Afternoon Tea Chez Moi

Sadly, Afternoon Tea is a dying tradition — unless you want to pay $50-60 per head at the Empress Hotel, Victoria! I like this homage to a romantic bygone era, and try to emulate it at every opportunity I can.Friday afternoon, I had the pleasure of entertaining some delightful people at my home for Afternoon Tea — Empress Hotel style for the visitors! Seated around the table were Paul McCartney’s Aunt Edie (no kidding!) who had been a good pal of my friend Noelle who died recently; a charming couple from New Zealand, Hillary and Trevor, who divide their time between Victoria and Auckland; my friend Anita and her husband Vecey; Rick, the head of our TOPS group, who used to work as a Pilot for Emirates, and myself.After a recent trip to the Empress, I discovered that the new owners have changed their Afternoon Tea, with the addition of a mini croissant and a curry chicken sandwich, so I decided to copy them!! I even tried the salmon pinwheel recipe from a book I bought for 25 cents at the flea market! (Sarah’s Tea Time by Sarah Amos). Everything turned out delicious — even if I say so myself!!
I served several different plates of sandwiches: egg, cheese, curry chicken, and ham sandwiches, plus mini ham and cheese croissants which I toasted.
For desserts, I lazed out, and bought everything at our local cake shop. They did a better job; given the time I had to prepare a feast, I focused instead on the sandwiches — wise decision!!