The Emilie Loring Collection

You are cordially invited to enjoy an Emilie-Loring-inspired, garden tea on Thursday, July 6, 2017 at 4:00 p.m., your local time.

Enjoy your tea in any “garden” that you like. If you have an Emilie garden, we especially want to see it! Or maybe you’ll set your tea table with garden-inspired linens or fresh-cut bouquets.

Please take photos to share. This is not a contest; we will simply have more fun seeing how everyone makes it happen.

If you have tea service and can produce an assortment of cakes, sandwiches, and scones, that’s lovely. If you are like me in A Mouse in My Tea, you can manage happily with a saucepan, tea bags, and packaged goodies. Read Find Your Fortune in a Pleasant Cup of Tea for more ideas. The point is to enjoy Emilie’s inspiration and share it with us!

I will open a blog post that morning and update it throughout that day and the next with your photos (send to me at contact@pattibender.com). You can use the comment section to tell us about your event. If you can’t have a real tea that day, enjoy a virtual tea here and share your favorite garden and tea quotations from Emilie’s books.

asters

My childhood image of afternoon tea

Canterbury bells

It’s going to be fun! Mark your calendars now!

July 6, 2017  4:00 p.m. (your time zone)

“I’m looking for tea balls. I have them. Fill the kettle with water while I set up this for Operations Tea Party.” She snapped down the legs of a card table… She spread a cloth gay with printed nasturtiums, placed cups and saucers, silver teaspoons, sugar, crackers, jam and cookies… “ Beckoning Trails

Plan your menu:

Afternoon tea often starts with savory canapés, proceeds to scones, and then to sweets. Here are some of Emilie Loring’s recipes from For the Comfort of the Family.

Canapés:

A canapé “which has a decided tang when served with afternoon tea, is made of bread cut in diamond shape and spread with butter with which has been creamed an equal amount of fresh cheese grated. The canapé has a border of pimiento which has been chopped fine and mixed with mayonnaise; in the center gleams a tiny scarlet star of the pimiento.”

“A canapé of a more subtle quality is made by creaming anchovy paste with butter–anchovy paste is one of the most popular and respected occupants of the emergency cupboard–spreading a crisp round of toast with the mixture, this is covered with mayonnaise with which has been mixed enough tomato catchup to color it a delicate pink; it is then garnished with hard-boiled egg and a half of an olive is placed in the center.”

Scones:

Make Emilie’s scones (recipe here), and fill them with strawberry, apricot, or black currant jam.

Sweets:

Guava jelly “sprinkled with chopped nuts and served between thin crackers, makes a delicious adjunct to afternoon tea.”

Flourless Date Cakes:

“Whites of four eggs beaten stiff; one cup of powdered sugar; one cup of dates cut in pieces; one cup of pecan or walnut meats; one-quarter teaspoon of cream of tartar. Bake in moderate oven.”

I want to try these toasted marshmallow crackers. They sound horrendously sweet, but maybe pretty:

“Among emergency provisions for afternoon tea are boxes of chocolate-covered crackers, saltines and marshmallows. Place marshmallows on buttered saltines and brown in the oven until the marshmallow is melted but not shapeless. A bit of butter should be placed on top of the confection before it is browned; this leaves an indentation into which may be dropped half a pecan, a candied cherry, or a bit of currant jelly.”

Isn’t it nice to know that afternoon tea can be as simple as toast?

“After all there is nothing more delicious to serve with a cup of tea than cinnamon toast, and its simplicity is an added recommendation.”

“I was brought up in a family which had to have its afternoon tea though the heavens fell.” There Is Always Love

Here are tea-brewing tips from London’s Fortnum & Mason:

1. Warm the teapot by rinsing it with hot-to-boiling water.
2. Add one teaspoon tea (or one teabag) per person plus one for the pot. If you are brewing in a single cup, use just one bag.
3. For black tea, boil the water. For green or white tea, heat to just under a boil. Steep several minutes to taste.
4. If you will not drink the tea at once, strain out the tea leaves to prevent bitterness.
5. The stronger the tea, the better it tastes with milk.
6. “The hotter the day, the hotter the tea should be for refreshment.” I Hear Adventure Calling

Have fun with your gardens, your tea preparations, and your Emilie Loring books. I can’t wait to see your photos and hear all about our afternoon tea together.