Posts filed under 'Tea Party Food'
This guest post was written by Amy Puetz. A homeschool graduate, she loves history, sewing, and working as a computer graphic artist for her company A to Z Designs. In her spare time she enjoys traveling to different historical eras via books and movies! A columnist for Homeschool Enrichment Magazine, she also writes for her series of e-books, Heroines of the Past. Visit her website at www.AmyPuetz.com.
“You can ask Diana to come over and spend the afternoon with you and have tea here.”
“Oh, Marilla!” Anne clasped her hands. “How perfectly lovely! You ARE able to imagine things after all or else you’d never have understood how I’ve longed for that very thing. It will seem so nice and grown-uppish. No fear of my forgetting to put the tea to draw when I have company. Oh, Marilla, can I use the rosebud spray tea set?”
“No, indeed! The rosebud tea set! Well, what next? You know I never use that except for the minister or the Aids. You’ll put down the old brown tea set. But you can open the little yellow crock of cherry preserves. It’s time it was being used anyhow-I believe it’s beginning to work. And you can cut some fruit cake and have some of the cookies and snaps.”
“I can just imagine myself sitting down at the head of the table and pouring out the tea,” said Anne, shutting her eyes ecstatically. “And asking Diana if she takes sugar! I know she doesn’t but of course I’ll ask her just as if I didn’t know. And then pressing her to take another piece of fruit cake and another helping of preserves. Oh, Marilla, it’s a wonderful sensation just to think of it.”
This scene from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery is a good example of the importance of Victorian Tea Time. Tea time in Victorian society was usually a light meal eaten between breakfast in the morning and dinner in the evening. The typical hour was four o’clock. Drinking tea was not limited to one meal a day. It was also consumed at breakfast and dinner. During afternoon tea ladies would have cold meat, bread (such as rusk, crumpets, biscuits, etc.) and some kind of fruit (either preserves, stewed apples, or jellys). Traditionally either green or black tea was served. It was common to offer both if the preferred beverage was not known. Victorian ladies also enjoyed afternoon tea parties. Friends would be invited and tea time would be shared with a group.
Tea would be served with sugar and milk. For many families tea was the final meal of the day. Breakfast was eaten early, dinner was consumed at noon and then tea was in the late afternoon. There was great variety among individuals when lunch, dinner, supper, and tea were taken depending on a person’s wealth and work schedule. Although tea was a popular beverage before the Victorian era we get many of our traditions from them, such as the practice of having afternoon tea! Here are some good cookbooks about Victorian food.
To end I must tell you about Anne Shirley’s tea party. Before the actual tea Anne served Diana some raspberry cordial and Diana soon became very sick. Apparently it was currant wine and not raspberry cordial that Anne gave her guest. Perhaps she should have supplied tea, instead!
Tea Party Girl’s note: At what age did you first read Anne of Green Gables? Did you have a bosom friend in junior high? My kindred spirit was also red-haired and now makes movies for a living, having married an Italian filmmaker. She was definitely the Anne Shirley to my Diana Barry, with her rich imagination. Tell us about yours in the comments below.
May 16th, 2008
You DO know cupcakes have become very popular, don’t you? And wouldn’t they be a fabulous addition to a tea party? I sure think so. I enjoyed finding the photo-rich blog, Cupcakes Take the Cake, filled with inspiration for these diverse little cakes. It amazes me how creative and beautiful some turn out. I especially enjoyed finding these pirate (for girl and boy mateys) and Alice-in-Wonderland themed cakes. Through the cupcake blog, I learned about this article, listing the eleven best cupcake bakeries in the country. Do you live near one?
Another source of inspiration I visit includes the Hostess with the Mostess blog, especially this entry Asian Affair. All one needs to add to the peach fans and pastel-dipped fortune cookies is some well-brewed loose leaf green tea served in handle-less white cups. Darling!
In fact, I feel so inspired I’m considering hosting an Asian Affair with green tea and cupcakes (maybe even green tea cupcakes!)while I participate in Risa’s First Day of Spring Tea Party. I would love to invite you all! Instead, we have to settle with a virtual gathering for that day. Would you like to join the party? Visit The Partea Planner blog for all the details.
Lastly, is it time to invest in a new tea cup for yourself or as a gift to someone else? The eBay store Teacup by Teacup lists 74 options today to choose from. I personally like this yellow Cauldon. I plan to write a china primer soon, but for now if you’re not familiar with purchasing china, know that you want to look at the bottom of a saucer before you purchase. This eBay store provided the right picture for me to see. A handwritten number with a Made in England stamp shows that is not a recent copy Made in China, as many in the gift stores currently are.
*Tea Party Girl’s Sunday Surfing Soundtrack included Handel’s Water Music
and the lovely soundtrack to the recently released DVD Becoming Jane.
March 2nd, 2008
I stumbled across Tea in My Cup the other day and wanted to be sure to let you know about it. Alice from Pennsylvania provides step-by-step themed guides for planning an afternoon tea, focusing on “Afternoon Tea Party Menus, Tea Party Themes, Tea Party Recipes, and Tea Party Ideas.” This week, her blog focuses on a Chocolate Fantasy Fund Raising Tea Party. Now who wouldn’t buy a ticket to that!?
I especially appreciate Alice’s site because she puts a lot of thought and time into planning the tea party food and outlining a schedule for its preparation. The last tea party she outlined completely, the “Winter White and Spring Green” theme offered nine different recipes with photos. The Lime-Filled Cupcakes in particular woo me as a reluctant baker.
And Mrs. Fussypants, you are just so fun! Are you REALLY pregnant with your fifth boy? Do I understand that correctly? I entered her “Fight the Frump” last Friday with my article, “How Often Do You Set the Table?” and received a nice boost of traffic ever since.* She just announced today the release of her FOUR new sites, including Blissfully Domestic and Homeschool Hacks each with corresponding social communities. Blissfully Domestic sounds right up my alley, and I will keep my eye on this site for a week or two to see what they offer. You may want to, as well. So far as I can tell, it’s Fussy’s humor that will help them stand out from the many other SaHM-type sites. This will hold my interest for a little while, but I will stay if they provide great content. I need all the encouragement on this journey I can get, but not just another social community to keep up with. I hope Mrs. Fussypants and her crew can differentiate themselves from the rest.
*My article about setting the table is turning out to be one of my most commented on articles ever; I find this interesting since it was written as an off-shoot of one of my most-read articles ever. When I wrote over the weekend about expanding this blog’s focus, I meant articles such as this one, not articles about coffee! Sorry that was confusing for some of you! I’m still toying with the direction to take this blog. I will either concentrate even more on the tea party niche or widen the blog focus to all that defines simple and classical beauty to me. We shall see. Opinions always welcome.
February 18th, 2008
Today during my online perusals, I found a few items I wanted to pass on.
Celestial Seasonings seems to be working hard to stay competitive as the specialty tea market grows. Regular readers of TPG know I’m not a big fan of grocery store tea bags. I went to their website today and found an interesting claim:
A Bold New Look for Celestial Seasonings
We are proud to present our new tea packaging, with a fresh, contemporary look that highlights our delicious, 100% natural ingredients and unique tea flavors while celebrating our rich and storied heritage. The look is new, but our tea recipes and our commitment to delicious beverages of the highest quality remain unchanged.
I’ll see their bold new look and raise them a bold Tea Party Girl Challenge. Personally, I think most tea drinkers are smarter than this. Somehow new, flashy, packaging isn’t what we’re looking for, but quality product. If it remains unchanged in an age of consumers becoming more and more informed…hmmmm.
Do any of you buy Celestial Seasonings regularly? I would love to hear from you in the comments below. What’s your favorite? And if Celestial Seasonings would like Tea Party Girl to review any of their products, I will be happy to share the results with my readers. I challenge them to try and impress me, if they feel their product’s content needs to stay the same for twenty-first century tea drinkers.
Second, one of my dreams is to someday have the resources to visit the many fabulous tearooms all over America and even other countries. I read about one in particular today, The Canterbury Tea Room in Greeley, CO that sounds especially intriguing. It impressed me that they offer a true high tea dinner menu. The menu changes each month to reflect a different country. December’s theme is England, with the following menu according to their website:
All entries begin with Almond Soup and Sweet Potato Scones
Beef Wellington–rib-eye roast topped with mushrooms and onions, encased in puff pastry or
Christmas Chicken–braised chicken breast topped with apple-cranberry sauce or
Cranberry Stuffing Bake
All entries served with pease pudding, snowy mashed potatoes, and cranberry stuffing
Desserts
figgy pudding (sweet fig souffle’ with pecans), flummery (almond custard with fruit sauce), or syllabub (frothy whipped cream flavored with brandy)
Now that sounds like an appealing menu to me. Does it to you? I love planning themed menus and would really enjoy attending one of their high teas. Wouldn’t you? If you are ever in the Greeley, CO area be sure to look up The Canterbury Tea Room.
Lastly, there are a ton of cookie recipes currently making the rounds. Do you have a baking day planned sometime in the next week? If you could make only one Christmas cookie, which one would it be? Be sure to let us know in the comments below. I am still trying to decide whether to include a baking day in my Christmas preparations since I don’t enjoy baking at all. But if I did, anything with peppermint and white chocolate would be included. Vicki Arnold of Victoria’s Traveling Tea Party pointed these cookies out to me, a great idea she said for a child’s tea party. They look darling!
Be sure to let us know about your favorite Christmas cookie! And remember, there’s nothing better to cut the sweetness of Christmas cookies than a pot of freshly brewed unsweetened tea. Be sure to relax with some after your big baking day. No fair standing up during sampling! Find your tea corner and relax for a spell to enjoy the fruit of your labor.
December 13th, 2007
Every year I aspire to be one of those homemakers who prepares for the holidays all year long. And every year, I do nothing about this time of year until August. In August I start to worry and roll ideas around in my head. But mostly I worry. Then I blink, and Halloween passes. Now it’s November, and I know it’s time to get serious.
What kind of planner are you? If, like me, you’re starting now, let’s travel this road together. I’ll share some of my ideas and process over the next six weeks (yep, that’s it!) and you can share some of yours in the comments.
First, thank you for your wonderful comments left this week during my contest. There’s still plenty of time! I’m leaving them open until Sunday night at 9pm PST. Please add your thoughts about preparing a Beautiful and Simple December and enter a chance to win some spicy Cathy’s Chai tea.
Second, I am beginning to plan our holidays in two tangible ways today. I will attend Afternoon to Remember’s Open House this afternoon so I can see the table settings, the decorations, and Christmas-themed tea gifts. Maybe your local tea room can provide you some inspiration as well.
And on the practical side, I signed up to participate in a tele-class tonight with an online organizer, Simplify101. I just found out about it yesterday, or I would have let you know about it ahead of time. It might not be too late if you want to join us! Pop on over and consider investing in help to form a plan for your holiday.
Now that the children are older, one of my first steps is to ask them and Plays with Fire how THEY want to celebrate. Every year they tell me the same thing. They desire:
- time with extended family.
- time with friends.
- lots of great food.
- lots of great decorations (any excuse to get on the roof!).
- PRESENTS!
I, on the other hand, want cleanliness, quiet, a Christ-centered Christmas Eve, and plenty of time to sit in my living room to stare at the Christmas tree lights. It’s a challenge to find a balance between all our wishes. But that’s another post.
I keep a file folder called “Party Planning” filled with ripped-out magazine pages of inspiration. Today I sat down to thumb through it and pull ideas for food. Here are six of my favorite holiday finds to help inspire your menus.
Plays with Fire’s Favorite Appetizer is Pepperidge Farm’s Mediterranean Palmiers. We can’t pronounce them, but sure can eat them! And they will make your house smell fantastic.
Tea Party Girl’s Favorite Condiment is Whole-Berry Cranberry Sauce. I can eat it straight.
Tea Party Girl’s Favorite Low-fat Christmas Treats are Rachel Ray’s Peppermint Meringue Kisses. They are easy to make, and work well in tea parties for two hundred or two. Myself, I will eat them with a cup of tea while staring at the Christmas tree lights. Maybe I’ll invite someone to join me.
Tea Party Girl’s Easiest Appetizers to Make are Apple Butter Cheesecake Bites. So simple and SO good. We served these at our dinner party last Saturday night and they were a snap to make. These are NOT low-fat, but a bite can taste as good as a whole slice, don’t you think?
Tea Party Girl’s Most Nostalgic Holiday Dessert is Grasshopper Pie. I’ve never made it since Plays with Fire hates mint. But we’ve been married fourteen years so I think it’s time to do it anyway. The children will love it.
Last, I recently received my holiday Tea Time Magazine. While I can always credit them with beautiful ideas, I cannot always promote them for SIMPLE ideas. However, this month they do offer holiday ideas that include both beauty and simplicity for tea party food. Examples are Butter Pecan Shortbread and Lemon Curd Tartlets (sorry, no links). The magazine might be worth picking up as well for pictures of the Snowflake Truffle Topiaries. One can dream, can’t they?
What food will you include in your holiday events without fail? Let us know in the comments below. Or better yet, write a post about it on your blog, linking to this one!
November 8th, 2007
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