Afternoon tea

I thought I would invite you to tea again. Four O'clock and everything stops for afternoon tea here in our household when we are at home. Today we have home made Melting Moments with Vanilla Butter Cream. Yes they are full of calories but worth it. We don't eat cake every day though, as much as I would enjoy doing so, we keep that as a treat for the weekend. Other days it is tea and biscuits. For our overseas bloggers, tea has always been a ritual here in England. In these modern times there have been changes. People drink 'on the go' and some have dropped their traditional tea for herb teas, fruit teas, coffee, carob etc. As for me, I love my afternoon cup of real tea made from loose leaves. The pot must be heated first before making the tea and the water must be boiling. There are those who think this is all too fussy but not so, the water must be boiling when it touches the leaves for it to brew properly. This is so that the oxygen is active in the water.

Another thing I enjoy 'teawise' is visiting tea rooms when out for the day or away from home. There is nothing so English as sitting chatting in a tearoom, drinking tea and eating scones (sweet biscuits for the USA folk) spread with strawberry jam and thick fresh cream. Many tea rooms these days sell pottery and craft to add to the experience. Even better when there is a house cat keeping watch over the whole experience.

I do hope you enjoyed your tea and that you will come again. Have a great weekend.