The Charms of Afternoon Tea

What is it about the charms of afternoon tea that conjure up feelings of warmth, coziness, relaxation, quiet conversation with family or friends?  When one says the words “would you like a cup of tea?” a calmness washes over me – does it actually mesmerize our brains into releasing special endorphins that empty stress from our minds?  I wonder…

For me, the word “tea” transports me back to a simpler time, when life wasn’t toot sweet, but everything happened at a pace that felt right.  And although I didn’t grow up in a household that served afternoon tea on a regular basis, I remember my parents serving us tea on occasion – with sugar and cream.

They poured the cream and sugar in the tea cup for us, but allowed us to stir it, watching in fascination as the tea turned from dark brown to a creamy coco color.  One of our first science lessons.  And, I remember that simpler time, otherwise known as my wonderful, idyllic, blessed childhood.

No, I didn’t have a tea party recently.  But, as usual, I’d made too many choices for sandwiches one recent day.  I’d made a batch of Classic Egg Salad for my mother (she lives in assisted living and egg salad is one of her favorite things), plus already had a batch of my Traditional Chicken Salad with Currants and Walnuts in the refrigerator.  We’d eaten the chicken salad for several days, so I made a batch of my Crunchy Tuna Salad for a change of pace.

I’d bought a container of a special spicy pimento cheese spread for Charlie from a vendor at the Orange County Swap Meet while visiting a friend.  Plus, I had a container of leftover cinnamon cream cheese spread from a bagel company that I’d also purchased for Charlie (that Charlie – he’s a lucky guy – always getting little gifts from me!).

So, I had the makings of a tea party – just no guests!  But, I set it up anyway.  I decided that Charlie and I deserved the charms of afternoon tea all to ourselves, to sit back and enjoy a couple of hours of uninterrupted time to nosh and talk about life.  To solve the world’s problems.  To solve other’s problems.  Because, after all, we have no problems {grin}!

Wouldn’t it be a relaxing way to end the day and use some leftovers creatively?  So, I set the table…

About 15 years ago, maybe more, I decided to collect tea cups.  But, they had to be English teacups, manufactured in England and not elsewhere.  Only the original would do.  And, I decided that I would have one of each pattern, not 12 of the same.  Plus, I decided I needed dessert plates to match each tea cup and saucer.  This morphed into a fun hobby of scouring small shops, both new and antique, looking for more to add to my growing collection.

BTW – the firefighters saved my collection of tea cups!  Love those firefighters!

The above setting is truly unique to my collection because I have not only a tea cup, saucer and dessert plate but a tea pot, creamer and sugar bowl, plus a honey pot.  This lovely pattern, by Royal Patrician, is called (drum roll, please) Hydrangea.

I went out into our garden to see what flowering plants I could use.  The flowers in the top photo above are lavender; the middle photo is small branch from a flowering pear tree; the bottom photo is Purple Queen Bougainvillea.  I cut them, brought them in the house and arranged them in small crystal vases.  I put everything on a large metal tray on top of the kitchen table.

Here’s a close-up of the top of the honey pot.  That bee is so cute…

And, I love this little spoon – “just a dollop”, although I’m sure you don’t call sugar a “dollop”, do you?  This sugar bowl has sugar cubes in it so it’s really “one lump or two” served with the “just a dollop” spoon? {grin}

Isn’t the bird perched on this little candy dish just adorable?  I have several different bird dishes.  I seem to collect those, too…

Here are my sandwich creations:

1. Classic Egg Salad on Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (left) and spicy pimento cheese on sourdough bread
2. Cinnamon cream cheese on raisin bread, crusts removed and cut into triangles
3. Traditional Chicken Salad with Currants and Walnuts, on nutty whole grain bread with the crusts removed and cut into squares
4. Crunchy Tuna Salad on Country Potato Bread, crusts removed and cut into logs

Another bird candy dish, this time filled with fresh blackberries…

An elegant tradition of using fine china and serving both sweet and savory tasty bites, afternoon tea is a social custom out of fashion – at least here in the United States.  Served between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., afternoon tea gained popularity during the Victorian era because it was customary to have dinner late in the evening.  Afternoon tea was the juncture between a light lunch and a late dinner, a fashionable social event that became a cherished custom.  Now, it’s a special event.

I think the charms of afternoon tea are a custom that I need to revive…at least every once in awhile…because our toot sweet lives go by toot sweet and we need to savor more moments.

P.S.  We didn’t eat these little sandwiches all at once!  We had “tea” for several days…{grin}.

Tootles,

 

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