14 January 2009

Afternoon tea

This is your absolute favourite of all teas, I think. We went for afternoon tea at the Vermont for my birthday in November, and then made our own version on Christmas Eve. We got out all the old china (my Nanna's cake stand, my Grandma's tea set, and Grandma's special cake-cutting knife), and sat in the dining room with the Christmas tree sparkling in the corner.

It's traditional to have sandwiches, a selection of cakes/biscuits/pastries, and a nice pot of tea or hot chocolate.

For the sandwiches, you'll need some homemade bread sliced thinly (or some really nice bread - not just sliced white!). Good fillings include ham (or ham and cream cheese), thinly sliced cucumber, marmite and Shipham's crab paste (surprisingly good, and 70% crab!).

We also had a cake stand full of Christmas cake, some mini stollen and several lebkuchen. I darkly suspect if it wasn't Christmas, we'd have gone for Battenberg (your Dad's favourite, along with lemon drizzle), jam tarts (your favourite), or carrot cake (mine).

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