Tea 4 Me

 “Where there’s tea, there is Hope”
– Wing Pinero

“Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.”
– Henry Fielding

“A simple cup of tea is far from a simple matter.”
– Mary Lou Heiss

Photographed in my herb garden in sunshine too bright for teatime in the garden, but still fun to play awhile.

The teacup I chose to use has a very special memory tied to it. Our last trip to Europe I was very fortunate to attend the Chelsea Flower Show in London and have tea there. While strolling through the flower show I found this teacup at a booth selling antiques and fell in love with it. The flowers are a nod to that visit to the flower show with flowers from my garden on the table and embroidered flowers on the vintage napkins and table cover.

“Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.”– Catherine Douzel

For some time I have thought I would like to do afternoon tea just for me.

No food restrictions, just things I like. Actually after doing this one I felt like it was a tea time "swan song" for me. It is a lot of work to do the whole thing from planning, shopping, to producing and my back doesn't much like the work anymore. That said, who knows, maybe I will do it again; but in the meantime I wanted to do it just for me.

Now you might think that is a lot of food just for me. Well I did share with the other members of the household. As you see we moved it inside to eat because the bees, flies, and sunshine were a bit too much.

The menu was:

Sausage rolls with mustard

Cucumber cups with crab salad and a dollop of guacamole on top

Egg salad sandwich

Trout sandwich

Scones with strawberry jam

Vanilla cake with fresh fruit (with the heat the fruit kept sliding off the top-ugh!)

Lemon bars

And thanks to Mary of A Breath of Fresh Air for recommending Rose Lemonade from World Market/Cost Plus, we enjoyed this sparkly special finish to afternoon teatime served without actual tea. I did have my daily tea, just not with the afternoon tea time. Mostly I wanted to sleep last night and having tea late in the day just doesn't work for me. The rose lemonade was perfection. 

There are all kinds of opportunities to have tea, sometimes they are elaborate and sometimes as simple as a store bought cookie and a mug of tea. I love them all and plan on sharing tea times again; so come along with me, pick up that cup of tea and celebrate each day even if it is just for you.

Happy weekend, dear friends!