Satisfy your yen for Zen with this take on the baby shower. If you are staging this at home, consider using your backyard. Lotus candles and water lilies floating in bowls (or in a pool, if you have one) will add serenity to the décor. The party attitude is peaceful and joyful — a perfect environment to welcome baby!

Menu Ideas and Options

An enlightened menu that balances savory and sweet, cold and hot, spicy and mild is the food philosophy for this party. Asian-inspired foods are a good starting point for selecting a Zen tea menu, and small bites are the order of the day, so choose a variety of dishes. Dim sum consists of a variety of tiny dumplings, steamed buns with fragrant fillings, and fried rolls, all served with flavorful dipping sauces.

Setting Up a Tea Bar

Tea is for trendsetting, and it starts at the hub — the tea bar. For this shower, you can create your own version of a tea bar to educate and expose guests to the culture and delights of tea. Retail tea bars generally offer tastings from each of the tea categories — black, green, white, oolong, herbal, and rooibos, in addition to tea blends — tea brewed with fruit juice (tisanes) or spices (chai).

A tea bar offers guests an opportunity to sample many kinds of tea at one sitting. There are hundreds of teas to offer your guests; however, you can keep it simple by limiting the tasting choices to six.

Zen Tea Menu

• Miso Soup Shots -- a delicate and flavorful broth served in Chinese teacups
• Chilled Steamed Soy Beans Tossed with Sea Salt
• Spicy Shrimp Potstickers -- thin dumplings browned and steamed with a filling of shrimp, ground pork, bamboo shoots, carrots, and Chinese mushrooms
• Cilantro Chicken Dumplings -- fragrant cilantro-infused chicken wrapped in dough
• Shrimp and Green Onion Dumplings -- sweet shrimp, Chinese cabbage, and green onions
• Spring Rolls -- tender young bean sprouts and pork tenderloin cooked in wonton wrappers
• Fried Bowties -- deep-fried wonton wrappers, twisted and tossed with powdered sugar
• Personalized Fortune Cookies and Mochi Ice Cream

You should plan on making a pot (or two) of six different teas. Tea bags or loose tea can be used, but if you plan to “read” the tea leaves, you will need loose tea. You will also need:

• Sweeteners. Sugar, demerara sugar (a coarse raw sugar), honey, honey straws, and sugar substitutes

• Cream or milk. Black, chai, and Boba teas are served with milk.

• Teacups. If you are planning a tea tasting, try using Chinese-style teacups like those found in restaurants.

• Kettle. Tea must be made with boiling water, not tepid tap water. Use either a whistling tea kettle or an electric tea kettle.

• Optional: Black tapioca pearls. These “beads” of tapioca have the consistency of gummy bears and are slightly larger than a pea. They sit in the bottom of the cool, milky Boba tea and have a sweet flavor. Serve this tea, which is also called “bubble” tea, with a wide straw to enjoy the pearls.

Invitation Ideas and Script

Simplicity is at the heart of the Zen-inspired shower invitation. Incorporate natural fibers and textures into design elements. Print the details on recycled paper, then mount on textured or linen-wrapped cardboard. Add a fiber ribbon and enlighten your guests.

Come join us for Tranquili-tea
A peaceful and harmonious celebration
To shower Jenny
With good wishes for motherhood and baby-to-be
On the Tea Terrace at Sheri’s
Saturday, June 15th at 11 o’clock in the morning
Tea Tasting, Tasseography, and Dim Sum

Color Palette and Decor

Use soft earth tones of sage green, gray, and almond, with a pop of color like apple green or plum. Natural textures and colors are the order of the day. Earth elements, such as water, fire, clay, and wood, make a strong, yet restful and meditative, statement. Bamboo, wood, polished rocks, and green plants work well together to create the right mood.

Setting a table with bamboo plates (which are also eco-friendly), a long, low centerpiece of wheat grass, a bonsai tree, a waterscape fountain, and lots of green tea candles will inspire the tranquility needed for this shower. Curly, green bamboo shoots in clear vases lined with river rocks make an excellent centerpiece and can also be sent home with guests as prizes.

The Perfect Game or Activity

Don’t Dawdle, Learn to Swaddle! Swaddling is a skill that’s a must for new moms, so it is the perfect activity if the guest list includes other new moms or moms-to-be. When baby’s crying can’t be comforted by feeding, burping, or a diaper change, try swaddling.

This ancient technique turns chaos into tranquility by blanketing baby in bundled comfort. Swaddling is similar to origami, and there are a number of books available on the topic. There are also organizations of “Babywearers” who offer practical advice from nurses and other experts.

To learn this technique at the shower you will need:

• Floor or table space with room to lay a small baby blanket flat
• Life-size baby dolls — one for each pair of guests (or the real thing if your shower guests are new moms themselves)

  Fact

  Tea infusers are needed when using loose tea leaves to make tea. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be made of a number of materials from stainless steel to ceramic to bamboo. Look for infusers that include dip bowls or trays to make draining the tea leaves easier. They can be found in specialty stores, coffee houses, and grocery stores.

• A swaddling blanket for each doll
• A swaddling trainer or leader to walk guests through the steps and swaddling styles
• A swaddling book or DVD

Allow about 45 minutes to learn and practice this technique. If the crowd relishes a challenge, finish the session with a “swaddle-off,” a timed swaddling competition. Choose one swaddling wrap technique, have participating guests at the ready, and start the clock. The first guest to finish should yell, “It’s a Wrap!” when they are done. To the winner goes the spoils—a bag of Tootsie Rolls in a Chinese food container.

Tasseography

Another activity option is tasseography — the art of reading tea leaves.

A form of fortune telling, this Eastern tradition will be a much-talked-about highlight of any tea-related party. Best of all, this activity requires little setup space and can be taken on the road if your shower is not in someone’s living room.

You will need:

• Loose-leaf tea (tea leaves that are not prebagged). Choose tea leaves that are somewhat coarse with little tea-leaf dust. Chinese teas work especially well.
• Tea cups with plain white interiors and wide brims
• Teapot
• Teaspoon
• Symbols list, one for each guest
• Tasseographer (amateur or professional)

Follow these instructions for how to get ready to read tea leaves:

1. Boil a kettle (or more) of water and pour over loose tea in a teapot. Steep for two to three minutes.

2. Pour tea into cups. Do not use a strainer! Leaves will sink to floor of cup. Let tea cool to almost room temperature.

3. Have guests drink their tea, leaving some liquid and the tea leaves in the bottom of the cup.

4. Tell guests to pick up cup in their left hand, cover the top of the cup with their right hand, and swirl the cup around clockwise three times. Make sure that the liquid is swirled up the sides of the cup.

5. Have guests gently place cups down on saucer. Tea leaves will form clumps around the sides and bottom of the cup. The clumps will form patterns that will be interpreted according to the symbol chart.

There are many websites and books that cover tasseography in detail. Here are the highlights of tea leaf reading:

Reading the Brewed Tea:

• Bubbles on the surface of the tea means that money is coming your way.
• Floating tea leaves means visitors will be coming.

Reading the Tea-Leaf Clump Shapes:

• Triangles mean good karma.
• Squares mean proceed with caution.
• Circles mean success is coming.
• Letters usually refer to names of friends or relatives.
• Numbers usually refer to time—days, months, or years.
• Other shapes — animals, fruits, common objects such as coins — all have specific meanings in tasseography.

Reading the Location of the Tea-Leaf Clumps:

• Brim—life-change matters of importance
• Side of cup—significant occurrences that are not life changing
• Bottom of the cup—things that are subject to change

Gifts That Work with This Theme

The theme “Tranquili-tea” says it all — this shower is about comfort and calm. Gifts that are soft, warm, and cozy are the order of the day. Consider these items when you plan for a Zen shower:

• Swaddling Blanket. These blankets now come in many shapes and sizes.

• Moses Basket. Bedecked in bows or bold yet simple, the baskets are perfect for a quick nap or a longer snooze in a warm sunny spot next to mom.

• Skin Products. Many spas now offer a version of the skin products in a baby line. Look for soothing diaper-rash ointments, massage lotions, and bath soaps made from organic ingredients.

• Hug-a-Bear. A soft teddy bear is always comforting. Infants need one with sewn-on, rather than plastic, eyes and nose and no movable parts.

Favors

For tea lovers, there is no greater gift than a delicious brew. Create a take-home tea party by selecting a flavorful blend and packing it to go. This simple idea can be purchased, or you can create a handmade version. To create your own take-home tea party, you will need:

• Four to six tea bags for each guest (many tea companies now use a higher-quality mesh tea bag that looks great in the favor bag.)
• Clear cellophane gift bags
• Bag topper
• Stapler
• Computer and printer

See Everyday Event Planner for an example of this favor.