Sunday 2 August 2015

A .... is for Afternoon Tea.


Today is my first post for The Alphabet Club (one day late, sorry Chiara and Jo).

What is the Alphabet Club, I hear you ask?  Well, it is the brainchild of Chiara from The Grey Tail and Jo from Serendipitous Stitching and is loosely based on the premise of the movie "The Breakfast Club" - you can see the button for The Alphabet Club on my right sidebar.

On the first Saturday of each month, members of the club have "detention" and have to post about something that will enlighten others about their culture (as blogland is so diverse).  Of course, there should be something stitchy in there, if possible. Each month will be a different letter of the alphabet - hence the club's name - and, of course, we are starting with "A".

You can read more about it all here.

So, here is my post for this month's detention. Unfortunately, it is not a stitchy post (does that mean I fail detention Chiara and Jo?) but is about one of my other passions - Baking!  So, here goes!

Yesterday, I hosted a small Afternoon Tea for the newly engaged son and his fiancee of my very dear friends, Linda and Terry.  I have known this young man since he was very little and he is a good friend of my DS1 and is actually one of DD's flatmates.  So, I wanted to do something a little special for him and his fiancee.





Hannah Dwyer's photo.
High Tea : 200 Delightful Recipes for Friends and Family - McGrath FoundationApart from the scones, everything I made was from this new recipe book: Lime curd tarts, Ginger and cherry cake, cheese twists and two types of scones: Herb and cheese and plain, served with two types of jam and cream.  It was all served with coffee and two types of tea: Madagascan Vanilla and Earl Grey.  I had so much fun getting out all of my fine china and my good tablecloth and so on.  It was a roaring success, if I say so myself!  (Sorry, we were so busy enjoying the food 
that we forgot to take photos of the people)
 






So, what is the history of Afternoon Tea?   Apparently: Tea consumption increased dramatically during the early nineteenth century and it is around this time that Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford is said to have complained of "having that sinking feeling" during the late afternoon. At the time it was usual for people to take only two main meals a day, breakfast, and dinner at around 8 o'clock in the evening. The solution for the Duchess was a pot a tea and a light snack, taken privately in her boudoir during the afternoon.Later friends were invited to join her in her rooms at  Woburn Abbey and this summer practice proved so popular that the Duchess continued it when she returned to London, sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for "tea and a walking the fields." Other social hostesses quickly picked up on the idea and the practice became respectable enough to move it into the drawing room. Before long all of fashionable society was sipping tea and nibbling sandwiches in the middle of the afternoon. (from: http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/information/history-of-afternoon-tea/)
Afternoonteahistory2
Here in
Australia, though, we often call it having a "cuppa in the Arvo" with Arvo being slang for Afternoon - we colonials, we just cannot get rid of our


convict origins, can we?  lol!

Well, that is it from me for now.  If you want to check out the other detainees - please go to this link here.

hugs,
P.S. Sorry about the gaps in the post but blogger is playing up for me today.

21 comments:

Frances said...

Your tea looks lovely! What beautiful food you fixed! I'm sure everyone enjoyed it!

sew.darn.quilt said...

Very civilized ")

Mini said...

All your baking is mouthwatering. Thanks for the info on Afternoon tea.

twinpeakprimitives said...

A wonderful afternoon tea table ♥ Everything looks so very delicious! PS : I am the Earl Grey type person :)

Thank you for the afternoon tea history!

Happy Sunday

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

What a wonderful post! Anyone bringing cake to detention is most welcome! But we must eat under the desk so the teacher doesn't notice.
I presume you know the origin of the sandwich and it's connection with the Earl of Sandwich?

Dotty's Daughter said...

Lovely post, making me feel hungry looking at all those lovelies. Vanilla tea sounds really nice.

KimM said...

What a delightful post, dear friend! It all looks so lovely. Loved reading about how the practice of having afternoon tea came about.
SSF
xxx

Vickie said...

How gorgeous. And interesting!

Jennifer M. said...

Interesting! Your baked goods looked scrumptious.

jocondine said...

Thank you to invite us for this tasty post! and for sharing with us your lovely table. xxx

Linda said...

Great post Kaye. All that food sure looks yummy. I need to come for a visit.

Linda

Kate said...

Great post, Kaye! What a lovely table setting, and all the food looks delicious. I'm sure everyone had a wonderful time. Thanks for the info; I love learning new things.

Purple Pixie Dust said...

You do set a lovely afternoon tea. What happened to the cucumber sandwiches. that is a must have at all my afternoon tea's. Very nice indeed. I will be right over for some tea and treats. Big Hugs Lynda Ruth

Bea said...

I'll have to come back, the post isn't coming up properly. I've got nothing after "cuppa in the Arvo".

Bea said...

But the pictures of the tea look scrumptious! What a lovely thing for you to do.

Margaret said...

I was just going to ask if Australians do tea. lol! OMG, your cooking and baking posts get me so hungry! You need to be a professional chef! So yummy looking! And congrats to the young man and his fiancee too! Great pics!

Tiffstitch said...

Great post, thanks for all the info, and wow! It all looks scrumptious. I hope it was a huge success!

Stitching Noni said...

Scrummy! What a fantastic spread! I have always wanted to be able to prepare a nice arvo tea... but unfortunately I do not have the patience to cook/bake... love to eat it though - so very happy to sign up as official taster for your afternoon teas :o)
I do love a nice cuppa anytime of the day.... and I am currently having one while I am sneaking a quite peak at some posts before I start the day!
Have a great week!
Hugs xx

butterfly said...

Great Post , I love a cream tea in the afternoon but has to be clotted cream here in Devon.
Woburn Abbey takes me back I use to visit there when I was at school.
Your tea looks wonderful.

Sarah in Stitches said...

Oh wow, that looks so yummy! So interesting to read about the history of it too. We Arabs will usually have a cup of tea in the afternoon too, but it's very different: usually cardamom, sage, or mint flavored, served in small decorated glasses, with dates or baklava on the side. You should come over for tea sometime! :D

Brigitte said...

I was so curious to read all these first posts about the letter A. A great choice, Kaye, to write about your love of baking for the afternoon tea :)))
My post will still take a while as it's not finished yet and I won't be able to do that before my visitors leave.

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