Lemon Curd and a Tea Party

This past Monday afternoon I had a small get together with three of my friends at my house. The idea was to have a light lunch, delicious desserts and refreshing beverages with a few great people.

Having never planned a tea party or ladies lunch or what-have-you before, I started thinking about the tea party that my mom-in-law threw for me and how much fun it was. I also befriended Google as a trusted source for information.

(shortbread cookies)

I never really did come up with a theme for the party until the morning of when I decided to go simple and summery (is that a word?).

(S'mores Scones)

Working with what was around the house, I used a nice cream colored tablecloth along with simple white plates and green jacquard napkins. I found cute magnets at Michael's that doubled both as place markers and favors.

Having just come back from the hubby's parents place, there are a bunch of lemons in the house. I think they dress up the table nicely.

(Chicken Salad Sanwiches and Spinach Vegetable Soup)

Now onto the food! The four of us had chicken salad sandwiches and Spinach Vegetable Soup for lunch. There was strawberry lemonade and peach iced tea as beverages. And dessert included peanut butter cookies, s'mores scones, and shortbread cookies with lemon curd.

My friend over at delightful country cookin' was at the party and brought her Spinach Vegetable Soup. It was delicious! I think it totally blew my sandwiches out of the water! Go by there and check out her post on the party!

The S'mores Scones and Strawberry Lemonade will be making their appearances on here shortly. I feel that each of them deserves their own post. Partially because I love to organize things into their own little places.

I found this recipe while looking for tea party ideas. Lemon curd is just one of those things you think of when you think "tea party". The only problem is that I really don't like only using egg yolks. Especially when a recipe calls for 6 of them. I mean, I can realistically only make so many meringue cookies. The beauty of the recipe I found at Joy of Baking is that it uses the whole egg. It's great. Kristin even noted that it's a bit lighter than normal lemon curd. But if it's not light enough for ya, then you can fold in some whipped cream and there you go!

Oh, lemon curd. What can't you do with the stuff? It was wonderful on my shortbread cookies. It would be great spread on some scones. I'm even thinking about making a yellow cake and having this be the filling. YUM!

Here is the original recipe for the lemon curd. The only think I did different was leave out the lemon zest because I'm not crazy about the idea of finding lemon zest in my teeth throughout the day. But that's just me. Anywho- here we go!

Lemon Curd (makes about 1 1/2 cups)

(adapted from joyofbaking.com)

3 eggs

1/3 c. fresh lemon juice (use the real deal stuff here!)

3/4 c. granulated sugar

4 tbl. unsalted butter, cut into 4 to 6 pieces

Whisk together the first 3 ingredients in a stainless steel bowl set over a pot of just simmering (not boiling) water. Whisk it constantly until the mixture thickens up to the consistency of sour cream (this should be 160degrees F). This takes about 10 minutes, but don't worry, your patience will be rewarded.

Once it has thickened up, take it off the heat and pour through a strainer to get out any possible egg lumps. Or, if you're like me and don't have a fine mesh strainer just continue with the recipe! Whisk in the butter one piece at a time, waiting until the previous piece is completely melted and incorporated before adding more. Once done you should immediately cover the lemon curd with a piece of plastic wrap and allow to cool. Don't worry, you can place the plastic right on the curd. Once cooled, you can serve as is, or chill and serve later. Enjoy!!


I have linked up my awesome party to these awesome parties!

• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum 
• I'm Lovin It Fridays at Tidy Mom
• Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home
• Delicious Dishes at itsablogparty.com