afternoon tea: is it still done?

[Pleater]

At the weekends we tend to have a cup of tea and a 'little something' at about four thirty.

Today it was toast and marmite.

(I know I know but after a few decades you would actualy get to like it - really)

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Lachlan09]

Afternoon tea conjures up innocent pleasures of years gone by. Nowadays it's more likely to be morning (or afternoon) coffee. I tend to think having a special afternoon tea (cream-tea) with lemon tea and freshly-made scones with home-made strawberry or raspberry jam and Cornish clotted cream, is more of middle-class and upper-class origin, rather than working-class British. I can't remember my mum and the neighbours stopping off for afternoon cream-tea. We didn't have the luxury of have servants/maids and there was too much to do for housewives in those days as it was.

Though, back in the 1960's etc, if guests came around to our house at any time (and in many homes in Britain), out would come the best china, the guests would be ushered into the front/best room (if the house had one) and out would come dainty little triangular sandwiches of pan bread (crusts cut-off) with cucumber or meat paste or crab or salmon spread or tinned red salmon or sliced virginia ham from the butcher (for special guests), dainty little fairy-cakes and buttered scone with jam and butter (or sometimes thick cream).

Having said that, there are plenty tea-rooms and little private-run cosy establishments in the UK (esp the countryside) who celebrate the classic English Afternoon Tea. I recall a nice garden tea garden at a hotel near Ledaig, Argyll. I think the owners were English.

[starbkjrus]

Coincidentally, in the southern Appalachians, some folks refer to the midday meal as "dinner" and the evening meal as "supper", while just a few miles away other folks eat "lunch" at noon and have "dinner" after work in the evening. So, if somebody invites you over for "dinner", you might ought to find out what time they expect you.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Ahhh yes. When I was growing up (in North Western South Carolina) it was Breakfast, Dinner if large ie. Sunday, Easter, Christmas etc., lunch if light and always Supper.

The large 'Dinner's' were always at 1:30pm sharp

[BoldHighlander]

Ahhh yes. When I was growing up (in North Western South Carolina) it was Breakfast, Dinner if large ie. Sunday, Easter, Christmas etc., lunch if light and always Supper.

The large 'Dinner's' were always at 1:30pm sharp

This sounds exactly like my grandmother's phrasing for the various meals (she was originally from Seymour, Missouri).

[Peter C.]

Does the custom of afternoon tea (with a few light refreshments) still happen in the UK, or is it a relic of the past? There are some traditions which people continue, and some get left behind, and I'm wondering which category tea-time falls into. Thanks for your replies.

When I was a kid we had breakfast, dinner and tea but that tea time had nothing to do with afternoon tea.

We used to have afternoon tea occasionally on a Sunday when we had visitors or when we were visiting.

I go to the UK every year and always pop in to a tea shop for afternoon tea at least once.

Now I have introduced my American family to afternoon tea and they love it. We only have them when we have visitors and we usually have West Country cream teas.

piperdbh, I met you at Gatlinburg two years ago, if you are down that way again you must give me a pm and you and who ever you are with can come over and have a chat over afternoon tea if you have the time.

Peter

[piperdbh]

piperdbh, I met you at Gatlinburg two years ago, if you are down that way again you must give me a pm and you and who ever you are with can come over and have a chat over afternoon tea if you have the time.

Peter

Thanks for the invitation. I would enjoy that very much. Can we go see Dolly while we're in town?

Will you be at the festival in Franklin next weekend, or at Grandfather?

[Peter C.]

Thanks for the invitation. I would enjoy that very much. Can we go see Dolly while we're in town?

Will you be at the festival in Franklin next weekend, or at Grandfather?

I will be at the Taste of Scotland festival in Franklin, and hope to be at Grandfather Mountain.

Peter

[Mike_Oettle]

In South Africa the term “tea” as meaning a meal is generally something heard from immigrants or visitors.
Being invited for afternoon tea is quite an occasion (at least in our house). We get special eats for the occasion – cake, scones (not the same as American scones) and the like – and lay on the ancestral china (and silver, for those who have it).
But morning and afternoon tea are also routine, at home and at the office.
My daughter and her fiancé generally drink coffee instead, but we still refer to the occasion as tea.
My wife taught me to make tea and enjoy drinking it, but she sometimes takes coffee instead.
There are a few tearooms in the city where I live, but not as many as there used to be.
Dinner is a word used for the main meal, regardless of what time of day it is.
On Sundays and special holidays like Christmas it is usually (not invariably) in the middle of the day, but on week nights it is generally in the evening.
Regards,
Mike

[Lallans]

After international misunderstandings within my family regarding the meaning of 'tea', I fell into a sort of code where 'tea' when addressed to a British person meant 'supper' (ie, to the Scottish plus the Northern England and Northern Ireland members), as per their usual practice, but I employ the term 'high tea' instead of 'supper' when addressing a mixed group, as in an email "Thank you for giving the kids the lovely high tea" . This is probably seen as a little pretentious on both sides but it works. 'Tea' meaning a meal is of course never used in my part of Canada: rural people say 'breakfast, dinner, and supper' and perhaps more recently use 'lunch' if 'dinner' is a light meal, whereas city folk have adopted the more American terms of 'breakfast, lunch, and dinner.' This is seen as more sophisticated than 'dinner' followed by 'supper' but I am seeing signs of a Canuck backlash back to 'supper'. And don't get me started on the use of 'brunch' and its variations.

[BoldHighlander]

I've always wished to visit South Africa Mike.
Maybe "when" I do I can pop in for afternoon tea?

In South Africa the term “tea” as meaning a meal is generally something heard from immigrants or visitors.
Being invited for afternoon tea is quite an occasion (at least in our house). We get special eats for the occasion – cake, scones (not the same as American scones) and the like – and lay on the ancestral china (and silver, for those who have it).
But morning and afternoon tea are also routine, at home and at the office.
My daughter and her fiancé generally drink coffee instead, but we still refer to the occasion as tea.
My wife taught me to make tea and enjoy drinking it, but she sometimes takes coffee instead.
There are a few tearooms in the city where I live, but not as many as there used to be.
Dinner is a word used for the main meal, regardless of what time of day it is.
On Sundays and special holidays like Christmas it is usually (not invariably) in the middle of the day, but on week nights it is generally in the evening.
Regards,
Mike