Victorian Sweet Sixteen

My fifteen year old, who loves Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde, has asked for a Victorian sweet sixteen party. She likes to read a lot that airs for sure. I thought it would be fun to put some of the ideas we came up for her Victorian coming out party we came up with down here.

At it we plan to serve English Tea sandwiches, and sweets. The invitation will be shaped like a fan and we are going to invite sixteen girls for an intimate tea.

The format for this party is based on a proper Victorian tea party with lots of angels, fairies and cherubs as themes. If you want this party to have a bit of a dramatic edge you can ask your guests to wear 'Angel's Wings.' It is always interesting to see how creative people can get when it comes to constructing these.

You could ask the girls to wear crowns or tiara. We were thinking big hatsSixteen Invitation as 'Have Tea With The Queen of Sweet Sixteen.' Otherwise you could phrase your Sweet Sixteen invitation like this 'You are invited to My Sweet Sixteen Party. Dress: Big Hats – also Victorian Dresses, White. Gloves.' Another nice touch would be to include a fan in the invitation or you could purchase white fans and hand write the invitation on them.

Also on your Sweet Sixteen invitation you will want to include the Menu, which is modeled after a proper British tea. You will be serving three of the most traditional of British Teas including Earl Grey, Ceylon and Darjeeling.

Victorians were very fond of their herb gardens and many of the recipes here reflect the Victorian fascination with herbs.

Here is our plan for a menu —

Crab Puffs With Herbs
Sage and Cheddar Cheese Wafers
Cheddar and Jam Tea Sandwiches
Lavender Ham Tea Sandwiches
Cucumber Basil Sandwiches
Pear and Stilton Sandwiches
Chicken Salad With Almonds Sandwiches
Egg Salad And Dill Sandwiches
Scones
Devonshire Cream
Strawberry Banana Jam
Key Lime Custard Jam
Strawberries in Choclate
Lemon Balm Cake
Lamingtons
Orange Mint Cookies
Chocolate Rose Geranium Cake

Using lace tablecloths with pink or floral linens and china can easily infer the stuffy style of the Victorian era. The china can be pure white, but a floral china or silver tea set suits this party perfectly. Drawings of flowers, dragonflies and bees are also symbols of the Victorian era. For each guest, you will need a teacup and saucer, dessert plate, silverware, napkin and placemat (a lace doily would be an elegant touch.)

As this party is going to include a lot of finger foods, we plan to have lots of platters, lazy susans and three tiered platters upon which you will serve your tea sandwiches and little cakes. A serving cart also lends a genteel quality to the scene.

The crowning touch? I am going to make a little crown of roses, daisies and violets for my daughter to wear in her hair!

Parenting Tips
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Is Bottled Fancy Water Bad For Kids?

Is fancy water hurting your teeth? Fancy water is any water that has something added to it. Some dentists will tell you fancy waters that have flavor added are no substitute for tap water. Apparently the concern is that these bottled waters don’t contain enough fluoride to adequately protect and maintain your teeth from decay. Most of them don’t contain any fluoride at all. Fluoride is actually added to city water at the water filtration plant. This is terrible on your kid's teeth. I don't really give my kids more expensive flavored waters more often. Only when it is hot.

A controversy has been raging about whether or not fluoride actually causes tooth decay for more than a decade. There are some people that think that the addition of fluoride to our water is part of a big conspiracy to keep our teeth rotten and keep dentists in business. Does your kid need fluoride? This is something that you might want to do in moderation. I don't know what to do because all of the messages are so mixed so I make sure my kids drink half bottled water and half tap water. The key is variety when it comes to water types. That way you are hedging your bets. They are not getting too much fluoride from the tap water or too much artificial flavoring or even sugar (!) from bottled fancy waters.

People who love bottled water are very aware of their health, and tend to want to sample the water “straight from the source.” They think that because they are drinking water bottle straight from an iceberg or bubbling spring that it must be pure because it’s fancy water. However there are absolutely no regulations, worldwide or otherwise, that determine the overall purity of bottled fancy water. So I really do worry about my kids.

Before I give my kids any kind of doctored up water I make sure I read the label. Nowadays they are pepped up with all kinds of things. Mostly these substances are uppers and include things like ginseng. Sometimes really toxic stuff is added like food coloring.

You also see weird things on bottled water labels like ozone. Have any studies been done on what that could be doing to a kid? Apparently this helps the body absorb water faster but are there really any studies regarding that. There is no scientific evidence to back up this claim that oxygenated water is absorbed quicker by the water.

Flavored fancy water, the ones that have a hint of orange or lime in their brew are the favorites of many people who get sick of drinking their water plain. You can also get a charge one day drinking caffeine water. However you can just drink a cup of coffee for much cheaper. I don't feel like giving my kids a cup of water that is as peppy as a cup of coffee. Waters sometimes have things added to them like ginseng, kola nut and other natural uppers. Is your kid acting like he needs to go on Ritalin? Maybe the culprit is the additive in the water.

Parenting Tips
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