Afternoon tea time

Anne here, and today I'm throwing a special afternoon tea party because tomorrow is the 12th anniversary of the word wench blog. Mary Jo will be heading up a group blog on Wednesday, explaining how the blog started, and each of us will talk about what the word wenches means to us, so today is just about eating, drinking and being merry.

So I'm getting out the good china cups and setting out the food, just as I did when I was a kid and Mum would have people over for afternoon tea. 

You will note I say afternoon tea, not "high tea." These days hotels offer "High Tea" —  serving several tiers of dainty cakes and elegant little sandwiches with the crusts cut off, all at a hefty price. They call it ""high tea" I suppose because they think "high" sounds posh, but in fact it's the opposite. 

High tea in the UK was traditionally the evening meal for working people, substantial rather than dainty, and served at the normal dinner table. It was often something hot, like pies or pasties or eggs, or cold cuts and cheese, served with plenty of bread and butter (crusts included) and a big pot of good strong tea.

So, back to afternoon tea. When I was a kid living in the country, we often had these gatherings, and it was my job (as the youngest) to get out all Mum's good tea-cups, wash them (verrrrry carefully), match them to their appropriate plates and saucers and set them out on the sideboard. Later my task was to hand the food around. Matching them up for you today took me right back to my childhood.

Aussies are big on cakes and scones and things, and though I don't normally throw tea parties (except cyberly for wenches) afternoon tea — and morning tea, for that matter — is still a part of everyday life.  For instance if you ever come to a romance readers or writers' conference in Australia or NZ you'll be well fed at morning and afternoon tea. It's taken for granted you'll expire without it. <g>

It's more common in the country, I suppose, because people have to travel to socialize, so cakes or scones make the trip worthwhile. I have an author friend who drives miles and gives library talks for free — she says she does it for the delicious home-made cakes they serve afterward.

So here, we are,  at our little tea party to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Word Wench blog. I've made a few things specially — little sandwiches, cucumber (of course) also meat, and tomato ones. It's the first time in years I've bought white sliced bread and I am in retrospective awe of anyone who can make tiny, tidy sandwiches. I obviously can't. Mine are a bit messy-looking, but they'll taste good. My friend Meredith makes the best chicken and avocado sandwiches — elegant and delicious. 

Those little colorful triangles are what we call "fairy bread" here — it's just white sliced bread, buttered — real butter please— sprinkled with "hundreds and thousands."  An absolute necessity for any party with children — or baby wenches.

Cream cakes are compulsory. No home-made Australian afternoon tea would be without at least one cream-filled sponge cake. I didn't make one — sorry — but I did buy these "fairy cakes" from the supermarket — and the cream is real. Fairy cakes because of their little "wings." 

 I've also made you some vol au vents —the sweet instead of the savory kind I usually make. So, sweet pastry instead of savory, served cold and filled with cream and a raspberry, instead of my usual hot creamy cheesy seafood mixture.

The brown and white-flecked squares behind them are lamingtons, another Australian speciality — cubes of cake dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in coconut. These ones also have jam and cream in the middle. Again the cream is real.

Sausage rolls are my favorites. They're easy to make — just sausage mince rolled in puff pastry, glazed with egg, then baked in a hot oven. Serve them with tomato sauce (ketchup) and if you're handing them around, make sure you stash one in a safe place for yourself or you'll miss out. Party pies are another favorite — little meat pies.

Hungry yet?

Fill your plate, dear wenchly readers. Choose from the food I've presented or add whatever else you might like to bring to share. And what will you have to drink — tea or coffee? Herbal tea, iced tea? Champagne? Or some of this bright red diet soda brought by one of the friends who came to help me eat all this?

Let us know what you're choosing to eat and drink, and whether you're bringing something delicious to add to the spread. And are you wearing anything special? A fabulous hat, for instance? A splendid tea-gown perhaps? And stay tuned for our anniversary post on Wednesday.

Comments

[Priya Chandra]

Oh goodness Anne.Your post brought back memories of every birthday party and celebration I ever went to as a kid, especially fairy bread and fairy cakes. I'm from Adelaide originally so I'll be drinking red Creaming Soda and bringing along some jam doughnuts and Haigh's chocolates for the celebration.

[Susan King]

Anne, what a wonderful, scrumptious tea! It's morning here, but this all looks so good that I won't wait for afternoon. I'll have some tea, hot and strong, no cream, no sweet, please, and ... ooh, I think I will try a little of everything ... I'll start with a cucumber sandwich and a fairy cake. And I will contribute some of my grandmother's lemon cake, which was absolutely the best. Thank you!

[Kate Sparks]

Wow! That just looks beyond amazing!! Thanks for sharing.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Oh, YUM, Anne! This is one custom the 13 Colonies should have held onto after the Revolution. *G* (Actually, I know these teas come later, but I Wench can dream.)

And what a lovely way to kick off our Anniversary Week! I'll have one of the cream cakes and a couple of sausage rolls, please. *G*

[Quantum]

Anne, you shouldn't have gone to all this trouble!

The spread looks mouth watering. On long ago holidays in Devon I always used to enjoy a Devon Cream Tea .... scones with whipped cream and strawberry jam. More recently the cream tea (at Marwood Hill Garden) had evolved to ginger scones with whipped cream and honey. Now you can get a cream tea almost anywhere in the UK. Curious how culinary concepts diffuse. Do you have them in Australia?

As I see it, the one missing ingredient in your spread is trifle. Trifle has a long pedigree in England, starting (I think) in Georgian and Regency times and is probably familiar to regency romance writers who are keen on culinary research.
http://cookit.e2bn.org/historycookbook/962-regency-trifle.html

I will bring my favorite chocolate trifle and a bottle of malt scotch to spice it up a little, following regency traditions. As to clothing I hope to wear my Dr Who scarf ... multi colured and about 10 ft long.Though if the current heat wave persists I may forget that!

[Patricia Rice]

what a perfectly splendid spread to begin our anniversary celebration, thank you! I'll be wearing my wide-brim hat with the lacy scarf with a pink rose in my lapel. And I'll have the champagne, please! And a picture of Quantum wearing a Dr Who scarf. ;)

[Malvina]

Oh my goodness you’ve got all my favourites there. And I am a sucker for a scone - I do love the ones made with lemonade, they seem to be lighter somehow, and fluffier. With cream and jam, of course. Clotted cream if you can find it! I am a jam on first girl, then the cream. But with clotted cream it works beautifully the other way around, and I am informed by English friends that cream on first is the correct way! I also enjoy strawberries dipped in chocolate. Somehow or other I can justify that because it’s ‘fruit’... I also have lots of lovely cups and saucers which I love getting out and using. It just makes the afternoon that little bit more special. Enjoy!

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Priya — yes I don't think I've had fairy bread in . . . decades. And that red soda . . . Thanks for joining in our little celebration. Jam doughnuts and Haigh's chokkies -- yum yum!

[Anne Gracie]

Susan, I always wonder about cream in tea. I've never known anyone put cream in tea. Maybe it's an American thing. Cream in coffee, yes, though I've only ever had it in Irish coffee.

Your grandmother's lemon cake sounds delicious. I love all things lemon. I make an almond and orange cake that's pretty good. I'm sure it would work with lemons, instead.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for dropping by, Kate

[Janice]

I'll just admire the desserts, I think.

You have a lovely collection of vintage tea cups there.

When I was a kid my mom had a circle of half a dozen ladies of the neighborhood, and they had a sort of revolving coffee klatch at each other's houses every weekday morning, once the husband and the kids had been got off to work or school. Coffee cake was a must. It was usually a square yellow cake with brown sugar and cinnamon crumble topping. It smelled wonderful :)

[Anne Gracie]

Yes, your Boston lot got the idea of holding a tea party all wrong! Where were the cream cakes? Where were the cucumber sandwiches? LOL
Cream cakes and sausage rolls coming up.

[Anne Gracie]

Quantum, we definitely have cream teas in Australia, only we usually call them Devonshire tea. And always served with jam and whipped cream.
I once had a cream tea in the USA where the scones contained currants or raisins, and it felt very strange to have jam and cream on them.
My grandmother was famous for her raisin scones and we only ever put butter on them. And pumpkin scones are popular here, too.

As for trifle, we certainly have trifle here. I often make one and if I could post a pic here I'd share the lemon & mango one I made at Christmas to take to a friend's house. He took a photo of it. But I've never made a chocolate trifle, and each time I make a fruit one, I think about making a chocolate one — with chocolate cake, chocolate custard, and the fruits that go best with chocolate.

I'll certainly join you in some chocolate trifle, and tak' a wee dram of the scotch as well, thank you. Your Dr Who scarf, (of the Tom Baker incarnation) would be appropriate here at the moment, where it's chilly. Thanks for playing.

[Anne Gracie]

Oh, lovely, Pat. You wear hats very well, I have to say. I'll pour you a glass of bubbly right now . . .

[Anne Gracie]

Malvina, I've never made scones with lemonade though I've always wanted to try it. But somehow I always put it off as I'm worried it won't work and I'll have no scones for my guests. (For non-Australians, our lemonade is like7-up, sweet, plain soda, no lemon flavor at all) I think you've inspired me to try it.

I've never eaten clotted cream, and I'll remedy that when I go to the UK next. I do believe that in Devonshire the accepted method is jam first then cream, but i other parts its cream first —and I can see how clotted cream could go first in that case. But ordinary whipped cream cries out to go on top, IMO. Thanks for joining in, Malvina

[Anne Gracie]

Janice these are not desserts — it's afternoon tea. And if you squint, you'll see a bowl of fruit in the background, so help yourself. The mandarins are particularly delish at the moment, and so are the grapes.

I love the idea of a coffee Klatch. A friend of mine's mother used to make the most delicious walnut coffee cake, and I keep eyeing recipes and wondering if it might be as delicious. But I have a few friends who dislike the flavor of coffee, so I never do try it. Thanks for coming to our afternoon (or morning) tea.

[Susan King]

LOL, I meant no milk - it's milk in tea, cream in coffee. My grandmother's lemon cake was divine, a pound cake made from scratch with lemon juice and lemon zest, and then a syrup of hot lemon juice and sugar is poured over the cake straight out of the oven. It's amazing. And so good with hot tea! ;)

[Shannon McEwan]

Yum! I've brought some coconut jam drops, almond macaroons, ginger creams, and yo-yos. Also a ginger-fluff sponge. And to round things out, a plate of deviled eggs, with the filling piped in using a star nozzle - just to be fancy. I'd die for a strong cup of ceylon with a big splash of milk. No fairy bread for me though, thanks - I've been having butter-smeared-hundreds-and-thousands nightmares after catering for a 9yo birthday party last weekend!

[Karin]

This looks delicious. Believe it or not, I've never had a cucumber sandwich so I'd have to try one of yours.
Like Janice, my mother also had a casual coffee klatsch with her girlfriends during the day, and my parents also had a revolving evening coffee klatsch with a regular group of 3 or 4 other couples, at a different house every other week. Lots of delicious homemade coffee cakes were always offered, and coffee with schlag(whipped cream). Sometimes I'm a bit envious, they had a much more active social life than I do!

[Marianne McA]

It looks lovely. I cannot make light scones, though I've been told the secret is to use soda bread flour and buttermilk, so I'll bring some sort of traybakes, because they'd be an obligatory requirement in N. Ireland.

Fifteens are easiest to give a recipe for, because the name is the recipe: 15 digestive biscuits (crushed) with 15 marshmallows (halved or quartered) and 15 glace cherries (halved or quartered). Stir in as much of a small tin of condensed milk as you need to get the ingredients to stick together. (Most of the tin.) Roll the sticky mixture into a long, fat sausage shape and roll that in desiccated coconut, wrap in in cling film, chill in the fridge, then slice.

[Sue McCormick]

Wonderful spread. I'll bring along a pineapple upside down cake (It's a coffee cake, but you don't need to drink coffee to enjoy a slice!).

I love tea, but unlike many folk, I prefer mine very, very weak. So my tea probably doesn't fit in with the scene. I'll have some of your sausage rolls. And may I add some vanilla ice cream to your red cream soda?

[Annette N]

It is morning here, and my mouth is watering. Everything is absolutely beautiful. I need to find out how to make a cucumber sandwich.

Shoot Fire, I am from Texas. Our tea is generally iced - and sweet - and in a tall glass which is sweating all over the table.

I would love to eat everything I see in the pictures. But, I tell you what.

Anne, when you, or any of the Wenches come to see me, I will get you some barbecue. (You get to choose -ribs -beef -sausage - turkey or pork) Then we will have a tray of some tacos, both beef and chicken. Some guacamole to dip the chips. And to end the meal - there would be some banana pudding - you know the kind with vanilla wafers or maybe some flan. And if we are lucky maybe some churros.

I wish we had been wise enough to save the British custom for afternoon tea. It is evident it is an elegant and lovely event. And I am gonna have to find a place which will take me to another time and place where being lady like and elegant is the norm.

Thank you for the pictures. Now, I need to go and wipe the computer screen.

[StephanieL]

So very lovely! I'll come with my hat and cardigan set on and grandma's pearls. A cuppa Earl Grey please. I cannot partake of any of your fabulous offerings in real life (darn tick) but for this cyber event I can enjoy every bit. I've always wanted to try lamingtons. I used to work with a fellow who would just sigh and dream of home and his mum's lamingtons. I love afternoon tea and have myself a bit of one daily even though it's just me in my little office in the middle of America. :-)

[Jeanne Behnke]

Yummmmmmm! I'll have some of everything with champagne. I'm sure I'll be dressed like Stevie Nicks along with my top hat. And I've brought a hostess gift for you... Wisconsin cheese - well, because everything goes better with cheese!

[Maryellen Webber]

Oh my, this is my dream come true!!! I would love to attend a tea like this!!! I would like to try a little of everything but the sausage rolls. I don't eat pork for many reasons.(sorry) I would like a strong cup of tea with sugar only. Is it wrong to skip the milk???

[Anne Gracie]

Marianne, thanks for the 15s recipe -- most intriguing. Malvina in a comment above was talking about "lemonade scones" being light — lemonade in Australia is like 7-up -- a sweet clear soda with no lemon flavour. If you'd like to try it here's a recipe:
https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/lemonade-scones/292387e6-4dcf-4c72-b8e6-e903384d1c34

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Shannon — you're bringing a feast! Am chuckling over your fairy-bread comment — yes with a 9 y.o. and a recent party you'd have had enough. (Can't believe C's 9!!)

Deviled eggs — I almost made them. I have a cute little dish just made for deviled eggs, with little egg-shapped indents.

And yo-yo's — I hadn't even thought of them until recently when I went down to Port Fairy for a wedding and a friend told me to buy yo-yos from a particular cafe there. So I did, and they were a blast from the past. And yummy.
Thanks for joiing in and bringing so much gorgeous food!

[Anne Gracie]

Karin, cucumber sandwiches are very easy to make, and are nice and cool and refreshing in summer. I love the idea of those coffee klatsches you and others have mentioned. Nice to have regular social events.

We once formed a morning tea club at a place I worked in — we each took it in turns to bring a cake or slice or something yummy for morning tea. It was a pretty grim workplace at the time, but having that regular morning almost-a-party made it so much easier to get through the day.

[Anne Gracie]

Hi Sue — I love pineapple upside down cake, but I've never heard of a coffee one. Sounds intriguing.

For years — actually until this year — I drank my tea weak and black, a bit like Chinese tea. Then for some reason I started having tea with a little milk, and decided I needed it stronger.

Ooh, "vanilla ice cream to your red cream soda" —oh yes, what fun. When I was a kid that was called "a spider" - no idea why. Passing you the sausage rolls. Thanks for joining in our party.

[Helen]

WOW what a fabulous spread there Anne and I know that I would love to have a bit of everything WW would not be happy with me LOL

I also love date slice my Mum used to make the best and I never learnt how to make it with her sadly a pastry base dates and a lemon icing yum

Have Fun

Helen

[Anne Gracie]

Annette, a Texas barbecue would be wonderful, thank you. Tacos and guacamole are faves of mine, too.

But I need to correct the impression that morning or afternoon tea has to be a delicate ladylike event. In outback Australia, where the temperatures are well over 100 and there's thick red dust and the men are rounding up cattle, or shearing sheep or doing some other dirty job, the station cook (or the roundup cook) will *always* provide an array of cakes and sweet things to go with morning and afternoon tea break — or "smoko" as it's called. It's a job requirement.

[Anne Gracie]

Annette, here's a blog from an outback station cook (ie ranch cook) about what she calls "sweet smoko" -- ie the sweet things an station cook makes for morning of afternoon tea. She also makes "savory smoko" dishes. So it's not always dainty, but it's always yummy.
http://misschardy.com/2017/02/24/miss-chardys-guide-to-station-cooking-part-4-sweet-smoko/

[Anne Gracie]

Stephanie, I think it's lovely that you have a little afternoon tea ritual just for yourself at work. In a comment above I mentioned how a group of us at work organized a morning tea club and it made all the difference to getting through the day at a fairly grim time.

You could make lamingtons yourself if you wanted, with plain cake bought from the supermarket. Cut it into cubes, make a mix of cocoa and icing sugar (powdered sugar) and a little water - like thick though still a bit runny cream. Dip the cubes of cake in (one at a time), and coat in the chocolate mixture, then roll in dessicated coconut. Let dry. If you like you can slice open , spread with jam and whipped cream, or eat plain as is.

The process is messy — your fingers get coated with chocolate icing mix and coconut — but fun, especially for kids. I used to love making them when I was little.

[Anne Gracie]

Ohh, yes, Stevie Nicks and her top hat — and yum, cheese is always welcome. Haven't tasted Wisconsin cheese but I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
Pouring you a glass of bubbly right now . . .

[Anne Gracie]

Maryellen, no problem with the pork — I have several friends who don't eat pork — so I'll make beef or chicken sausage rolls. It's an assembly process rather than an exact recipe, so some kind of ground meat (or vegetable) mix, rolled in puff pastry and baked. Yummy.

It's never wrong to skip the milk in tea — tea should be however you like it. My father never took milk in his tea, and after they lived in Malaysia for some years, where it was hard to get milk, my mother stopped taking milk in her tea too.

[Anne Gracie]

Mmmm date slice, Helen — sounds good. Mum used to make a date loaf called, for some reason "mission loaf" that was delicious. Dates and nuts baked in a round tube tin, and sliced when it was cold. Buttered sometimes and sometimes not. Oh you've started me on dates now . .

And lemon icing . . . My nana used to make a wonderful apple slice with lemon icing, and I never did get the recipe. The apple part is easy and the lemon icing, too, but there was something in the pastry mix that made it extra special. But lemon icing always makes things good. That combo of sweet and a little bit tart.

[Kareni]

I see a number of yummy things that I recall from my childhood in Australia, and I'm drooling now! Two things that I don't see are
cream horns and pikelets.

Thanks for a fun post, Anne, and happy anniversary to you and the other Wenches. Funnily enough, May 23rd is the anniversary of the first date that my husband and I went on. Though that was admittedly longer ago than 12 years! [Though now I see you posted this on the 21st, so perhaps the 22nd is your anniversary date.]

[Anne Gracie]

I did think of pikelets, Kareni, because they're quick and easy to make, but I decided I was getting out of hand — making all this food for a blog. Luckily I had friends drop around and take most of it back to husbands.

For those wondering, pikelets are just small pancakes, that when I was a child were served cold with butter on top. And cream horns are puff pastry horns filled with cream. I didn't think of making them, Kareni, but I did think of making brandy snaps, which are not dissimilar.

Our actual anniversary is the 22nd May, and mary Jo and I were scheduled to blog either side of the date, so we wenches decided to split is between an afternoon tea party on the 21st and a more reflective piece from all of us tomorrow. Stay tuned . . .

[Diane Sallans]

Oh that all looks so yummy! My Mom used to make "fancy sandwiches" for special occasions - she would have a loaf of bakery bread sliced long ways, trim the crust, spread various fillings (tuna salad, ham salad, egg salad, chicken salad, cream cheese w/chives), put a pickle or olive at one end & then roll it up. When ready to serve they would be sliced so that each was a round with the filling in the swirl. Today would have been my parents 70th wedding anniversary - wish they were still here to have a big party!

[Kareni]

I'm sending some happy anniversary wishes into the ether, Diane, in honor of your parents.

[Anne Gracie]

Diane, those fancy sandwiches sound delicious, and pretty, too. Thanks for sharing. It's nice to think of your parents on their anniversary. I usually think of mine on that day, too. Cheers . . .

[Janice]

Here those things would be dessert, or something you buy at a posh bakery to go with the morning Starbucks :)

[Vicki L.]

I'm late to the party, boo hooo....sounds totally fabulous and scrumptious. And fascinating the treats in Australia compared to my part of the world (southern US - GA).

So my contributions would be cheese straws, pimento cheese sandwiches, spiced pecans, pickled shrimp, tortilla "thingies" and crescent roll pinwheels.

The tortilla "thingies" is what my sister always calls this appetizer she makes - tortillas, creamed cheese, corned beef. Layers upon layers, then cut into small squares. Very addictive!

I'll just have "yankee" water...as in water with no more than 3 ice cubes. Grin.

[Annette N]

Thank you - another place for me to explore.