Afternoon British Tea

Outdoor dining is just one of the joys of summer, so when my friend Sandy invited a group of us over for afternoon tea on her front porch, I was delighted to join her in preparing a British Tea, one of my favourite hobbies. I have many fond memories of my time in England, and one of my dearest memories was taking afternoon cream tea with my friend Karen, as well as with my daughter Jennifer. Not only was the tea wonderful, the scones served with clotted cream and strawberry preserves were such a treat, all served in adorable and quaint tea rooms.

"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


This was the setting of our afternoon tea. Although the lovely porch overlooked beautiful farm fields, it could also have been in Savanah, GA, as it had a southern feel with the warm breeze, the white wicker furniture and the gorgeous flowers.


Inside Sandy and I set up the Cream Tea on two tiered plate stands for 7 guests plus the two of us. We served cucumber as well as egg salad sandwiches, scones both plain and with currants, as well as strawberry jam and devonshire clotted cream.
Sweets or dainties were set on the top serving plates.
Sandy served a lovely glass of fresh fruit following the first course which was so refreshing.



We served an assortment of teas including Earl Grey, the most common tea served in tea rooms across England.



Sandy used her Royal Albert Old Country Roses set of tea pot, cream and sugar as well as her tea cups and saucers.





Lovely garden florals were arranged using some of Sandy's milk glass containers in her collection.




Gladiolus and Rose of Sharon in a lovely white vase:





Her glads were beautiful as the flowers were just starting to open:

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon on her front porch and were so thankful for the beautiful weather as well as having made time out of our busy schedules to spend a leisurely afternoon together sharing and forging stronger friendships.
Each of the ladies went home with a little party favour along with a copy of the scone recipe found here.

On behalf of all the ladies who attended, I am sure we all agree that the afternoon was wonderful and we are grateful to our hostess! Thank you Sandy! It was my pleasure to co-host with you!

"Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store nor under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends. "~ Cindy Lew

A great website for hosting your own Afternoon Tea can be found here.

Magnifique Soirée

Fancy Nancy came to our library this past week in the form of a Mother/Daughter Tea Party, hosted by Miss S et moi. Invitations were posted at the library with an R. S. V. P.
Répondez s'il vous plaît" is a formal french phrase that means:
"Answer if it pleases you".
The responses were enthusiastic!
Flower centre pieces were donated and the tables were set in a very elegant fashion.
Tiaras and boas, along with Fancy Nancy booklets, were given to each of the girls
who looked so glamorous in their lovely fushia feather boas and glittery sparkly tiaras.
Miss S read the following book as the young girls were gathered around her:Miss J (moi) discussed the proper manners at a tea party for young ladies, and went over some favourite Fancy Nancy words:
The young girls decorated cupcakes for themselves and as well as for their mothers: Two lovely young french girls who attended the party with their mother, taught us elegant french words and how to pronounce them the proper way.
You can read more about Fancy Nancy Tea Parties in a post here
It truly was a Magnifique Soirée!

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

Fancy Nancy Tea Party Extraordinaire!

I love the Fancy Nancy series for a number of reasons.

The dramatic flare and exhuberance that is demonstrated by Fancy Nancy, along with the 'fancy' words she uses is charming and educational at the same time.

Nancy is a precocious little girl who loves to play dress-up in her favourite dress, high heels, feather boa and sparkly tiara, while preparing and hosting posh tea parties.

She also demonstrates that there is nothing fancier or better than her family's unconditional love.

Fancy Nancy books teach little girls how to be polite and to use good manners, while containing valuable life lessons.

We plan to host a Fancy Nancy Tea Party at our library soon, so I took the opportunity to practice on my adorable, charming, sweet nieces.

We enjoyed decorating fancy cupcakes with lots of icing and sprinkles:

We then set the table with an elegant lace cloth, adding a silver three-tiered serving platter with our tea snacks which included the decorated cupcakes, lemon squares, as well as a separate platter with shortbread biscuits along with strawberries and clotted cream:
Of course we had to then change into our fanciest dresses, don our tiaras and our boas, then get our nails done in glamorous nailpolish, each little girl choosing her own colour...Ooh la la!

The Tiaras were sparkly and the Boas were so glamorous:

We enjoyed an Elegant Afternoon Tea...

...followed by reading Fancy Nancy books and completing the activity booklet.

We all agreed that it was a party extraordinaire!

To host your own Fancy Nancy Party, check out the following links here:
http://printables4kids.com/fancy-nancy-printables/ http://www.ehow.com/how_4733184_throw-fancy-nancy-party.html
http://fancynancybooks.blogspot.com/