Day to day life is a busy affair, but it’s important to stop and enjoy life, take a well deserved break, and spend a leisurely hour with friends. In the late 1800s in the United States, it was customary for a lady to host High Afternoon Tea at 4 p.m. This tradition, carried on by American descendants of English ancestors, was really more like a light meal to hold people over until supper – which was often served very late in the evening, usually at around 8 p.m. High Tea normally consisted of small savory sandwiches, scones, fruit, and miniature confections. The ceremony surrounding High Tea involved using a fine silver tea service, doilies, fine china tea cups, dainty silver or golden spoons, and small plates. Women typically dressed well for Tea, wearing their fine dresses and hats, while gentlemen were expected to appear in their waistcoats and top hats.
Today, Afternoon Tea can be a less formal event. It can be an entertaining way to host a few close friends for a very special get-together – and is surprisingly easy to orchestrate. Here is how to have tea in your own home.
- Plan ahead – You want to be able to enjoy tea with your friends while you are serving it, so prepare tasty sandwich fillings such as deviled egg, cucumber and chicken salad ahead of time, so that all you’ll have to do on tea day is spread the fillings on the bread and cut your sandwiches into small bite-sized shapes. Arrange these on one section of a tiered serving tray.
- Make scones and cheese straws ahead of time and store in dry, air-tight containers until time to add them to the tiered serving tray. Keep lemon curd and Devonshire cream in decorative serving bowls that you can bring out at the last moment.
- Have a variety of teas ready, and serve them in separate tea pots with tea cozies to keep the tea hot. Serve sugar cubes and cream with the tea!
- Use all of your prettiest tea things to set the table – and don’t worry if it doesn’t all match. The more variety among tea cups and saucers, the better looking the table will actually be, so don’t worry about everything looking exactly the same.
- You don’t have to make your own confections or dessert cakes. Instead, go to a local bakery and order a variety of petit fours to serve on the top tier of the tray, alongside thinly sliced fruits and grapes.
Having tea is a great alternative to comparing satellite tv vs cable!
Having Afternoon Tea with friends is a fun, easy way to bring back an old custom that will bring a smile to everyone’s face. Bon appetite!
