Med Center Hosts Great Tea Party

As tea parties go, one sponsored by Santa Monica Hospital Medical Center this summer was . . .

“Perfection,” hospital staff member Diane Hauerwaas said.

“Enchanting. British down to the Devonshire cream,” said Elizabeth Burns, a hospital board member and owner of the Bob Burns restaurants, who hosted the tea at her home in Santa Monica.

Now that teas have cozied up to Los Angeles with more success than anyone would have thought, the medical center’s party is definitely worth a scone-by-scone examination.

A tea can be fun, easy-going, less expensive than a full-fledged bash and appropriate for just about any event.

The party debuted the medical center’s first home-health seminar, Body Cues, a sort of Tupperware party where health instead of bowls is the pitch.

The program is a free service of hospitals nationwide, but new here. It’s designed to educate women on spotting and avoiding health problems in the comfort of a home setting.

So while the community leaders attending the event sipped sherry, Dr. Scott Batemen of the hospital staff and hospital obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Yvonne Fried discussed women’s health issues.

Sheila Ricci was putting last-minute touches on the table in the dining room. “It starts like this,” said Ricci, a professional tea mistress and restaurant consultant.

First, go treasure hunting for forgotten antique china, teapots, vases and such in your cupboards to see what could be used in the scheme of things.

“This is the time to bring out your old antiques. That’s what makes a tea party fun,” said Ricci, who came up with Minton cups and plates, antique platters, old china and silver pots--even an extraordinary set of cranberry antique sherry glasses for the Tio Pepe. Not enough vases, so Ricci used a crystal martini pitcher along with a couple of Art Deco pieces.

Think buffets, not buffet. Ricci used the multistation idea and separated the areas for dessert, tea service, sandwiches and scones. “The station approach keeps people from jamming up at one table,” Ricci said.

Provides Enough Space

Using one table for the tea only also provided enough space to freely set out the cups and saucers, instead of piling them up in a corner. The tea server is at one end of the table; tea necessities--lemon, cream, milk, sugars and Sweet N’ Low are at the other end.

You can use any tea under the sun for a tea party, including tea bags if the idea suits you. But Ricci, a native Britisher, prefers loose tea in teapots--Ceylon, Darjeeling, and Earl Grey--and often includes decaffeinated types, such as cinnamon and orange, for those who shy away from caffeine.

She also insists on freshly made tea.

“We assigned a tea maker to keep a steady supply going through the hour. Each batch was ready seven minutes before pouring to allow for steeping,” she said.

The desserts by Jean’s Sweet Somethings of West Los Angeles went on a Welsh dresser opposite the tea table.

“I prefer petit fours and dundee cake, which are ideally suited cakes for tea, but any small cakes, including cookies, are good bets for any tea,” she said. At this party there were tiny brownies, chewy nut bars laced with ganache, lemon-sponge bars, large sugar cookies, baby honey cakes and buttermilk squares. All were nice and neat and ready to pop in the mouth practically whole.

Not all tables have flowers or need to, according to Ricci. Lalique birds and candles were the only decoration on a round table overlooking the garden, where guests were allowed to wander with their scones after the talk. The only greens on the table were large sprigs of rosemary, which Ricci used to decorate the antique sandwich platters.

When you’re talking about sandwiches, anything goes. But Ricci thinks that some fillings are better suited to tea sandwiches than others.

“You can use anything as long as it is honest,” she said, meaning nothing too contrived.

What’s honest? Ricci used double-gloucester (pineapple flavor) slices on bread spread with champagne mustard and cut into triangles; paper-thin cucumber slices over sweet butter on multigrain bread. These were cut into rectangles. Then there were curry-egg sandwiches, which you can make by combining sour cream and mayonnaise with minced parsley and 1/2 teaspoon curry powder per dozen chopped hard-cooked eggs, folded in last.

You can also do things like cheese and tomato, egg and watercress and smoked salmon and capers.

Make Sandwiches Ahead

When you make the sandwiches, however, figure on starting the job a few hours before.

“You can use day-old bread, if it has been stored properly, but the fillings and sandwiches must be assembled no sooner than an hour before serving,” she said. Nothing, she insists, beats freshly made sandwiches.

Bread, she advises, should be cut as thinly as possible and the crust removed. Butter, if used, should be the unsalted type and pre-softened with two tablespoons whipping cream per pound of butter.

“You can keep sandwiches moist in a tray lined with waxed paper and a damp towel,” Ricci said.

Even the scones were placed by themselves on a hunt board to give guests room to slap some jam on them without bumping into the tea kettle. Ricci served the homemade scones with blackberry and strawberry jams and a tub of St. Ival cream, an imported Devonshire cream, which is sometimes available at gourmet food stores here.