Jubilee tea

Our Jubilee table

I must admit I'm not what you'd call a Royalist but as monarch's go, I think our Queen has done a pretty good job. Not so sure about the rest of her family though ... Anyway, the Diamond Jubilee has given us all a reason to forget the doom and gloom of everyday life (and in my case one of the worst years ever) and get together to celebrate. The abundance of Union Jacks and general red, white and blue everything in the shops has been noticeable, and why not? It's not often that we celebrate being British - we're a modest nation and that self-deprecation is both one of our key attributes and most annoying traits. Sometimes we should simply be loud and proud (although not football hooligan loud, of course).

Calum and Lola in red,white and blue

So, in the Hale household, we decided to hold a Jubilee tea. No invitees other than ourselves - being together as a family is always something to celebrate. Lola and I spent a happy time in the kitchen baking up a storm and singing along to cheesy 70s disco in exaggerated voices. Gotta love The Isley Brothers and their falsetto warblings. Most of all, it's happy music and the kitchen was full of laughter as well as beautiful baking smells.


Decorating the dining room a great fun too, although Joe did moan about having to blow up so many balloons - can't say I blame him really. The bunting on our pine dresser looked great and so did the Union Jack paper plates and napkins on We also got the vintage tea cups and plates down from the loft. (I always think tea always tastes better from china cups) and drank pink fizz out of 1950s champagne glasses. They looked beautifully elegant.

Royal cupcakes and homemade scones.

Tea consisted of smoked salmon bagels, ham, cheese and egg mayonnaise sandwiches, cocktail sausages, cheese and pineapple on sticks (a throwback to my childhood) and crisps, followed by the piece de resistance of homemade cupcakes and scones with jam and clotted cream. Lola decorated the cupcakes with beautiful glittery crowns in silver and gold. They were a work of art. 

Our Jubilee tea was a great success. There's nothing quite like the taste of home-baking and the pink champagne got everything off to an extra festive start. It was a time for celebrating, not only the fact that we have lived to be part of a unique occasion, but also that we are a very close family and enjoy being together.

Me and Joe and some festive bunting - Happy Jubilee!