Spring by Kathryn White

Friday, May 14, 2010

British Cream Tea

There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.~C.S. Lewis
I had mentioned in an earlier post that I would be hosting a tea party and thought you might like to see some photos of our 'british event'.
(the photos were quickly taken before we sat to tea, as I almost forgot in the busyness of entertaining; click to enlarge)
When I host a 'british' tea party, I start with the guest list, followed by a menu which usually consists of scones with clotted cream, lemon curd, strawberry conserve, fresh fruit, devonshire cream, pastries, chocolates, little sandwiches with egg salad as well as cucumber/herb cream cheese, remembering to take the crusts off as that is proper british. I do use the crusts to make bread pudding the following day.
The hostess must always serve a combination of sweets and savouries at a proper tea, served on her most elegant china. Can you imagine what it must have been like in the Victorian time period? I think there may have been too much indulgence then, but for my six guests and myself, it was just lovely to spend time away from the cares of life and to enjoy conversation over tea.
A Proper Tea is much nicer than a Very Nearly Tea, which is one you forget about afterwards. ~A.A. Milne
Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company. ~Author Unknown
Tea to the English is really a picnic indoors. ~Alice Walker
If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you. ~Gladstone, 1865
I was inspired by a post on this blog, to make my own lemon curd, so I did that this morning while I was baking up the scones. It was so much easier than I thought and the taste was wonderful!
There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. ~Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady