Tea Time

A daily affair in my family. (My relationship with caffeine began early.) Having tea with others has a strange power to improve everything slightly. I don't know why.

I'm not talking high tea here so teabags are standard, by the cup or several brewed in a pot. The best in my opinion are PG Tips and Twinings English Breakfast. Organic varieties from hipster companies in places like Portland and Boulder are fine, but I prefer the authentic brands.

 

For many Brits the word tea means dinner (or supper) but for my family tea time is right around 4PM and usually involves just the tea and some sweet baked items. Cookies, chocolate, even graham crackers. But when we're being very proper (which is almost never) we have scones, strawberry jam, and Devonshire cream. I like American scones as much as the next person but when I want to do it right I use this recipe for sultana scones from Saveur Magazine. They're more buttery, not as sweet as the US version, and are more like biscuits only better. The cream you can buy or make with whipped heavy cream plus either marscapone, cream cheese, or crème fraîche. Here is a blog post with links to a few recipes from someone who knows a lot more about it that I do.

Note: These are not my photographs - my spouse has our camera with him in China. I'm not that talented anyway.