Every summer my church has what we call a National Campmeeting. {The old-fashioned kind.} We meet, camp, praise and worship, fellowship, learn, cook meals, etc. for 10 days. Yes. It is always hot, because afterall it is July and in the Ozarks. We live 10 minutes from our campmeeting grounds and since a lot of my family attends this function, this is the one time of the year that we get to have them at our house. We usually have some or all over at one time for a big meal and visiting. Early in the year I had decided that I would host the ladies of my family this summer - any of them that could or would like to come over for a mid-day summertime tea and luncheon. I promised them that it would not be fancy since we had listed our house and I had packed several of my things away. So I planned out a nice fun meal, determined to not decorate the table… to just get together! I am hopeless and I just can’t help it, but the day before I started making big white tissue puffs and tearing book pages from old text books and dictionaries and gluing old pretty stamps to them, creating placemats. I cut sheet music into napkin rings and remembered I had some washed burlap that would work perfect for table cloths! Then there are candles and unprinted newspaper that I use for packing and moving… the paper curls quite nicely with a pencil when torn into thin strips! {A nephew of mine teasingly told me that he was impressed I could decorate with trash! LOL}Then a mix of mis-matched plates and bowls! So I pulled off effortless pretty in no time at all! So much fun!


SUMMERTIME TEA & LUNCHEON MENU
*Mediterranean Chicken Salad {Recipe Below}
*Smoked Ham & Cheese Sandwiches
*Chilled Summer Squash Bisque {Recipe Below}
*Grandma O’Dell’s Southern Oklahoma Lemon Mint Sweet Tea {Recipe Below}
*Bonita Peach Rooibos Tea from The Spice & Tea Exchange
*Sweet Lily White Tea from Teavana

{Ooops! I forgot about really taking pictures of the food! Ha Ha! This just shows you that I have not yet seasoned in blogging!}
*RECIPES*
{Mediterranean Chicken Salad}
6 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP plus 2 tsp rice vinegar
1 TBSP chopped dried tarragon
1.5 tsp fresh lemon juice
1.5 tsp Dijon mustard
3 C. cups diced broiled chicken
1/2 C. orzo, rice-shaped pasta
1 C. halved cherry tomatoes
1 can artichoke hearts, drained, squeezed, chopped
1/2 C. coarsely chopped pitted Kalamata olives
1/3 heaping cup dried cranberries
1.5 TBSP tablespoons drained capers
Combine oil, vinegar, tarragon, lemon juice, and mustard in small bowl; whisk
to blend. Season dressing to taste with salt pepper. Place chicken in medium
bowl. Mix in 1/4 cup dressing.
Cook orzo in large pot
of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Rinse
under cold water to cool; drain well. Transfer orzo to large bowl. Stir in
remaining dressing and toss to coat. Add chicken mixture, tomatoes, artichoke
hearts, olives, cranberries, and capers. Season salad to taste with salt and
pepper and serve. (Paulette Sexton/Bon Appetit/Epicurious)
*I cannot say enough about this recipe! It is wonderful! Thank you to Emily at Jones Design Company for posting it on her blog and sharing her great find! BTW, read her blog too while you are there! It is my favorite!
{Chilled Summer Squash Bisque}
6 TBSP Olive Oil
3 Leeks, Including Tender Green Parts, Finely Chopped
6 Summer Squash, Trimmed and Thinly Sliced
(I used 1 Lg. Zuke and 1 Large Yellow instead of the tiny stuff like in the photo of this cookbook. It says that pattypan are good too.)
4 Cloves Garlic
8 C. Chicken Stock or Broth
2 C. Buttermilk
8 TBSP Fresh Basil, Chopped
4 TBSP Fresh Chives, Chopped
2 TBSP Fresh Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Warm oil in large pot. Add the leeks and sauté until softened, 5-7 minutes. Add the squash and sauté until brown,
about 5 minutes. (Mine did not get brown!) Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.
Add the stock, cover and cook until the squash slices are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a blender or food processor, puree the soup in batches until smooth. Transfer soup to serving bowl.
Let cool to room temperature and cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours.
Just before serving, stir in the buttermilk, basil, chives and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serves 12 – From Williams-Sonoma “Soup” Cookbook
*This is a recipe that I have always meant to try, but never did until this summer. I am so glad that I finally tried it!
{Grandma O’Dell’s Southern Oklahoma Lemon Mint Sweet Tea}
4 Family Tea Bags (I use Luzianne brand.)
12 Sprigs of Fresh Mint
1 Bottle Minute Maid Lemon Concentrate, Thawed
(In frozen juice section at grocery store.)
2 C. Sugar
Boil half a tea pot of water. Place 12 Sprigs of Fresh Mint and 4 Family Tea Bags in a glass heat proof bowl. Remove water from heat and pour over Tea Bags and Fresh Mint. Poke as much mint under the water as you can. Cover bowl with lid or plate to steep. (15 min.) While tea is steeping, put sugar and thawed lemon concentrate in pitcher. After tea has steeped, pour on top of lemon sugar mixture and stir until sugar has dissolved. Add enough water to make 1 gallon of tea. Chill and serve.
*This is my favorite sweet tea recipe. I usually do not take my tea sweetened, nor am I a fan of mint in hot tea blends. However, when it comes to this tea, it is quite another story. My super good friend Kelly has these wonderful grandparents that live at Lake Texoma. When Kelly takes her friends to hang out with the Grands, they love you and feed you and kiss you and hug you and treat you like they are your real grandparents. They are so great! Oh to be like that! Full of love and hospitality!!! Every time I have been to the lake with Kelly and her Grands, Grandma still whips up a big meal and stuffs you tighter than a tick until you can barely breathe. When you do finally catch your breath you ask her for her recipes! She majored in Home Economics and Cooking in college after all!
{Bonita Peach Rooibos Tea}
A few years ago I spent the summer chasing the perfect peach tea recipe. One that was as good as Olive Garden’s Peach Tea. I found some good recipes, but never exactly what I was looking for. Then last winter my sister gave me the Bonita Peach Rooibos Tea which she gets from the The Spice & Tea Exchange in West Monroe, La near where she lives. It is the best Peach Tea! I love it hot. I love it iced! Simply wonderful!
Most of the ladies in my family. On the left are my two sisters, my mom, my mom’s cousin, my aunt, me, two more of my aunts and one of my sister-in-laws.
More ladies! Two of my nieces on the left. Another niece on the right pretending to be a wild ravenous cave-woman! {This was me when I was 11!}
Oh! and one last fun photo to leave with you!
Sisters – Aunt Irene, Aunt Bula, Aunt Erona, Nina (my mother) and Cousin Vesta
Thanks for joining my Summertime Tea & Luncheon! It was so much fun, I want to do it again for more ladies!