Karen Clare

 Every so often, I love to pull out the tea set that I got at the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina back in 2004 during a road trip with my best friend, Dori. The Biltmore Estate was the Vanderbilts' summer home, and after touring the huge estate, we went into the gift shop. It was during September, my birth month, and I ended up getting myself this tea set, which is a replica of a set that was owned by the Vanderbilts.  Afternoon tea has three courses. the first course is sandwiches, so I made cucumber sandwiches: white bread, spreadable cream cheese on both sides of the bread, very thinly-sliced cucumbers (I used a mandoline), salt, and crushed celery seed. I cut the crusts off carefully, and then I cut the sandwiches, some into rectangles and some into triangles.  The second course is scones with jam and often clotted cream. The scones I got were store-bought from Publix, and I had some lingonberry jam -- which, if you've never tried it, tastes like cranberry...

 If you've been reading my blog, you'll know that I've started having tea on Sundays -- not at the traditional 4 pm hour, but about noon, because on weekends and any other non-work days, I like to eat dinner early.  I was inspired to address the question of how this traditional began in the first place. Having tea in pretty china had been popular with the aristocratic and high-society English since Georgian times; it was a way to show off your expensive porcelain (which became known as "china", since that's often where it was made).  The woman who is credited with starting the 4 pm afternoon tea ritual was Anna Maria Russell, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria, around 1840. To explain why, we have to look at the history of mealtimes in Britain and their evolution to what we're familiar with now. Today, most people in the developed world are used to three meals a day: breakfast, eaten in the morning; lunch, eaten around noon, an...

 This past week, I have been really tired. Not sure why. No extra stress at work, but I did tackle my office closet after work Wednesday through Friday. Emptied, decluttered, and reorganized the bins containing my seasonal and holiday decor. It was difficult, especially since having the chaos (to my mind) of stuff everywhere was giving me anxiety. I'm about 85% through, but still not completely done. I still have to go through the bin of my autumn decor and organize a few other things. But I'm taking a bit of a break on that. While I was dealing with the bins in my closet, I was also putting away my post-Christmas winter decor (I pack away anything specifically Christmas right after the 25th, but leave out wintery greenery and pinecones and white candles till March) and putting out spring. I really don't do that much for spring. Pine is replaced by (mostly blue) flowers), and I change out my sofa pillow cases. I also decorate my coffee bar and put little touches in the kitc...

 Yesterday was dreary, chilly, and a little rainy... it's been an El Niño winter for sure. But I got myself out of the house in the morning to take a trip to Whole Foods to return an extra power cord I'd ordered from Amazon (they own Whole Foods) for my laptop that was the wrong kind.  I had never been to Whole Foods before, and I have to admit, it's a pretty nice place. I don't typically enjoy grocery shopping, but this place has enough interesting and fun products that it doesn't really feel much like a chore.  They have ready-made pastries that you can just pop into the oven to cook, great meats that aren't much more expensive that Publix lately and look better, and a whole section of custom soaps that I enjoyed spending some time in.  I ended up getting some soaps, chicken wings, two pints of heavy cream, eggs, and toasted sesame oil. When I got home I preheated my oven to 190 F and poured both pints of heavy cream into my white casserole dish. It was about ...

 This was my first time planning a tea, and I won't lie: it was a lot more work that I had thought it would be. But it was also so much fun, more fun than I've had in a long time, and I don't know what took me so long to do it. The tea took place yesterday, Saturday, and more perfect weather for the day could not have been ordered; low 70s and sunny. I woke up early Saturday, because Friday night after work I honestly had no energy to get the head start I'd been intending. I started by getting the simple white tablecloth I wanted to use out of my closet and realizing that it badly needed an iron, something I haven't taken out in about three years, and gave it a good steaming before putting out on the patio table that I'd recently cleaned.  Then I made the deviled eggs and cucumber sandwiches (recipes at the end). Scones and cookies were store-bought, because, working full-time, I simply hadn't had the time or energy to make homemade ones in addition to the e...