When presented with a ham sandwich, she immediately pulled the sandwich apart and devoured the ham first! She’s a meatlover like her Auntie TFP (and most of her extended family, for that matter!). She got through quite a few ham sandwiches – I think they were her favourite item of the day.
And here’s Zoe! She started on solid foods recently. She enjoyed her pureed cooked pears very much. I love her rosy chubby cheeks. I can’t wait till she can join in and fully enjoy the family feasts too! :D
I'm TFP, a food blogger from Perth, Western Australia.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my!! I wanted to comment on all the puffs..but the moment I saw Zoe..I had forgotten all about the food but only remember her super duper chubby cheeks!! What an adorable doll :D
ZOE IS SOOOOOOOO CUTEEE!!!!!!!
1. Zoe is too cute! Look at those cheeks. Love!
2. The Famous Five series is one of my childhood favourites. Pity my mum gave away my collection. When I have kids, they shall read Enid Blyton books as well. :D
3. The egg tarts look amazing. Go Juji!
Please share the custard tart recipe!!!!
OMG..they look so deliciousssss! YUMSSS!
You guys always have such yummy food at your gatherings! I’m so jealous!
Oh my. The little ones in your family are GORGEOUS. I love children–I cannot wait to have some of my own. And I am now drooling over the lovely foods from the party–especially the tarts!
I remember the Famous Five! They always had such delicious food… it always me hungry when I read the books.
I’m having sausage rolls right now for breakfast! :)
Nice assortment of finger food!
Ohhhh those pies, tarts, sausage rolls and sandwiches ! YUM ! Restraint must have really been difficult with all of them ! and Ruby must now start teaching lil Zoe how to follow in auntie tfp’s footsteps ^_^
Funny you should mention the vinegar dipped cucumber – a little dish of cucumber slices ( and sometimes a seperate one of onion slices ) was always a feature of Sunday afternoon teas when I was a kid, although I don’t remember them going in sandwiches. Have you read a book called Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer by Jane Brocken, btw ? All about food in children’s books, very nostalgic and some nice recipes – although there are some things that annoy me about it, especially stuff like asserting Colin and Mary were trying to starve themselves to death in The Secret Garden ! daft.
so many different pies! envious!
All the finger foods look divine… I’d rather eat a plate of them than a real meal any day! I especially like those egg tarts–I’ve had the Cantonese style egg tarts at dim sum, but I really want to try the Portugese kind!
I love going through the photos of your family gatherings. No wonder your family and yourself love eating, you all make such delicious looking food!
Peky and hy,
Hehehehehee. (That’s the giggle of a proud auntie.)
dea,
I love my Enid Blyton books. Just unpacked them last weekend, actually – they look good on the shelf in the new “library”. Juji is an amazing cook – if I could cook like her, I’d be unstoppable! But I am the first to admit I am too lazy!
Charlie,
I’ll have to check with Juji and get back to you.
Cookie,
:)
Chrissy,
They are way cuter than I was at their age. :)
Tanya,
Yeah, the food in the books is my favourite part. I can even remember specific meals eaten in specific books in the series. :-P Mmm, I love sausage rolls for breakfast. Not just how they taste, but their beautiful delicious smell…
SK,
Thanks, we enjoyed it!
Greenlady,
No, I haven’t read that book, but I’ll look out for it.
missfattyfoodie,
:D
Megan,
I love the egg tarts at dim sum! They are a dim sum staple for me! I’ve loved them ever since I was little. I love a finger foods meal too – it’s amazing how much you can end up eating when you’re picking away at little items.
clekitty,
Yep. And as we sit there eating, we often talk about what we’ll eat at the next meal! :-P
I love Zoe’s cheeks. I just want to rub them and cuddle her.
Nicole,
LOL, Auntie TFP got to have a cuddle that day. :D
everything looks great especially the portugese tarts!
The banana cake looks heavenly. Care to share the recipe?
s,
I will ask my mum and will let you know if the recipe can be shared.
Cheers!