Most of us have some relationship with tea. For many Jews with ties to the “Old Country,” a “glezel tay” – hot tea served in a clear glass — is one of life’s untainted pleasures. The experts knew how to sip it through a sugar cube held between the teeth. Surely it’s impossible for anyone born in the USA, or at least that’s what I like to tell myself.
But I have a totally different relationship to tea and it is firmly grounded in a fantastic childhood memory. My family was known to frequent some pretty posh hotels across the United States and my mother introduced me to Afternoon Tea as a rite of passage. (This custom was imported from England about 300 years ago, but I’ll tell you a little secret about that at the end of this article.) No, we didn’t wear big floppy hats, white gloves, or speak with snooty accents. We didn’t sit too primly either, though I tried. What I loved about it was that it was special, delicious, and just for us ladies. (Daddy didn’t go for the tiny sandwiches or tea; his style is more the all-you-can-eat buffet.) But I just adored those soft mini-sandwiches with the crusts cut off, scones slathered in creamy butter, a touch of jam and, of course, the tea!
So when Tamar said to me “Jamie, why don’t you develop a few recipes for Shalosh Seudos – how about Afternoon Tea style?” I jumped at the chance. To be honest, I’m not sure how many of you men folk out there will actually go for an Afternoon Tea Shalosh Seudos – but who am I to argue? Hey, it doesn’t matter. A few easy recipes for Afternoon Tea also would be so much fun for a bridal shower or a sweet sixteen, maybe even a summer Sheva Brachos!
So whether you’re planning a “Ladies Only” special event or a Shalosh Seudos for friends and family, you ought to know the traditional AT menu. This checklist will help you organize everything:
✓ Tea sandwiches
In England, these tiny sandwiches are called “savories,” and have we got some savory delights for you! We have Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches, Cucumber and Watercress Finger Sandwiches, Red Pepper and Pesto Sandwiches and Chunky Tuna Sandwiches. I hope to have included a little something for everyone. I kept these pareve, just in case you’re thinking of doing this for Shalosh Seudos. Now, you don’t have to cut all the crusts off — but it does make them more elegant and authentic – so why buck tradition? Make the sandwiches using different breads so the platter will look varied and appetizing.
✓ Scones
There is nothing like a hot scone with a pat of butter just melting into it. (Warm them up on your Shabbos blech). My recipe for Currant Scones is sure to delight. Leave out the currants if you’re picky, or replace them with raisins, craisins or dried blueberries for something a little different. Try my Chocolate Espresso Scone for sheer decadence. In case you are still fleish at your third meal go with a pat of margarine in place of butter – but save a scone for when you can go full throttle! Make it a huge creamy pat (or a BIG slather) of butter.
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✓ Pastries
At a typical English Afternoon Tea, right after the savories and the scones are served, you start on the pastries. Mini Blueberry Lemon Tarts are just the thing. You can make this with any berry. Make three different batches – with blueberries, strawberries and raspberries — for a very colorful presentation.
✓ Tea
When serving up English Breakfast Tea from your fancy teapot – you should also consider serving some Mint Lemongrass Infused Iced Tea to satisfy guests who don’t want hot tea. Of course, authentic AT features hot tea, no matter what the temp is outside.
Oh – wanna hear the secret I mentioned earlier?
My good friend Charlotte gives me all these nifty history tidbits…The fact is that tea was popular in France for more than 20 years before it ever reached England in the 17th century, and it was the French who originated the idea of pouring milk into it. It seems they even regarded it as “health food,” in our language. Back in the days of the Sun King, there was a Madame de Sévigné who wrote absolutely scandalous, gossipy letters to her daughter. In one, she reported, “Saw the Princess de Tarente …who takes 12 cups of tea every day…which, she says, cures all her ills. She assured me that Monsieur de Landgrave drank 40 cups every morning.
“But, Madame, perhaps it is only 30 cups or so?”
“No, 40. He was dying, and it brought him back to life before our eyes…”
Well, nobody would make that claim today – but a nice cuppa tea often brightens our day, if not curing all our ills. And a tea party is a wonderful way to enjoy it with friends.
Please let me know if you host Afternoon Tea, and how it went. Even if you’re not going for the whole shebang, let me know which of these recipes worked for you! Also tell me who you would most like to have a tea party with (real person or fictional, living or not) I wanna know.
Here are all the recipes mentioned above plus some more recipes to enhance your tea experience:
I’d have a tea party with AA milne.
I would like to have a tea party with my two daughters, my granddaughter, my fours sisters and my mama. Now
that would be an event!
I would love to have a tea party with my mom who passed away just 3 months before my daughter was born. She was so anxious to see her first grandchild and tried so hard to stay on this earth to see her. She was my inspiration and my best friend.
I would love to have a tea party with the king himself, Elvis Presley!!!
I would love to have a tea party with Princess Diana because she exemplified what a princess is supposed to be.
This would be great for me and my best friends!
[email protected]
My husband’s grandma whom we named one of our twins after. She never got to meet any of our children.
I would like to a tea party with Lady Gaga, just to see what she thinks is the best tea-time wear.
I wouls like to have a tea party with my mom because she make me laugh and she is silly.
A tea party with my daughters would be nice
I want a tea party with Princess Kate! [email protected]
I’d like to have a tea party with my Great-Grandmother whom I was named after. Because my hebrew name is the same as hers, I’d have loved to have met her. I have heard stories and she was a wonderful woman. And my grandmother was so wonderful, and I know that her mother was a big influence in her life.
I would love to have the mad hatter tea with the girls in my pilates class, usually we’re so busy trying to follow the teacher that we never get a chance to share. This way we could actual share holiday recipes and family news. Thank you
My Uncle lives in Virginia and we only get to see him once every two years or so. I would love to have him for tea, he’s the greatest person to talk to. I miss him so much!
Why? Because she is so special to me.
I would like to have a Tea Party with my daughter Amy.
I would do tea with my grandma. It would be nice to just relax together and talk.
Dora… For my daughter!
My father passed away suddenly fifteen years ago, him and my Mom had know each other since they were four years old, they married at twenty in 1953, my Dad was not jewish, but my Mom is, they loved each.ither more than anything, my Dad always said he would be jewish ti be just like Mom, im thier youngest of five, im thier only child they didnt baptize catholic, so of course I was called thier jewish baby( as you can see in my email addy), so my Dad was born on the fourth of july in 1933,so this would be a perfect bracelet to give to my mom for thier 58th wedding anniversary, cuz my Dads birthstone is ruby and of course the star of david, so it would be perfect…….so in the end, id like my Mom to be able to have tea with Dad again, and I would stop in to say hi…..we miss you Dad <3 ….thank you for hearing my story
I would have tea with my mom. In fact, it’s such a good idea, I think I’ll take her to tea this week! 🙂
Moses would be my choice because there was so much lost bringing facts to literature…just the facts please Mo…
I would love to have tea with my mom. She went to charm school, and instilled in us all the lady like charms we would need to make it in life. In todays society, that is getting to be a rare thing.
I would have afternoon tea with my friend, Janet. She moved out of state several years ago. She’s returned for bar & bat mitzvah celebrations and I have visited her in her new home for the same. We always have tea when we’re together.
I would love to have tea with my mother (who loved and appreciated tea), my mother in law, my husband (who only liked iced tea). They are all in olam habba and with my two wonderful daughters. If I could fantasize a little more, I would want my mother in law to bake her flourless chocolate cake, mondelbrot, and applecake. I would like my mother to make her shmatte cake, kakosh and strudel. Calories would not count that day.
I would love to have tea with Laura Ingalls Wilder. She would most certainly have great stories to tell about her younger years and all that she endured when she was a child growing up and traveling across many states. There is a site about an hour from where I live here in south east Kansas that has replicas of her home, school house and post office near Independence, KS. I would love to hear her stories. I still like to watch reruns of Little House on the Prairie too.
I’d like to have tea with Catherine Middleton (or with all the women in my family 🙂
I love your recipe for scones (I would substitute dried cherries or cranberries).
The bracelet is beautiful! Thanks for the giveaway.
I would love to have Tea with My mom who passed away at 55 in 2001. I would love one my chance to say how much I love her and was Lucky enough to have a mom like her.
My tea would be with Sarah Aharonson, famous NILI activist from Zichron Yaacov. I want to know what REALLY happened with the Brits and Turks in 1917…
I’d like to have a tea party with Jane Austen. She’s one of my favorite authors, and it’d be great to hear all the stories she could tell me! I’m pretty sure the tea would make the stories even better. (As long as I’m reaching for the impossible, Jane and Elizabeth Bennett are invited, too.)
Hope to win 🙂
I would love to have a tea party with my grandmothers. Both are passed on and I didn’t get enought time with either one of them.
stanleybilly(at)bellsouth(dot)net
I would love to have tea with my granddaughter when she is old enough! And this bracelet would be for her mother- my daughter-in-law!
like to have one with brae pitt and i ain’t kidding
[email protected]
I would love to have a tea party with Marie Antoinette and Hermione Granger/Emma Watson!
I would most like to have a tea party with Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind, since he played the role so well!
I would love for my cats to suddenly learn how to speak in common language and sit down for proper tea. I think it would be so much fun to learn what they have been trying to tell me all these years.
I would love to have tea with my great grandmothers. All four. I only knew one. I would love to speak to them about life in Russia.
I would love to have a tea party with my Oma (grandmother) and Dad, both deceased. Just a few moments would be so wonderful, especially with dad without his Alzheimer’s and silent tongue.
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride…
What a great thought!
I would love to have a tea party with Doris Twitchell Allen, of blessed memory (1901-2002), the amazing founder of CISV (formerly known as Children’s International Summer Villages). She was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize (1979), the Freedom Medal (1999) and the Hague Appeal for Peace Prize (2001). (Mother Theresa was nominated the same year as Ms. Allen for the Nobel Peace Prize…and won. Doris started the international youth peace program 60 years ago, and boy, has it grown and been successful. Doris’ belief: you have to start with the children. She would be a fascinating tea partner!
I would love to have a tea party with my 4 year old daughter, my mom and my grandmother.
I would love to have tea with Eleanor Roosevelt. I think she was an amazingly complex woman and i would love to know more about her.
I would love to have a tea party with my mom and her beloved cousin Grace to have them share their stories of summers spent together for many years.
I would love to have tea with all of the women in my family, nothing would be more delightful!
What an amazing coincidence! I was searching the internet yesterday for tea party recipes for my daughter’s wedding shower/end of chemo party and here today you post the type of recipes I am looking for!
So for obvious reasons, I would most want to have a tea party with my daughter, her bridesmaids and her friends.
I’d love to attend a tea party with Samuel Clemens. He could make even the most mundane human routines sound clever and entertaining.
Question – do you have to drink your tea with your pinkie finger sticking out? 😉
Love this post and all the recipes. I think I need to start planning a tea party…thanks for the inspiration
I’d love to take tea with Golda Meir – now THAT would be a tea to remember!
I would love to have a tea party with my great grandmother, she lived an amazing life and I would love to hear her talk about it
I would love to have a tea party with just my three daughters. They are scattered to the four winds so-to-speak since they live in other states and I miss them terribly. We share a wonderful closeness that miles can’t separate but it would be so nice to have a tea party with them.
i would love to go to the mad hatter’s tea party in Alice in Wonderland! you never know what will happen and the table was laid nicely , albeit kooky!