Awhile back, I had a restaurant voucher for a place that offers high teas on Sunday afternoons. I decided that sounded more fun than just going for lunch, so I invited some friends from work to go with me and see what it was all about. I am sure that as a child I had plenty of "tea parties" and as an adult I have enjoyed many a delightful cup of tea with friends, but I had never experienced a proper high tea (unless you count Japanese tea ceremonies, but that's a whole different story for another day). We dressed up in our sun dresses and prepared ourselves for an afternoon of good tea, good food and good company.
We found the bottomless pots of tea to be delightful as we got to try several options. The food was also lovely. It followed (what we learned to be) a traditional high tea menu of the following on a three-tier serving platter: bottom tier was savoury items such as ham and cucumber sandwiches, mini quiches and samosas; the middle tier had fluffy scones with jam and butter; the top tier offered sweets such as lemon squares and brownies.
We decided we were full converts to the idea of such a tea party and thought we would enjoy scheduling one every month or two. Since we fancied ourselves to be clever, we decided to take turns hosting in place of going out to restaurants or cafes. We have enjoyed three "high teas" since, and in our humble opinions are excelling at them!
We have taken turns providing the tea (which has occasionally been hot chocolate and/or hot apple cider), and we split the menu between sweet and savoury so we keep a good mix. We have, however, deviated a bit from what is probably the traditional menu, particularly with the lack of scones. But we have had a delightfully varied menu each time and are finding that with the exception of some requested favorites, we are trying new recipes every time which is quite a lot of fun for all of us. We have acquired some two-tier serving plates,which works well since we are not having scones as part of the menu :) Some favorites have been: back-wrapped maple glazed mini sausages, spinach and stuffing bites, chocolate bliss balls, jalapeno popper dip, and (a Kiwi classic), cheese roll-ups.
Our semi-regular gatherings are sadly on hold at the moment due to COVID-19, but that does mean we have lots of time to plan our recipes for next time!
