A cup of tea is so nice to have any time of the year.

I love how the proper afternoon tea includes something like a scone with clotted cream and jam.

I have the above Royal Albert teapot, cup and saucer and the little plate. The teapot is called the cottage edition. That rose pattern is just elegant looking.

Peppermint tea is one of my favorites. I read that if you make a pot of tea to use one teabag for each cup of tea that you want. Also allow about 4 minutes for the tea to seep and then just gently squeeze the teabag like a hug. Also run hot water to rinse the pot and the cup and then it keeps the tea hot longer. I tried that and it made the best tea ever.

Earl Grey tea is one of the classics. I love some of the little tins that tea sometimes can be found in.

I love how the British call cookies “Biscuits”. I think that it would be fun to have a tin of cookies and call them “biscuits” to have with a cup of tea.

A cup of tea and a good book is a nice combination for a little break.

The above little open face sandwich is nice to have with a cup of tea. There is a recipe for it, but just a little softened cream cheese with a sliced radish and chopped chives on top is just easy and looks fancy.

There is a tea house in Victoria, Canada called the Empress and the above is the tea that they serve there. That tea set that they use is a replica of the one that Queen Elizabeth gave them when she had tea there way back in the 50’s. You can have a choice of really fancy teas. For example they have a 1907 Orange Pekoe that is bright, brisk and lively tea from Sri Lanka and Kenya. They have Rose Congou Emperor that is five times layered with rose petals. A favourite of Princess Diana. Then they have Joie De Provence which is an organic herbal rooibos tea. It has fruity ripe berry notes balanced with mild lavender. They have about 21 unique teas to choose from.

Then they have an Empress Cake that comes in individual sizes or for a party of 10. The crown on it makes it very royal looking.

It would be like going to London and having high tea to go there. Tea at the Empress is served in the Lobby lounge. On their tea menu is Browned Butter Shortbread that is Scottish, Signature Empress Raisin Scones that are served warm with house-made clotted cream and strawberry lavender preserves, Meyer Lemon Tart that is carefully paired with freeze dried raspberry crumble, Aiyana Chocolate Delice which is the signature Empress chocolate with hints of honey and blackberry, Blackberry and Hazelnut Macarons, Heirloom Cucumber on Rye sandwich which is glazed with fennel pollen, pink peppercorn and whipped dill cream cheese, Chevre Tartlet which has freshly whipped rosemary goat cheese, served with quince jelly and freeze dried blood orange, Honey Ham and Gruyere Quiche and Pear Cider Poached Chicken on Brioche. And included is Champagne which is Veuve Clicquet Brut.

How fancy is that? Victoria, Canada is way over by the West Coast. We have Montreal and Quebec Canada that is near where we live on the East Coast. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have tea way over in Victoria.

Another fun Tea house is “The Tuckbox” which is in Carmel by the Sea. You can see in that middle door there is outdoor dining as well as inside.

That place looks like it would be really fun to have tea there.

Their scones are like a Scottish scone that is sort of like cornbread. They have orange marmelade and a special California berry jam as well as clotted cream. You can just have tea and scones or they also have awesome salads to go with the scones if you want.

There is a little gift shop beside the tea house where you can buy that tea pot.

And the above is the California berry jam that they have at The Tuck Box.

You can even buy a mix that makes The Tuckbox Scones.

Tea is just plain elegant sometimes and sometimes it can be just plain fun.