"A Cup of Tay at Five O'clock"
e Iowa Homemaker
"A Cup of Tay at Five O'clock"
Margaret L. Marnette 0
Iowa State College 0
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Follow this and additional works at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/homemaker Part of the Home Economics Commons Recommended Citation Marnette, Margaret L. (1928) ""A Cup of Tay at Five O'clock"," Th e Iowa Homemaker: Vol. 8 : No. 4 , Article 4. Available at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/homemaker/vol8/iss4/4
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Article 4
uA Cup o f Tay at Five O'clock"
By Margaret L. Marnette
ttTHERE'S nothing like a good
cup of steaming tay to warm
the heart and body in the late
afternoon," my grandmother was wont
to say, and mother and I both appre
ciate the Scotch ancestors who first
introduced into our household the
cherished custom of serving tea be
tween the hours of four and five in
the afternoon.
There is something intimate in after
noon tea. Apart from the chance it
affords for one to relax a bit, and the
opportunity to sit and eat a sweet
cake or a small sandwich with a
friend, it gives one a "dressed-up"
feeling that irons out all the wrinkles
of the day.
You may serve either aromatic cof
fee and any of the delicious coffee
cakes which German and Swedish
housewives make: a part of their after
noon "coffee's," or you may prefer to
brew some fragrant tea and serve it
with any of the many tea cakes. What
ever you do, make an "affair" of the
occasion. Let young daughter serve
you the refreshments. Teach her how
to make the tea, using freshly boiling
water. Have her be sure the: water is
boiling merrily, and when it is, pour
it over the tea leaves in a pot. With
the many lovely shapes and sizes of
teapots now found in stores, afternoon
tea can become a festive affair with an
individuality all its own.
After the tea has steeped for five
minutes, it may be poured into another
pot and sufficient boiling water added
to dilute the strength: Caution young
daughter never to use steeped leaves
a second time, for bitter is the tea
twice brewed. It is neither necessary
nor does it impart any flavor to the
tea if it is boiled or placed over the
fire.
To serve with the tea, there are
many novel and delicious dainties.
Lemon, cream and sugar are, of
course, old standbys, and some people
always prefer them to any new fla
vor. Perhaps the sweet orange would
be a welcome change from the tart
lemon flavor. Daughter will enjoy
cutting the orange in small portions,
placing a clove in one end of each
slice and putting a sprig of mint in
the other end.
Canned or fresh grapefruit, if
conA single rose adds charm to your tea
table.
venient, may be . used instead of
oranges or lemons. Aj candied cherry,
colored either red or green, and placed
in the bottom of the cup before it is
filled with tea, will give a delightful
appearance to the cup.
If you care for the elusive fragrance
of rose or geranium flowers, then pack
a few leaves with a cup or so of sugar
for several days before you have your
festive tea party_ The sugar will be
delicately flavored with the petals and
leaves of the flowers.
And what about the cakes to ac
company the tea? Young daughter
may not yet have mastered the cake
making intricacies, but one recipe
which is so certain to produce good
results is that f·or cup cakes:
% cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
31,4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1,4 teaspoon mace
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs
well-beaten and then milk. Add flour
sifted with baking powder and mace.
Bake in individual tins. Any kind of
frosting may be used with this recipe.
Chocolate frosting is a favored one
at our tea table:
1%, cups sugar
%, cup hot water
4 squares melted chocolate
1h teaspoon vanilla
Cook together sugar and water with
out stirring until a thread forms when
dropped from tip of spoon. Pour
syrup on melted chocolate and beat
until of the right consistency to
spread, then add vanilla.
Sometimes halved or quartered al
monds, walnut halves or preserved
cherries are placed on top of the cakes
for exceptional occasions.
If you like a "different" cake, per
haps you'll like Royal Fans:
Mix and sift two cups of flour and
1h cup brown sugar. Wash % cup
butter and work into first mixture,, us
ing tips of fingers. Roll to one-third
inch in thickness, shape with fluted
round cutter five inches in diameter.
Cut each ring into quarters and crease
with dull edge knife to represent folds
of fan. Brush over with yolk of egg
diluted slightly with water and bake
in a slow oven.
And now, if you prefer coffee, you
may like to teach young daughter to
make it like this: Boil sufficient water
for guests, and pour i~ while still boil
ing over the coffee, allowing one heap
ing tablespoon for the first cup and
one additional spoonful for each (...truncated)