Tea Time

Hi, everyone! I had the privilege of hosting 10 women in our home for tea last week. I thought I would take a few minutes to describe what that's like. Hope you enjoy! And maybe you'll be inspired to do something like this at your house, too!!

First, it is almost expected that before hosting a large group of women for a "proper" tea, your house is white-glove inspection clean. For me that meant the windows had to be cleaned, and I wasn't going to crawl onto the ledge to do it! My neighbor was kind enough to recommend someone and make the appointment for me, and on Mon. morning about 9:00 my new friend arrived. All she used were old t-shirts cut into rags and water in a bucket - no cleaner of any kind - and these windows nearly sparkled!! You see, we have LOTS of BIG windows in our apartment, and although we are on the first floor, it's technically the second floor. Thus, my fear of climbing on the ledge to clean them. We also have lots of wind in our city and lots of black dust - usually from burning coal and just dust from the ground. It doesn't take long for all of that coal and dust to stick to the windows. Anyway . . . let's continue.

Then comes cleaning the rest of the house. For me that wasn't so bad. I cleaned everything really well, and Mark vacuumed. We make a great cleaning team!!

Then the most time-consuming part . . . the cooking! For all of you moms, grandmas, and caterers who cook or have ever cooked for large crowds of people on a regular basis, let me just say I have a new found respect for you!!! Now usually at home, if someone is kind enough to host a large group of people, other folks help out and bring a dish or two when they come. Sometimes not, but generally speaking. There are a few of you out there who can whip up a meal for a crowd without a sweat! You know who you are!! Don't get me wrong . . . I enjoyed preparing the food for my friends, but it was a lot of work. As soon as I got one thing in the oven, I was on to the next thing. The other issue I faced was that my national cooking skills here are still rather limited. I tried to take a few favorites from home and re-create them with a local flare. It seemed to have worked out rather well. No one complained about the food, and there were quite a few empty plates.

The guests all arrive at different times. The hostess greets them at the door. Then they make their way into the sitting room where everyone is individually greeted with a two-cheek kiss and sometimes a hug. Everyone sits back down and the "how are you's" commence. Each person asks every other person how they're doing, how their families are doing, and such. It's not very orderly - everyone is asking one another at the same time. Guests continue to arrive during all of this, with lots more standing, kissing, hugging, and "how are you's."

Once everyone has arrived and has had a chance to chat a little, the hostess and usually a helper disappear into the kitchen to prepare everyone's plates. It is usually a full-sized dinner plate, filled up. And usually filled up with lots of bready things, always something salty and something sweet, and usually a salad of some kind. During this same time, someone in the sitting room passes out napkins to everyone and situates the little tables that get distributed around the room for tea glasses to be set upon. The plates are delivered to each person, and then following that, tea is served to each person.

As food is being consumed and everyone is talking, the sole job of the hostess is to make sure everyone has tea (empty glasses are not acceptable!) and to continue asking if anyone wants anything else to eat. Once people finish their plates, the hostess removes them and continues offering tea until the guests refuse or the tea runs out. Tea here is made a bit differently (more about that in another blog maybe), and each cup is made fresh and individually, sort of.

After the dishes have been removed, conversation continues for another 1-2 hours. And finally the hostess gets a little down time to eat a few bites.

As each guest gets ready to leave, they announce their leaving, head for the door, give a series of "goodbyes" to their friends, kiss and thank the hostess, and offer blessings to the hostess as they leave.

As my last 4 guests were leaving on Wed. another neighbor stopped in with her granddaughter for a quick visit. To show just how much she appreciated all the effort I had put into hosting my guests, she used their "get well soon" expression when she sat down in my sitting room! In other words, "You must be tired. I hope you can rest soon."

It was a lot of work, but what a great experience!!! I hope that instead of scaring you away from hosting a few guests in your home, I've inspired you to try it sometime. What a fun way to bless others!

Now with all of that said . . . whoever invented potluck dinners was a genius!!