Have you ever wondered the difference between afternoon tea and high tea? While reading about their origins, I learned that in the 1700's afternoon tea, also known as 'low tea', was traditionally served by the upper class at 4:00pm to bridge the gap between the only two meals of the day (at that time), breakfast in the morning and dinner that was often consumed as late as 8:00pm. It became a social event serving tea and finger sandwiches in the parlor relaxing in low, comfortable chairs. Similarly, the working class loved to indulge with a satisfying pot of tea, but after working a full day, they did so while partaking of a hearty meal around 6:00pm. This meal was eaten at a table in high back dining chairs, hence the name.
It was so wonderful having my family visit us in Florida last month! I threw an autumn themed high tea party for them on the last day of their trip with a lot of help from my mom and both of my grandmas! I would love to share with you some of the dishes we prepared and other details of the evening! You might consider these ideas if you're planning to host a high tea party of your own this fall season!
Remember a few posts back when I shared some information about the high tea party invitations my mom and I made? Well, this is the event they were for! If you missed that one, you can refer to it here!
First of all, for a little inspiration, take a look at how we set the table for the occasion:
Since this was our guests' first time visiting our new(ish) house, we had planned to give them a tour of the rooms and outside area before sitting down at the table. With that in mind, it seemed like a good idea to have some kind of appetizer out early for them to munch on. We decided that the Pumpkin Cheesecake dip from Simply Savory Gourmet we had on hand would be the perfect choice! The container in the pictures below is one that we had gotten from a local farmers' market recently and it is perfect for serving dip that you want to keep chilled. It has a section on the inside for ice! The dip paired well with pretzels sticks, apples wedges, and these tasty cinnamon raisin bagel chips from Aldi for dipping. I was planning to have it out by the pool, but it ended up raining, so I put it on the table in the family room instead.
Some other starters at the table included grapes, cheese, and crackers. Classic tea party staples!
Another dip we had from Simply Savory Gourmet, was this one called Lobster Supreme (we added a can of crab meat to it too and it was really delicious like that!) We served it with sea salt crackers and toasted French bread for dipping.
For the finger sandwiches, I went with chicken salad with celery and cranberries. Also hummus with tomato and parsley. I made half of each type of sandwich with white bread and the other half with whole wheat and cut them into different shapes to add variety!
Now, like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, the thing that sets high teas apart from afternoon teas is the actual meal that is served in addition to the finger foods and desserts. Since this is a high tea party, I prepared beef stroganoff served with mashed potatoes as the main course.
For dessert, we made caramel apple cookies. I had some leftover dried apple slices from the homemade tea blend I made around the same time, so I used them as a decoration and for a little texture on top of the icing. Speaking of that, did you get a chance to read my blogpost about making your own blend of tea for fall using a recipe I came up with? If not, you can check it out here!
The more desserts, the better, so my grandma followed Martha Stewart's directions for making Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Frosting. They turned out really well and we would definitely recommend this recipe! It said to add fresh banana slices to the top, but my mom came up with the idea of using dried banana chips instead for an extra crunch and so that we wouldn't have to worry so much about them turning brown before eating.
And you can't have a fall party without a traditional pumpkin roll!
We prepared homemade chai tea lattes for everyone!
Everyone seemed to have a nice time and I'm so glad I got to see my family and celebrate over some yummy fall foods!
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