There’s no way to deny it now.  We’ve officially had our first snow storm of the year, which means that the holidays are right around the corner. Side note – not a good time to be stranded at my parent’s house and forbidden to leave.  So aside from all the comfort food that is naturally appearing on all our plates there are some really fun things to do around the city to really get into the spirit of the season.

I had the pleasure of experiencing the Nutcracker High Tea at the Shangri-La Hotel that one of my really good friends decided to go to for her birthday (thank you TR for deciding to do this!).  It was a crisp and chilly Saturday but we put on a brave face, dawned some of our favourite dresses and headed over for some tea and finger sizes foods.  If you’ve never been to the Shangri-La, its one of those hotel lobbies that has something going on in every corner.  I would highly recommend visiting during the holidays just to see some of the festive decor and of course cozy up by one of their super modern fireplaces.  We got seated in small sitting area with couches and lounge chairs while a piano player was serenading us with Christmas carols, the perfect setting for our afternoon.

(Bar Ceiling at the Shangri-La Hotel)

(The Nutcracker – Shangri-La Hotel)

Our tea orders were taken and then came the tiered trays of yummy deliciousness.  We were all super hungry when we arrived and when we saw the trays we thought “oh boy, is this going to fill us up?”  Truth be told, just because they are bite-sized foods doesn’t mean they aren’t filling!  Each tray had a selection of finger-sized sandwiches, a gingerloaf with plates of clotted cream, marmalade and jam, assorted scones and sweet treats.  The crowd favourite was by FAR the scones.  They were soft, buttery and melted in your mouth especially when you added the layers of clotted cream and jam.  Other favourites were the sandwiches and the peppermint macarons.  The nicest part was that we had told the staff in advance that one of our guests was expecting and they made her a special pregnancy safe tray! amazing 🙂

(High Tea Food Tray – Photo Credit: Nuvi Dhaliwal)

(Trays of delicious tea friendly foods – Photo Credit:  Bella Karia)

I highly recommend getting your best girlfriends or even your family together and making a trip for this delightful afternoon of holiday fun!  Happy birthday Tee, hope you had a great time at the tea! (see what I did there 😉