Duncan's Blog

Most historians concur that it was Queen Catherine, the wife of Charles II who introduced tea as a social and family habit to the English in 1662 when she insisted that a formal tea be served every afternoon at three in the afternoon. It was Catherine's habit to invite several of the ladies of her court to such teas at which a variety of cakes and biscuits were served by servants. The women who attended were expected to dress as formally as if they were attending a state dinner. When tea first made its way to the middle and upper classes it was considered a beverage appropriate to serve as the culmination of an evening's entertainment. After dinner and whatever entertainment followed the meal, a tea tray was brought into the living room and all present would enjoy a cup of tea before departing for home or retiring to bed.

It was probably the Duchess of Bedford who established the afternoon tea hour as an English institution. In addition to moving the tea hour ahead to five in the afternoon, she also instituted the custom of serving sandwiches, petits-fours and canapes as accompaniments to the tea. The English have a great love for tradition and the five o'clock tea functions today in precise accordance with the rules established by the Duchess. "At informal teas, the hostess should pour and serve. If the tea is formal, however, the hostess should select two friends, each of whom will sit at opposite ends of the table and pour. The women selected should feel honored by this privilege".

Tea parties are no longer the exclusive privilege of women nor must they be held only at five p.m. Whether at two in the after- noon or at eight in the evening, there are few pleasures more satisfying or more civilized than meetings with friends at which tea and a variety of light foods and cakes are served. Although the dress code at tea parties varies widely, depending more on the social mores and status of one's hosts than on pragmatic factors, there are certain guidelines that can make any tea party a success.

If serving buffet style, the teapot or serving vessel should be placed close to the edge of the serving table so that pouring the tea can be done with a minimum of fuss. Next to the service area should be containers with sugar, milk and lemon wedges and along- side these, spoons should be set. Plates for sandwiches and cakes should be stacked, and a napkin should be placed on each plate. Cups should not be stacked, but each should be placed on its own saucer within easy reach of the edge of the table. At more formal teas, the host or hostess may pour. If there are a great many guests, it is still appropriate to ask good friends or honored visitors to aid in the pouring process.

The food served at teas should be easy to eat and require neither forks nor knives. Tea sandwiches, canapes and foods that may be picked up and eaten with toothpicks are ideal for tea parties as are cookies, petits fours and miniature pastries such as eclairs lairs and cream puffs. Instead of serving food on large platters, it is wise to use small or medium serving plates because they are easier to keep filled and looking neat. One thing to keep in mind, even though the Duchess of Bedford might not have approved, is that it is wise to have a pot of coffee available.

There can be many joys to hosting a tea hour. One may choose to decorate one's table in any style ranging from rustic to formal; guests may be asked to attend in casual, semi-formal or formal attire; and the variety of teas and foods that one offers give nearly unlimited opportunities for creativity.

One of the greatest pleasures of any tea party is in consuming the vast amount of "tea sandwiches" that are served. When making such sandwiches keep in mind that the bread should be sliced thinly and served without crusts. The sandwich should be large enough for only two bites and, even though many people serve sandwiches cut in the shape of stars, crescents and other odd shapes, it is far more elegant for sandwiches to be cut in thin rectangular, triangular, round or square shapes. As to the choice of bread, white bread, challah, light rye bread, Danish pumpernickel and dark Russian bread make the best tea sandwiches. As to fillings for sandwiches, the choices are virtually infinite. Consider some of the following:

White meat of chicken or turkey with mayonnaise or butter.
White meat of chicken with chutney butter.
Chopped chicken with chopped almonds
Chopped chicken with sweet pickles.
Baked ham with chutney on pumpernickel.
Chopped ham with English mustard, fresh horseradish and sweet cream.
Chopped ham with chopped black olives and grated cheese.
Thinly sliced tongue with French mustard and chopped chives.
Thin slices of roast beef with English mustard or horse- radish and sweet cream.
Thin slices of roast lamb with garlic butter.
Thin slices of roast veal with anchovy butter.
Sliced salami with herbed mayonnaise.
Finely chopped shrimp with seasoned mayonnaise.
Finely shredded crab meat with herbed or garlic butter.
Finely shredded crab meat mixed with chopped chives and mayonnaise
Smoked salmon and butter.
Smoked salon with horseradish.
Thinly sliced onion and cucumber.
Chopped green olives and mayonnaise.
Chopped green olives and nuts mixed with cream cheese.
Chopped green olives and chopped eggs with mayonnaise.
Thinly sliced avocado with garlic butter.
Cream cheese and chives with cucumber.
Watercress with butter or butter and mayonnaise.
High quality Roquefort, Bleu Cheese or Gruyere with butter
Thinly sliced cheddar cheese and cucumber.
Smoked salmon with cream cheese
Thinly sliced cucumbers and mushrooms with butter
Thinly sliced hard boiled smoked turkey eggs with butter or mayonnaise
Thinly sliced avocado with mustard flavored mayonnaise.
Roquefort cheese that has been blended with butter and cream cheese.
Anchovy fillets that have been chopped very finely and blended with cream cheese and chopped pickled onion
Red caviar (salmon eggs) mixed together with lemon juice and cream cheese
Anchovy filets with chopped hard boiled egg.
Chopped green olives and nuts blended with cream cheese.
Thin slices of fresh salmon and cucumber.
Finely chopped green pepper bound with mayonnaise
Cream cheese* blended with fresh horse-radish
Cream cheese* and chives with cucumber
Cream cheese* that has been blended with chopped chives, French mustard and black pepper
Cream cheese* that has been blended with Indian chutney and butter
Cream cheese* blended with chopped chives, French mustard, salt and pistachio nuts.


* Note: Cream cheese used in tea sandwiches should have a minimum fat content of 16%.

I brown bag lunch every day. I dread eating with others at the grazing table because everyone has a comment about the food, the presentation, the variety. It's always something stupid. If folks buy a ready-made salad, they get to eat in peace. But if I bring my own salad, greens, rice and fish it gets "Ooohs" and "Aaaahs."
I wash my fruit before I bag it and then wash it before I eat it. The tenant here was shocked. "You wash it twice? What's up with that?"
"You obviously haven't experienced the office refrigerator experience. Food gets shuffled around. Some folks poke their noses into your food (claiming that they THOUGHT it was theirs. Sometimes food even falls out of the bag and onto the floor. It gets picked up and put back."
"It does?"
"OF COURSE IT DOES. I'VE SEEN IT HAPPEN."
I also never understand how a cocktail refrigerator is supposed to hold food for eight or nine employees. What do people put in there? A PBJ sandwich and a can of Dr Pepper?
The other thing I still am baffled by is the thermal lunchbags. Why do people buy these things and then shove them into the fridge? The whole purpose of them is that they keep the contents warm or cold from within. They don't need to be kept in a fridge. Yet, there they are... staring me in the face.
Well that's my rant for the moment.

http://www.hubcapannie.net/

There's a store not too far from my college and home called Hub Cap Annie. If I were frivolous with my pennies, I'd probably keep her rolling in dough. One of the younger classmates I sat next to in a science class asked me what a hub cap was. OMG did I feel old.
Then I started thinking about a lot of the words in my own active vocabulary that are either unknown or that have simply fallen out of use.
I listen to records. They are now called vinyls (which no one listens to). I refuse to use the term because 78s are not vinyl. I don't think 45s are either.
Loose leaf is also pretty unknown. They call them binders. To me a binder is something you put on a person to stop that person from bleeding... or to keep a wound intact.
I have no idea what a stereo is called these days. Probably home entertainment system, but that might be obsolete too.
I say CD when the bank tells me that it's time to cash in or roll over.
The bank laughs at me when I pull out a ledger book each time I make a deposit into the savings account. It's the argument of "You don't issue passbooks" and they respond with "We give you a statement." I counter attack with "You also give me a checking account statement, but I still have to write it down."
Now technology uses color words such as blue tooth and black berry. I have neither. My cell phone weighs about 1/4 pound and doesn't take photographs. I also have an older phone that weighs even more... I use it as an alarm clock.
When someone asked me what I was doing over the summer, I said that I was trying to learn MORSE Code. "Why? No one sends SOS messages that way anymore."
And so it goes...

Before I start today's entry I came upon a strange thought (something new under the sun!). Folks might look at the number of views in my journal and say to themselves that this must really be some hot writing since it's got so many views. Let the word go forward that I look at the journal about 2-3 times a day. So, inadvertantly, I myself am unintentionally raising the view number counter.
The chickens are very low tech. The guy that I buy my supplies from isn't on the internet. Neither is the grain and milling company that bags the feed that the hens consume. I just drive to El Monte in the VW, drop the top, throw the bags in the back seat and putt-putt my way back home.
Some folks really think that if a company doesn't have a space on the world-wide-web that there must be something shady about the company. I shrug. These people don't even have answering machines. Wanna know their hours? Call up when someone's there and ask them!
The aviary has finally reached a point where the smell is somewhat bothersome. Ah the joys of living in a town that gets hot and dry during the summer. So I went outside with a broom and swept the dirt floor. And I went outside with a rake, and I raked the dirt floor. And I went outside and I watered the dirt floor. Next stop, I guess, will be to take some bottled bleach and spritz the woodthat holds everything up.
Back when this house was built in the pre-Depression 1920s era, there was really nothing here, but a few bungalows (i.e. shacks) with citrus trees and free-range hens. Nowadays, there are lots of feral cats, squirrels, 'possum, unleashed hounds and an occasional falcon. Most folks don't keep chickens here 'cause they claim they are dirty and too much bother. Like a feral cat that uses your lawn as its litter box is clean as the Board of Health!
Anyway, it's Sunday and I have the day off and both Friday the 13th and Bastille Day have come and gone without incident. A good day to relax and eat comfort food