Friday, May 14, 2010

A Springtime Tea



To celebrate spring, I thought I would share a column I wrote in 2000 as a fictitious character from the late 1890s. In glancing back in time, my intent is to encourage us to pause and notice what we often miss in our hectic hurry-up world. So, without further adieu, here is "Abigail Bradshaw" writing to you through a time portal:

A Springtime Tea

"In all places, then, and in all seasons,
flowers expand their light and soul-like wings,
teaching us, by most persuasive reasons,
how akin they are to human things." (Longfellow)


Springtime Felicitations! In gathering up a bouquet of sunny yellow forsythia this morning, I was reminded of Longfellow's poem. After the long, cold winter months, flowers are a testament to life's renewal, bringing about a bit of renewal for those humans who stop to notice them! Arranging the flowers in a cut-glass vase for the parlor, I found myself suddenly bursting with the desire to fill my house with their fragrant glory and invite some friends to afternoon tea. After all the busyness of spring-cleaning consuming our lives lately, it should provide a lovely break for one and all.
 
To aid in the planning, I quickly retrieved my 1889 book, Queen of the Household, and leafed through the pages to the section on tea. Therein, Mrs. M.W. Ellsworth suggests, 

"The tea parties of our grandmothers' days, copied from the high teas of their English ancestors is a very old fashion, now very generally revived among some of our best people, by whom they are made very enjoyable occasions. 
"The table should be spread with a white cloth, fruit and flowers in stands, berries and peaches in their season in cut glass dishes, and all these supplemented with muffins, waffles or cream toast.

"In seating guests, . . .the places may be marked by cards, bearing the names of those who are to occupy them. The dainty, hand-painted cards, with appropriate designs and mottoes, add to the beauty of the table and set the conversation ball rolling, besides furnishing pretty souvenirs. A pretty custom has recently been introduced of colored teas."
  
With those words, I have decided I will have a "colored" tea, choosing yellow as my overall theme. The bright sunny mood of the forsythia will set the focus. Centered on white china luncheon plates, flower-folded crisp yellow linen napkins will continue the color theme. Water-color painted daffodils on the corners of place cards backed with paper lace will add to the cheery setting.     I believe I will instruct Martha, my housekeeper, to make up Egg-salad Tea Sandwiches, Sponge Cake with Lemon Filling, Maids of Honor Tarts and Pineapple Ices to serve, I may even have her try a new receipt I just discovered for rolled Nasturtium Sandwiches. Perhaps before I close this missive to begin penning my invitations, I will lay down the receipt for you  for your own Springtime Tea. With the added inspiration of all these shop listings from which to choose such beautiful items for your own tea -- including special items for dressing up in honor of the event -- your Springtime Tea is sure to be a success!







 

Nasturtium Sandwiches:
"Two dozen nasturtium blossoms
Four tablespoons mayonnaise

"Trim crusts from white bread. Spread the bread with mayonnaise and layer the nasturtium blossoms over the top. Roll up. Makes 6-8 tea sandwiches." (adapted from the book, The Hostess of Today, 1899)

Most Sincerely Yours,

Abigail Bradshaw 

(Used with permission -- Copyright, 2000-2010, Judi Brandow, all rights reserved.)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great blog Judi. Love the theme . Tea time and the tea
sandwiches are my favorites.

circleinthesand said...

Oh this sounds wonderful, Afternoon Tea!!! I'm ready, what time are we sitting down at your beautiful table???

Tinker Pixie said...

I am a HEAVY tea drinker :))
Great post, Judi! How do you find time for everything??
...and I found my little flower necklace here:))) Have to visit more often! Thank you!

Zuda Gay Pease said...

Lovely post, Abigail (Judi). I love tea too...and I love all the tea goodies as well. I've never ate a Nasturtium flower...I've heard they are rather peppery?

yankeegirl said...

Great post!! I love tea but I'm not too sure about the Nasturtium sandwich!!

Thanks so much for including my Daffys!

On a Whimsey said...

Super post - really enjoyed ready in and looking at the lovely selections!

Colours and Textures said...

Thank you for including me at your tea party. Such a lovely custom.
I have tasted nasturtium flowers in a salad and they were nicer than I expected and they would make a colourful filling for a sandwich.

Jill said...

What a great post. I love the point of view you used!! Thank you for including my wax melter.

Pam said...

A lovely post with lovely creations to go with your tea party theme! Very nice!

Pamela Baker said...

Oh how I wish I love 100 years ago - when everything was so elegant! Tea time was something quite special with their bone china tea cups and little "tea sandwiches" - I guess I learned a lot from my grandmother because tea was the staple for everything, and I have now passed that on to my kids!
Loved your blog :)