Afternoon tea finger foods                                 A cup of Tea

Fruit  and Cheese Scones with Clotted Cream and Jam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afternoon tea is a small meal snack typically eaten between 2pm and 5pm. The custom of afternoon tea originated in England in the 1840s.  At the time, the various classes in England had a divergence in their eating habits. The upper classes typically ate lunch at about midday and dinner  at 8:00 pm or later, while the lower classes ate dinner at about 11:00 am and then a light supper at around 7:00 pm.  For both groups, afternoon tea filled a gap in the meals. The custom spread throughout the British Empire and beyond in succeeding decades. However, changes in social customs and working hours mean that most 21st Century Britons will rarely take afternoon tea, if at all.

Traditionally, loose tea is brewed in a teapot and served with milk and sugar   Afternoon tea is  accompanied by luxury ingredient sandwiches   (customarily cucumber, egg and cress,  fish paste, ham, and smoked salmon), scones (with clotted cream and jam),  and usually cakes and pastries (such as Battenberg, fruit cake or Victoria sponge). In hotels and tea shops the food is often served on a tiered stand; there may be no sandwiches, but bread or scones with butter or margarine and optional jam or other spread, or toast, muffins or crumpets^]

Nowadays, a formal afternoon tea is usually taken as a treat in a hotel or tea shop.

Afternoon tea was served in the garden where possible; otherwise it was usually taken in a day room, library or salon where low tables (like a coffee table) were placed near sofas or chairs.

We had  an afternoon tea for our seniors today with a debate on “Times now and times than”.  We had a lot of fun.

We had Cream Cheese and Cucumber sandwich, egg Sandwich, spanakopita, scones. cream & Jam,  French pastry, Fruit cake and chocolate covered strawberries.