As I write this post on August 7, 2022, the forthcoming week of August 8-14th marks National Afternoon Tea Week in the UK. This is a week set aside to celebrate the wonderful leisurely genteel activity of afternoon tea. As those of you who are regular followers of my food blog know, afternoon tea is a passion of mine and I never pass up an opportunity to indulge in the menu of savory bites, toothsome scones with jam and clotted or English double cream, and an array of tantalizing desserts. Continue reading National Afternoon Tea Week→
Teatime Server filled with tea sandwiches, scones, and sweets
One of my favorite meals to prepare (and enjoy) is afternoon tea. There are so many options for the menu and tea table setting. Today, I am sharing photos from an early summer afternoon tea where I featured Aynsley’s Garden Gate teaware on my tea table.
Delicate Lily of the Valley on the Tea Table
My sweet little Lily of the Valley made an appearance as the main bouquet on the tea table as well as miniature versions in tiny vases at each place setting.
Dainty Lily of the Valley in Miniature Vases Mark Each Place Setting
I don’t have recipes published for all of the foods presented on this tea table but, for those that are published, I will provide hotlinks to the recipes.
Table Set for Teatime
But, first, I am introducing a vintage tea set (circa 1930s) – the Garden Gate pattern from Aynsley. There weren’t many pieces available at time of purchase but, as soon as I saw my beloved lupins on the teaset, I knew I had to have whatever pieces were available! Lupins grow wild in various colors along Prince Edward Island roadsides in June and their colorful presence is highly anticipated each year.
Colorful Lupins in PEI
The blue and gold-edged tea plates feature a border of sprays of colorful flowers (including purple and pink lupins) and garden gates.
Aynsley “Garden Gate” pattern Tea Plate
The matching cream and sugar are quite large but display the pattern very well.
Open Sugar Bowl in Aynsley’s “Garden Gate” patternAynsley creamer in Garden Gate Pattern
There were no cups and saucers available with these pieces though I know they do exist. I’ll keep an eye out for them in my travels so they can be added to my teaset. Part of the charm of being a teacup and teaware collector is the thrill of a find where and when you least expect it and that will complete a cherished set.
When I am setting a tea table, I don’t worry about having all the teaware match unless it is for a formal event. I find mixed pieces, so long as they somewhat match, lend a more curated and interesting look to the table. So, in this tea setting, I mixed and matched some suitable teacups in with the plates.
Most of my teacup collection is floral in some way. I am not particularly drawn to teacups with scenes on them; however, I came across a pair of these Royal Vale cups and saucers (pattern no. 7382) that feature a thatched English cottage set amidst a garden. Apart from the lovely reminder they gave me of past visits to the Cotswolds, I immediately knew they would complement the Garden Gate tea set and I believe they do.
Royal Vale Cup and Saucer Featuring English cottage and garden
For the teapot to hold our King Cole Orange Pekoe tea we enjoyed with the afternoon tea, I chose the Royal Denby (pattern no. 301202) teapot with a larkspur spray. The floral motif, along with the pastel colored teapot with an ivory background and yellow and green trim, blended in well with the floral theme of the tea.
Royal Denby Teapot with Larkspur Pattern
I used a three-tier server for the food but it is not a traditional three-tier server of plates. Rather, it is fold-up server which makes it compact for storage when not in use. This stand is lower in height than a traditional three-plate stand so makes it easy for teatime companions to see each other across the table. I think it presents the three courses of tea fare quite attractively.
Teatime Fare
So, now the menu for our three-course traditional afternoon tea. A traditional afternoon tea will have three courses – a sandwich (or savory) course, scones course, and a sweets course and the items are eaten in that order. Starting, of course, with the sandwich course, I chose two kinds of sandwiches – cucumber with an avocado spread and alfalfa sprouts presented on both white and whole wheat breads and dainty pinwheel sandwiches filled with my ham salad filling (recipe here).
Teatime sandwiches, of course, are always crustless and of a two-to-three bite size.
Dainty Teatime Sandwiches
Two kinds of scones – plain and currant and orange (recipe here) – were served for the scones course.
Scones for Teatime
The scones were served with rhubarb curd (recipe here), strawberry jam, and naturally, clotted cream.
The sweets course included parfaits made with coconut Greek yogurt and rhubarb curd, Custard Sandwich Cookies (recipe here) sandwiched together with buttercream icing, and sweet little madeleines that are a traditional teatime cake.
Teatime Sweets
Colorful artisan chocolates from Jane & Sue Chocolate in Stanley Bridge, PEI, were a tasty finale to our afternoon tea.
Connect with My Island Bistro Kitchen on Social Media
Follow “the Bistro” on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.ca/peibistro/ and pin the Pinterest-ready photo at the end of this posting to your favorite Pinterest boards!
Lupin Patterned Cup and Saucer by Windsor Bone China
June is one of my favorite months of the year. Prince Edward Island is so incredibly colorful with verdant green fields and the tilled red soil freshly planted with crops at this time of year. Against this backdrop are the many wildflowers that bloom in June and none are more prolific or more beautiful, in my opinion, than the tall, elegant, colorful lupins. These stunning wildflowers are the inspiration for today’s Teatime in the Lupins. Continue reading Teatime in the Lupins→
The sweet little Lily of the Valley, with its dainty bell-shaped flowers, has long been a favorite flower of mine. Many, many years ago, a very dear friend of mine had a cottage on the shores of Rosebank (now Stratford), PEI. Every spring, I’d make the trek to the cottage to pick a couple of bouquets of these fragrant flowers and there would be a posy on the dining room table and another on my desk at work. I was thrilled when the offer came for me to dig up a clump of the Lily of the Valley roots from the prolific crop by the cottage front step. I transplanted them at our family home. A cottage and two house builds later and transplants of the lilies have occurred at each property, all derived from the same clump of lilies that came from the Rosebank cottage. When I see the lilies bloom each spring, particularly by the cottage front step, I am reminded of sweet memories of another cottage long ago and its owner who is no longer with us. Continue reading Lily of the Valley Afternoon Tea→
Where or where does summer go and why does it pass so quickly? On this Labour Day Monday, I thought I should have one more summer outside afternoon tea before the weather turns here on PEI to much cooler temperatures and I start to think of fall menus as opposed to summer foods. Funny when the calendar changes to the months that end in “ber” (aka “brrrrrrrrr”), we stop thinking so much of the pretty, soft summer colors and more of deep hues of golds, oranges, rusts, greens, purples, and so forth.
For this afternoon tea, I decided it would be a dessert tea that would feature hydrangea cupcakes and monogrammed cookies.
The inspiration for this delicate tea came from the hydrangea bush we have at the backdoor.
Pink was the primary color scheme…. Flowers for a tea table do not always have to be in a vase. Rose petals can be scattered on the table itself and a single tea rose can be placed at each place setting. The guests then get to each take their rose home with them as a souvenir of their afternoon tea event.
I selected a couple of my favorite teacups and saucers. The first is quite plain in shape but it is a lovely, decorative teacup.
The second teacup is a much more stately and elegant shape.
The napkin fold I am using today is the rose. It is a simple design, easy to fold, and is well suited to being placed inside a teacup. It is particularly convenient if the tea table is small and there are a number of items to be placed on it. In those situations, sometimes there is insufficient room to display the napkin properly so the rose napkin fold inside the teacup takes care of that.
I don’t always try to have matching dishes on the tea table. Sometimes, it is much more interesting with eclectic pieces. So long as they all blend and compliment each other in color, it works.
Sparkling pink lemonade is always a refreshing drink on a warm summer’s day. It’s even more fun when the ice cubes sport edible flowers!
Monogrammed cookies are always fun, particularly if you inscribe guests’ initials on them as I have done in the photo above.
Cupcakes make tasty little cake treats. My hydrangea cupcakes are vanilla flavour and are iced in hydrangea design in shades of pink and mauve.
I hope you have enjoyed coming along on my afternoon dessert tea today. I will be joining Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for her Tea Time Tuesday this week. See you there.
Thank you for visiting “the Bistro” today. There are lots of ways to connect with “the Bistro” through social media:
Join My Island Bistro Kitchen on Facebook Follow the Bistro’s tweets on twitter @PEIBistro Find the Bistro on Pinterest at “Island Bistro Kitchen” Follow along on Instagram at “peibistro”
Today, I am joining Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage who is hosting an Anne of Green Gables-themed afternoon tea. Many of you will, undoubtedly, associate both Anne and Lucy Maud Montgomery, the famed Island authoress of the “Anne” series of books, with Prince Edward Island. As many of you will already know, Lucy Maud was an Islander and she set her fictional story about the little orphan, Anne, on PEI.
To the extent possible, I have tried to include elements in the tea that Anne and her bosom friend, Diana, would have had at the afternoon tea that Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote about in chapter XVI in the “Anne of Green Gables” book: Raspberry cordial, cherry preserves, fruit cake, cookies, snaps, and tea.
I visited the Anne of Green Gables store in downtown Charlottetown this morning and picked up some raspberry cordial for the tea.
The other featured Island-made product at my tea today is the “Very Berry Cherry” jam produced by the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company in New Glasgow, PEI.
While biscuits weren’t mentioned as part of the menu for the tea in the “Anne” story, I’d be surprised if they were not standard fare at an afternoon tea of that era, particularly when preserves were included. Homemade biscuits are still a very common staple today in many Island households, mine included. Therefore, I have chosen to serve my homemade biscuits with the cherry jam.
I always tuck away a piece of my Christmas fruit cake in the freezer. It is such a treat in late summer or early fall. It made its way on to the tea table today along with some freshly made gingersnaps and melting moments, all of which would have been quite common tea fare back in the early 1900s when L.M. Montgomery was penning the “Anne” books. As I went through some of my ancestors’ hand-written recipe books, these were indeed items they had recipes for in their collections.
And, of course, the guest of honour would have to be Anne, herself! My mother gave me this collector’s doll for Christmas several years ago.
Anne looks like she might be eyeing those biscuits….perhaps it is time to eat.
This afternoon’s tea is Orange Pekoe and it is being served from my pretty pink and yellow rose Sadler teapot.
I am not sure Marilla would have trusted Anne and Diana with these delicate teacups but these were my choices from my teacup collection for today’s event. The one below is Royal Albert Sunnyside Series and is called “Petula”. I love the exquisite and elegant shape of the cup.
The beautiful cup and saucer below is also Royal Albert, Reverie Series.
Warm biscuits, not too many minutes out of the oven, are always so tasty!
And, with fresh creamery butter and a good slather of cherry jam, they melt in the mouth!
It’s hard to stop at just one homemade biscuit and jam!
Some fresh cherries before checking out the sweet tray.
Now, which will I try first? The fruitcake? A ginger snap? A melting moment?
Also on the tea table this afternoon is a Third Impression August 1908 version of the “Anne of Green Gables” book. A great conversation piece.
I hope you have enjoyed coming along on my Anne-themed afternoon tea.
Thank you for visiting “the Bistro” today. There are lots of ways to connect with “the Bistro” through social media:
Join My Island Bistro Kitchen on Facebook Follow the Bistro’s tweets on twitter @PEIBistro Find the Bistro on Pinterest at “Island Bistro Kitchen” Follow along on Instagram at “peibistro”
On this beautiful warm, sunny Prince Edward Island day, I am sharing a simple tablescape for teatime with you. I have a three-piece setting of a very old blue tea set. It has no markings on it to tell me anything about what kind of china/porcelain it is or where it was made. If any of you recognize the pattern/manufacturer, please do let me know. It is very delicate and a cherished set to own.
I love both the daintily-designed teacups and their shape. I imagine some Victorian ladies enjoying their afternoon tea with this tea set.
My choice of teapot for today’s tea setting is one that has tiny flowers of several different colors. It is my go-to teapot for tea settings when I don’t have a teapot in the specific color of the dishes I am using. It is a versatile teapot because it is of no particular predominant color.
We have a wonderful blue hydrangea bush that blooms prolifically at the back door of the cottage so I thought two or three of the magnificent blue blooms would make a lovely centerpiece that would compliment the tea set.
The hydrangea are actually in a small square vase even though they look like they are just lying on the table!
I felt the tea set was elegant enough on its own that it really needed no further adornment on the table other than the blue hydrangea centerpiece.
I am belatedly joining Sandi’s Teatime Tuesday event at Rose Chintz Cottage this week.
Thank you for visiting “the Bistro” today. There are lots of ways to connect with “the Bistro” through social media:
Join My Island Bistro Kitchen on Facebook Follow the Bistro’s tweets on twitter @PEIBistro Find the Bistro on Pinterest at “Island Bistro Kitchen” Follow along on Instagram at “peibistro”
I love afternoon tea any time of the year. However, I especially like a good cup of tea, dainty sandwiches, and of course, a sweet or two, outside on a warm and calm day in the summer. Here on PEI, where we are surrounded by water, it is hard to find a day where there is not a breeze blowing. However, last Saturday was such a day when the temperatures were soaring slightly past the 30C mark with hardly a breeze! It was a good day for a summer tea under the shade of some big old trees.
My inspiration for my teascapes comes from many sources, often from the season of the year, flowers in bloom, or a particular food item that I envision on a tea table. My Old Country Rose Tea was inspired by an old rose tree we planted at the back door of the cottage 20 years ago. It blooms profusely and every year we think it may just break apart or stop blooming but each year, it produces a bountiful profusion of beautiful deep rose-colored roses. These roses are the kind that the blooms only last a day or two. Our Atlantic winters are not kind and, being so close to the Northumberland Strait, salt spray is also an element our trees, shrubs, and bushes must contend with. So, today’s teascape began with a small bouquet of roses from outside the back door.
I looked through my collection of teapots to find one that would be suitable and selected this Sadler that seems very summery.
The teacups I chose featured roses as well.
Why does tea always seem to taste better in a china cup and saucer?
Teacups are too pretty not to be used. I look for ways and opportunities to use and enjoy them rather than storing them away.
Because it was so hot, I chose to serve cool and refreshing cucumber sandwiches.
I love to decorate food with flowers….just make sure they are the edible kind!
Add cubes of melon, cheese, and some grapes.
This year, I made several bottles of Rhubarb Cordial so served some of this refreshing drink as well as Assam tea.
Naturally, there had to be something for the sweet tooth. I made another batch of my Lemon Spritz Shortbread Cookies (my April 2013 “Cookie of the Month”) because they remind me so much of summer and are so light tasting.
And, for the finale, vanilla cupcakes iced in rich buttercream icing.
Cupcakes are a simple and more informal way to serve cake at an event.
And, when it was all assembled, this is what the tiered tea tray looked like.
And, here is an overview of the tea table.
I hope you have enjoyed a glimpse into my early summer tea.
Thank you for visiting “the Bistro” today. There are lots of ways to connect with “the Bistro” through social media:
Join My Island Bistro Kitchen on Facebook Follow the Bistro’s tweets on twitter @PEIBistro Find the Bistro on Pinterest at “Island Bistro Kitchen” Follow along on Instagram at “peibistro”
The days are starting to get a bit shorter and, here on the Island, we have a saying that when Old Home Week (the Provincial Exhibition) is over the middle of August, so is Summer! That’s when the daytime temperatures and humidity have historically dropped. Well, Old Home Week ended last weekend and we have kept our warmer temperatures (25-27C) all week with the exception of today when the high was 21-22C and there was a noticeable drop in humidity levels. However, I have been reluctant to let go of Summer so took advantage of this week’s warm sunshine to have afternoon tea on the verandah.
Afternoon Tea on the Verandah
As you can see, I chose a yellow theme for my afternoon tea, opting to use some of the new cups and saucers I have added to my collection over the Summer.
My Favorite Yellow Rose Teacup
Yellow always makes me think of summer and lemonade! I love the bright yellow glads from the garden and I think they made a fine addition to my tea table!!!
Lemonade
Afternoon tea in the soft summer breeze is a great way to have a light meal, particularly in the heat of the summer.
Sandwiches for a Summer Afternoon Tea
And, of course, for Summer sandwiches, there is nothing more refreshing than cool cucumber tea sandwiches along with some garden-fresh tomato sandwiches to accompany them. And, what would an afternoon tea be without the quintessential egg salad sandwiches! Here I chose to put a dollop of egg salad atop a toasted bread cube and garnish it with fresh parsley from the cottage herb garden. I love to step outside the door and be able to pick fresh herbs for anything I am cooking…fresh, as we all know, is always best! I like to add different shapes and textures to my sandwich tray!
Tea Sandwiches
Tea-time Delectables
Some tasty sweets are always a necessity on any tea table!
The Tea-time Menu!
A pot of freshly brewed tea, some savory sandwiches, tasty sweet treats, comfy wicker chairs, and warm sunshine make a combination that is hard to beat for a Summer afternoon tea on the verandah.
Tea Table
Tea with Lemon
Thanks for visiting my blog today and be sure to drop back soon as I have been working on some upcoming feature stories that will be posted over the next short while. Enjoy your day!
There is nothing quite like the scent of newly picked strawberries straight from the field! It’s a hallmark of Summer, particularly in climates with short growing seasons such as that on PEI. Some years, we are lucky to get a couple of weeks out of the “strawberry season” but, this year, weather conditions have permitted it to be extended to about a month.
Fresh From the Field PEI Strawberries
I remember when I was growing up, the early morning take-offs to the nearby U-pick berry field so we would be in the line-up for its 6:00am opening for fear of not being in time to get the best “pickings” of berries. Out would come the big, huge plastic bowls, hats, and bug spray and off to the field we’d go to get berries for eating, for jamming and, of course, “to put away” which meant crushing and freezing them for uses throughout the year. There was no such thing as imported strawberries in the Winter from other countries as there is today….although I’ll argue those don’t have the flavour our local ones do! Indeed, there would always be the “reviews” as to the quality of the berries – “they were so large, they had no flavour”, “they were so small, they were “poor” this year and not worth picking”, or “they had too hard a core in the center” – and, of course, the weather was never quite right for their growing no matter the conditions! It seemed there was no “perfect” berry! Yet, people picked pounds and pounds and buckets of them every year. Going to the berry field was somewhat of a social event because that’s where everybody in nearby communities congregated in early July to get those berries!
I don’t freeze a lot of berries and take up freezer space with them but I do purée some for specific recipes I know I am likely to make throughout the year. I freeze them in recipe-specific proportions and label them with the recipe name. I like to make strawberry jam – sometimes I think more for the wonderful scent in the kitchen when it is cooking than for the need to have several bottles of jam available – although that’s a nice side benefit! When I make my jams, I use smaller bottles – i.e., the 1-cup and ½-cup sizes. These are ideal sizes for sharing and gift-giving and, let’s face it, who minds getting a treat of homemade jam. Even if you make your own, isn’t it always nice to taste another cook’s jam?
I like strawberry jam on toast, scones, as a dollop on warm custard and, yes, even in my dark fruitcake that I make in the Fall. But, one of the most marvelous ways to enjoy strawberry jam is on fresh homemade biscuits still warm from the oven. For some reason, the flavour of strawberry jam always seems more true when the jam is served on a plain tea biscuit along with a nice cup of freshly brewed tea. Perhaps this is why, of all the varieties of jams available, strawberry is typically the quintessential variety found on traditional afternoon tea tables.
Strawberry Jam Ingredients
The recipe I used to make strawberry jam this year comes from Anna Olson of the food network. This recipe does not make a large batch of jam – it yields approximately 6 cups. It is a fairly sweet jam and I think the amount of sugar could be reduced by ½ cup to 3½ cups (instead of 4 cups the recipe calls for). However, degree of jam sweetness is one of personal preference and much depends on the variety of strawberries being used and how much natural sugar the berries already contain. This is not a super-thick jam and it does not use pectin. I found I had to boil it longer than the recipe directions said. In fact, I boiled it near an hour to get it thick enough for my liking. The flavour is really good and authentic. One thing I do is use a potato masher to crush up some, but not all, of the berries because I like some chunks of berries in my jam but not so many that it makes it difficult to spread.
Preparing Ingredients for Strawberry Jam
Making Strawberry Jam
Bottles of PEI Strawberry Jam
One of my favourite pastimes is to relax and enjoy an afternoon tea. No better way than with a cuppa, fresh tea biscuits, and newly made strawberry jam. It’s a great way to enjoy the fruits of jam-making labour!
Fresh Strawberry Jam on Tea Biscuits
Thank you for visiting “the Bistro” today. There are lots of ways to connect with “the Bistro” through social media:
Join My Island Bistro Kitchen on Facebook Follow the Bistro’s tweets on twitter @PEIBistro Find the Bistro on Pinterest at “Island Bistro Kitchen” Follow along on Instagram at “peibistro”
Happy Canada Day! This is the day we celebrate the birth of our great nation. There are so many ways to celebrate Canada Day from picnics to barbeques to afternoon teas.
Canada Day Cupcakes
Here are some photographs from our red and white Canada Day Tea on the front verandah on this beautiful, sunny 26C day in Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province and the birthplace of the Canadian Confederation.
Canada Day Tea
On the menu were tomato and cucumber tea sandwiches, watermelon cut in the shape of the maple leaf, Canada Day cupcakes, rhubarb-almond tart, and tea, of course!
The Maple Leaf – A Symbol of Canada
Keeping the red and white theme going!
Everything Red and White for Canada Day!
Canada Day Tea on the Verandah
Canadian Flags
Happy Canada Day!
Thanks for visiting my site today. Enjoy your day!
There are lots of ways to connect with “the Bistro” through social media:
Join My Island Bistro Kitchen on Facebook Follow the Bistro’s tweets on twitter @PEIBistro Find the Bistro on Pinterest at “Island Bistro Kitchen” Follow along on Instagram at “peibistro”
We have always had this old lilac tree in the front yard of the home in which I grew up. Some years, only one side of the tree will have blooms but this year, it is pretty well covered in beautiful mauve lilacs. It was always a sign of Summer when the fragrant lilacs began to bloom and a big yellow monarch butterfly paid a visit. I love lilacs. In fact, they are one of my favorite flowers – I love their color (purple and mauve are my favorite colors) , their shape and flow, the delicate small petals, and yes, even the strong scent of them. They are not, however, generally well accepted as an indoor flower by anyone who is superstitious, probably because of the flower’s association with death or broken engagements.
Afternoon Tea by the Lilac Tree
But there is certainly nothing wrong with enjoying lilacs in the great outdoors. And, there is no better way than to sit amidst the color and fragrance enjoying a tranquil and relaxing afternoon tea beside the lilacs. No monarch butterfly visited on this sunny afternoon but several birds, including a hummingbird, hovered around and some of them twittered and tweeted. They probably wondered why the humans were invading their private habitat that they were not accustomed to sharing!
Tea Time by the Lilac Tree
Today, I visited a local garden center and purchased two French lilac trees. They are very small but, hopefully, in time, they will grow and provide wonderful blooms and fragrance in the backyard of my own home. It will be a long time before they reach the size of our big old family lilac tree but maybe at some point in the future they, too, could form a backdrop for a lovely early summer afternoon tea.
Tea Time Treats by the Lilac Tree
(Mostly) PEI and Maritime Food – Good Food for a Good Life!
