Tea with Mr. and Mrs. Claus

We are really into the Christmas spirit,

and Mr. Claus has arrived to help

get the season going.

Invitations had been sent out, inviting the

little ones to come to tea with Mr. and Mrs.

Claus, with chocolate dipping afterwards, with

the parents.

This would be happening at 

Mrs. Claus's Chocolate Factory.

Sometimes busy parents needs a reminder.

(Both invitations were made easy on Picmonkey.)

Mr. and Mrs. Claus were in the entry ready for 

their little guests.

(Notice my new boots I got last year.)

Everyone got their picture taken with Mr. Claus.

Then they all went into the kitchen to

write a letter to Papa Claus (Grandpa) with

their pens that we got from the Candy Cane Inn

last week at Disneyland.

Some of the letters were sooooo funny. One

darling granddaughter asked for him

to get his hair back for Christmas!!!

Then Papa Claus changed into Chef Claus for

the tea party.

There was an abundance of candy canes

and we showed off our hard to get

Candy Cane from Disneyland.

(Papa thought that standing in line to get

the wristband and then going back later

meant we got a free candy cane!!  Haha,

no, this is a giant handmade candy cane

that they charge $15 for, but we got two

and we were able to

see them making some.)

We used our same table setting from 

Mickey's 90th Birthday Party, 

but now we multiplied it to fit

11, and we swapped out goblets

for cocoa mugs.

The menu included turkey and cheese finger sandwiches,

PB&J finger sandwiches, raspberries, strawberries

and blueberries, meringues and macarons.

My stackable Chiavari chairs are more

slim-lined than my normal chairs,

so the table was able to fit everyone.
Were they excited or what?

After everyone ate, Chef Claus made mini

peppermint shakes that Mrs. Claus had

dipped in chocolate and sprinkles.

The chocolate dipping was a bit chaotic and

extremely messy, but the kids had a lot of fun.

(When in doubt, remove the clothes!)

I normally dip in the large mechanized

chocolate dipping machine, but we had so many

little hands in there, that I went back to the way

I learned to dip, with an electric fry pan, and I

did the serious dipping while they had fun.

My oldest daughter pictured here with

her oldest and youngest usually helps with

the serious dipping, but they were home

trying to get their new home ready for a

final inspection.  Little one sure wanted

to get her hands on some chocolate.

You can see Papa has switched into

another holiday outfit so that he didn't ruin

his Santa outfit.

It was quite the party!

Thanks for stopping by to visit us during

this wonderful Christmas season.

I will be posting with

Tablescapes Thursday

Dishing It and Digging It

Afternoon Tea With Santa at the Grand America Hotel

The snow is sparkling and lights are 

twinkling and at this special time of year

we were lucky enough to get reservations

for

Afternoon Tea With Santa

at the

Grand America in Salt Lake City.

Just walking into the lobby of the

Grand America transports you to

a more elegant time, perfect for

Afternoon Tea

and at this time of year there are

wonderful Christmas decorations

and animated windows and a lifesize

gingerbread house to see so come

along with us as we 

celebrate Christmas

with 

Afternoon Tea.

Miss Utah County, Hannah Harkness 

and her Little Miss Utah County,

Kylie are perfect in their princess gowns.

They fit right in with the European decor

of the Grand America.

We have to start by affixing the

crown on our Little Miss and

donning her sash.

The Afternoon Tea is held in

the lounge right off the lobby and

at the entrance you are greeted with

the menu.

I expected to be seated at a

dining table so imagine the

delightful surprise when we

were shown that this 

gorgeous and comfortable

seating group was for our 

party of six.

They have a huge selection of teas

but I have had their hot chocolate

before and it is so rich and wonderful

that I chose Peppermint Hot Chocolate

for my drink.

While you waited for your

drink selection the waittress

poured hot water over what

looked like a dried nut and

it opens into a flower.

For your starter the table already

has strawberries in chantilly cream.

We all loved starting with something

rich and sweet.

Next came your tea or in my case

and Kylie's too, Peppermint Hot Chocolate.

This is so rich and creamy, I am sure it

is decadently made with cream.

We each had our own tea pot and we

all thought that would be so fun for

Christmas morning - to have your own

pot to pour your hot chocolate out of.

Next came scones and finger sandwiches

with clotted cream, lemon cream and

raspberry jam.

There was a wonderful variety of

savory and sweet on this

tower of treats.

Then that tower was removed and

a new tiered tray of sweets came out.

The tier started with jellies

And had wonderful gingerbread men,

chocolate cake and fruit tarts.

Here Mom and Little Miss are

enjoying their gingerbread men.

Just about the time you are finishing

up all the goodies, who should walk by

jingling their bells as they go but

the wonderful 

Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.

First they sing songs and have some

fun with the children and then

they greet the families, one table

at a time.

And of course the little ones get 

to tell Santa what they want.

The Misses had posed for pictures

with the children before 

Mr. and Mrs. Claus came.  

It was fun to see how excited the 

little girls were to have their pictures

taken with the princesses.

After a story with Santa and a candy cane

you simply must tour the main floor to

see all of the glorious trees and holiday

decorations.

And we can't forget the fun, animated

shop windows.

And finally the giant gingerbread house

which is located all the way around the halls

to the back of the building

where a darling elf stands and hands

out chocolates!

This grand gingerbread house

 took 1200 lbs of flour, 400 lbs of sugar, 

1200 eggs, 800 lbs of powdered sugar,

4 chefs and 40 cooks and nearly

700 hours to create!

Our last stop was to tickle the keys

of the Steinway.

Of course we couldn't leave without

a few spins in the revolving doors.

What a Grand time!

I sure hope we can make this

one of our new Christmas

traditions.

I will be posting with

Oh The Places You've Been

Home Sweet Home

Let's Dish

Tablescapes Thursday

Pink Saturday

Seasonal Sunday