What I Love about Afternoon Tea

It's happening.  Slowly and via very small steps, our country is finally opening up.

The first rainy days of April promised the deep green grass that graces my yard now.  Bulbs are stirring, and the first flowers of the season are now appearing.

Spring has sprung, and it's definitely time to open the windows and let some fresh air in.  We've all been starved for fresh air and long, deep breaths, and it's finally time to fill our lungs.

It's time to stir, to shake off a dismal year, and take a brave peek outside.  It's time to nurture the life growing in our gardens, and within our souls.  Time to get a little bit of sunshine before it becomes too hot to sit outside for long.

It's time to beautify our backyards and get ready, finally, for some entertaining.  It's time to surround ourselves with some natural beauty after a year marked by much too little of it.

Time to set a pot of tea out on the patio, invite a neighbor, friend or shut-in over for tea, and have a nice long conversation while watching for butterflies.  It's time for some heart-to-heart talks over a cup of warm comfort, tiny sandwiches, and sweets to soothe the soul.

What I love about Afternoon Tea is that it brings back gentleness and civility into our lives.  It allows us to feel like human beings again, to socialize in a small, quiet way.

It lets us commune with others in a private and intimate manner.  It allows us to honor each other, to make someone feel special, heard and acknowledged.

Afternoon Tea brings out the very best in us, it brings out our good qualities into the light of day, and perhaps allows us to see the spark of divinity in ourselves and others.

More than ever, this spring is a very good time to invite someone to Afternoon Tea.

.........................................................

Enjoy previous seasonal blog posts:

The Buzz About Bees Bees are precious, industrious and endangered.  We can do our part to make sure we don't lose these amazing little creatures.	Oh, Honey! Celebrate National Honey Month by tasting a new honey, making infused honey, or sprinkling powdered honey on your favorite treat.
Slick Stuff Using the right oil for your health.	Peas in a Pod It's not easy loving peas!
One-of-a-Kind Design Create your own fabric, gift wrap and wallpaper to take custom designs to a whole new level.	Quality Matters When you have a choice, do you choose quality?
Isn't it Romantic? Elevating a moment spent with someone else to make it truly special.	Scones for Spring An absolute must for a spring brunch or tea party!
Hello Spring!  Hello Cookies! Our latest cookbook is out!  A book full of Afternoon Tea's cookie and bar recipes!	My Favorite Mugs A menagerie of mugs ... one of life's simple pleasures.
Passover Goodies Thinking about those special treats we used to make for Passover.	Starting Off with a Bang! Bust yourself free from 2020! States are opening up, it's time to make plans!
Never Forgotten Remembering those who gave everything so that we can live.	Happy Easter! A bevy of lovely and playful Easter Cakes to welcome in spring!
Who Really Needs An Egg Plate? Not me.  But I'm probably going to get one anyway!	Happy Mother's Day! Wishing all of the Moms out there a very wonderful, healthy and happy Mother's Day!
Mother's Day Tea A perfect way to celebrate and spend time with our Moms.	Breakfast in Bed A time-honored tradition for Mother's Day!
A Bridal Shower Tea ... the perfect way to entertain!	A Baby Shower Tea Party Celebrating a little one's imminent arrival.
May Flowers Surrounding yourself with flowers!	Love Tea Sandwiches? Spring is for Tea Parties, Baby & Bridal Showers, and Garden Parties -- that means lots and lots of delightful tea sandwiches!
First Sign of Spring Quiche Spring means quiche, at least it does at my house!	Our Current Obsession: French Macarons Light, airy, delicate pastel puffs of mouth-watering deliciousness
Romancing Your Life Setting the scene to fall in love with your own life	Romantic Foods Something special ...
The Romance of Travel Falling in love with a new destination, adventure, and vistas	Food Porn It has become a national obsession ... we're salivating over food and all the food shows on tv
How It All Began The very beginnings of Afternoon Tea.	Baking is Love No one has to bake ... ever.  So when they do, love is there.
The Lenten Season A reminder that accepting the challenge of self-discipline is good for the soul	Spring Cleaning Tackling and taming the clutter
Cooking with Herbs Herbs are making a tasty appearance in some of your favorite desserts!	The Problem with Pesto ... It's so darned easy, you'll be making it all the time!
The Icing on the Cake Does a bakery really need to make frosted layer cakes?	What's Your Favorite Cake? If only I could pick just one!
My Boy A tribute to Max	Bless the Beasts Spreading goodwill upon the creatures we share this earth with ...
Baking Cakes Basic baking tips for beautiful layer cakes	Congrats, HWP! Healing Warriors Program received a huge honor, and we were invited to the Pentagon to see it!
Do-Gooders! Ana's non-profit, Healing Warriors Program, gives away a state-of-the-art electric wheelchair!	Donate if you can! Healing Warriors Program, my sister's nonprofit, does very important work for our service members' complete health and wellbeing.

Happy Passover!

Something that many people might not know is that Afternoon Tea was a kosher-style bakery, and we made lots of specialties for many Jewish holidays, including Passover, Purim, Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The holiday of Passover involved baking without flour or leavening of any kind.  This is symbolic of the Jews escaping from Egypt and being on the move, and therefore unable to wait for bread to rise.  In addition to the treats we made specific for the Holiday, we also tested many of our recipes to see if we could substitute matzoh meal or potato flour for flour and leavening.  We were able to convert quite a few of our recipes, and make Passover versions of brownies, blueberry muffins, and some of our most popular cakes.  With our varied selections, our customers had many treats to choose from to tide them over during the week of Passover.

Other classic Passover treats included a vegetarian Tsimmes (a carrot, sweet potato and dried fruit side dish for the seder), Haroses (an apple-wine-nut side dish), and Passover Wine Cake.

Some special treats we made for the Holiday became instant memorable favorites.  Sabra Torte, for example (featured in our Cakes Cookbook), is a delicious cake I regularly crave.  Same with the Hungarian Rhapsody, which is a luscious, decadently-nutty cake we long to eat any time of year.  And Apple Charlotte is just a delightful treat with absolutely no holiday required to enjoy!

One of our Passover treats even became a year-round favorite.  The Matzoh Fudge Log became known as our Fudge Crunch, and was a popular item on our cookie trays as well as at the counter.  But my favorite Passover dessert was always the 7-Layer Matzoh Cake, for reasons I can't even explain.  Perhaps because it was so easy to make, and just so satisfying with its rich chocolate layered with wine-soaked sheets of Matzoh.  But I admit to having a weakness for more than one item on our Passover menu.

A Happy Passover to all who observe!

.........................................................

Enjoy previous seasonal blog posts:

Slick Stuff Using the right oil for your health.	Peas in a Pod It's not easy loving peas!
The Gift of Seclusion Current conditions are asking us to retreat into our safe zones. Take advantage of this time to ourselves.	One-of-a-Kind Design Create your own fabric, gift wrap and wallpaper to take custom designs to a whole new level.
The Buzz About Bees Bees are precious, industrious and endangered.  We can do our part to make sure we don't lose these amazing little creatures.	Oh, Honey! Celebrate National Honey Month by tasting a new honey, making infused honey, or sprinkling powdered honey on your favorite treat.
Quarantine Chronicles Sensing a deeper meaning in this season of self-quarantine.	Food Prep 101 Maximizing your time and effort in the kitchen, to get healthy meals on the table quickly during the week.
Isn't it Romantic? Elevating a moment spent with someone else to make it truly special.	Scones for Spring An absolute must for a spring brunch or tea party!
Hello Spring!  Hello Cookies! Our latest cookbook is out!  A book full of Afternoon Tea's cookie and bar recipes!	My Favorite Mugs A menagerie of mugs ... one of life's simple pleasures.
Never Forgotten Remembering those who gave everything so that we can live.	Happy Easter! A bevy of lovely and playful Easter Cakes to welcome in spring!
Who Really Needs An Egg Plate? Not me.  But I'm probably going to get one anyway!	Happy Mother's Day! Wishing all of the Moms out there a very wonderful, healthy and happy Mother's Day!
Mother's Day Tea A perfect way to celebrate and spend time with our Moms.	Breakfast in Bed A time-honored tradition for Mother's Day!
A Bridal Shower Tea ... the perfect way to entertain!	A Baby Shower Tea Party Celebrating a little one's imminent arrival.
May Flowers Surrounding yourself with flowers!	Love Tea Sandwiches? Spring is for Tea Parties, Baby & Bridal Showers, and Garden Parties -- that means lots and lots of delightful tea sandwiches!
First Sign of Spring Quiche Spring means quiche, at least it does at my house!	Our Current Obsession: French Macarons Light, airy, delicate pastel puffs of mouth-watering deliciousness
Starting Off with a Bang! Bust yourself free from 2020! States are opening up, it's time to make plans!	Quality Matters When you have a choice, do you choose quality?
Romancing Your Life Setting the scene to fall in love with your own life	Romantic Foods Something special ...
The Romance of Travel Falling in love with a new destination, adventure, and vistas	Food Porn It has become a national obsession ... we're salivating over food and all the food shows on tv
How It All Began The very beginnings of Afternoon Tea.	Baking is Love No one has to bake ... ever.  So when they do, love is there.
The Lenten Season A reminder that accepting the challenge of self-discipline is good for the soul	Spring Cleaning Tackling and taming the clutter
Cooking with Herbs Herbs are making a tasty appearance in some of your favorite desserts!	The Problem with Pesto ... It's so darned easy, you'll be making it all the time!
The Icing on the Cake Does a bakery really need to make frosted layer cakes?	What's Your Favorite Cake? If only I could pick just one!
My Boy A tribute to Max	Bless the Beasts Spreading goodwill upon the creatures we share this earth with ...
Baking Cakes Basic baking tips for beautiful layer cakes	Congrats, HWP! Healing Warriors Program received a huge honor, and we were invited to the Pentagon to see it!
Do-Gooders! Ana's non-profit, Healing Warriors Program, gives away a state-of-the-art electric wheelchair!	Donate if you can! Healing Warriors Program, my sister's nonprofit, does very important work for our service members' complete health and wellbeing.