What a lovely idea! I don’t think I had been to any since I was a very little girl and being half- British and living in India, people really came over for tea and biscuits. At our tea gatherings in India, the tea – I never consumed, ever, and the biscuits – I devoured, more than my fair share. In fact, I loved biscuits so much that I was nicknamed “Milk and Biscuits” by my friends and family. Biscuits, by the way, are not the kind that are covered in sticky, white concoctions. These biscuits were more like shortbread cookies – the kind that you could dip in your tea, or milk. My favorite thing to do was to dip my butter biscuits in my cup of hot milk, and hold it there for a precious few seconds, until, saturated, the biscuit breaks in half and falls in to the cup, only to be joined by several other half-soaked biscuits. Once my cup was full of these, I would mash them up into a paste, and happily slurp them up with a spoon. How terribly odd, I know, but I really loved them this way!
I am sure, that the hostess of the tea party I recently attended, would have been horrified had I attempted the same stunt at her house. Although, we did not have biscuits, we did have the most delicious finger foods, and a choice of a few herbal teas, and water. There was even an edible basket, that looked so great! We had a spread of mini lemon-poppy seed muffins, pie crust filled with sun-dried tomatoes, ricotta cheese and other yummy things and baked in a muffin pan, chicken salad sandwiches, mini lemon bars, etc. The food was delicious and the company was excellent. The children added that segment of cuteness, all dressed in yellow, at the request of the hostess.
We had a fun time and got to know each other, although I think it was mainly me, getting to know these other ladies who were amazing, to say the least and very friendly. A tea party is a grand idea and one that I would heartily support, should it come up any time in the future.
