Tag Archive | tea

Cucumber Sandwiches

Cucumber Sandwiches

Vickie’s Cucumber Sandwiches

What’s high tea if you don’t have some traditional English treats. I’ve always been fascinated with Queen Victoria, not sure why, just one of those very odd interests people sometimes have in life.

In 1840 the originator of afternoon tea, Anna Maria Stanhope, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. She created Afternoon tea to ease the grumbling tummies of polite society in the mid-afternoon. With lunch at noon and dinner at 8pm, mid-afternoon was a perfect time for a mid-day tea with light sandwiches.

One of the most common or traditional tea time sandwiches has always been the cucumber sandwich. Because these are designed to be small, they’re created more for flavor than nutrition.

This is my recipe, it’s plain and simple and nothing like the long involved preparation of a traditional cucumber sandwich. So if you’re looking for a traditional cucumber sandwich, this is not it.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes Continue reading

Garrett’s Tea Scones

Garrett’s English Tea Scones

Garrett’s English Tea Scones

Anne, Duchess of Bedford, was one of Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting in the late 1830’s and early 1840’s. It’s Anne who is credited for “inventing” Afternoon Tea.

It was during these early days of Queen Victoria’s reign, that the time between lunch and dinner was widening. Anne began asking for tea and small cakes to be brought to her private quarters in mid-afternoon to stave off her hunger between meals.

It wasn’t long before she began inviting other ladies to her private tea in the hopes of learning the latest gossip, which of course she would share with the Queen. And the afternoon Tea with treats became a mainstay of English society.

The baker in our house is Garrett, who has a talent for breads. And his tea scones are no exception. They’re great with dinner, especially on the side of a bowl of Vickie’s Beast Stew.

Preparation Time: 30 min
Makes approx 16 scones  Continue reading