Tea Time

It is one of my absolute favorite indulgences: tea time. I have experienced this simple pleasure at Kensington Palace in England, at the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans, and at my own home in North Carolina, and regardless of the setting, I am always comforted and eased by the whistling of the tea kettle and the sounds of my spoon jostling the sugar into a whirlpool around the perimeter of my tea cup.

Who needs an afternoon nap, when one can have tea? Who needs dessert, when one can have tea? My cup is a friend, indeed!

I recently rented a book from the library with recipes for scones, tea sandwiches, and sweets, and this weekend, I tried my hand at a few. I made Rose Petal scones, and I actually picked a rose from my own garden for this recipe, which made it all the more special, and the strangeness of the ingredient made the experience of eating the scones all the more tea-ish, in the Victorian sense. I made Prosciutto and Fontina Croque Monsieur, and my husband and I both felt transported to France when the sandwiches gently titillated our palates. We sipped a simple black tea for refreshment, as we dined on our very own tea time fare in our own backyard beneath our covered patio.

There is nothing like a tea setting to infuse the senses with memories of the most soothing moments of a life. For me, a sip of tea is a trip across time, across oceans and into my own soul where new discoveries are made, as the fragrance of the ground tea leaves triggers impressions of dreams forgotten and plans to be made.