Sunday evening tea tray

"Taking tea" always seemed like such a lovely "scenario" to me. I was charmed by the idea from the time I was pretty young -- I assume I got the idea from my books. It had always been an idea, though, until several years ago when we decided to actually try it.

For many years, my younger brother worked most Sundays, we began to prepare a tea tray for his arrival home on Sunday evenings.

It suited us beautifully... we'd typically have a big, traditional, Southern Sunday dinner in the middle of the day, and a light, cozy meal seemed perfect to close the day.

I wasn't surprised that my mother and I enjoyed it, but I was a little surprised to have Drew enjoy it!

We usually have some sort of quick bread or biscuits or muffins to go with our pot of tea. The tray is simple... slightly mismatched :), with big mugs, a tea pot (or two! especially in chilly weather) snug in a cozy, a bowl of sugar cubes (a special treat from our little local grocery), and creamer filled with half & half. The food usually has to be carried on a separate tray!

Then, we join together in a sitting area, usually our den. Sometimes, at Christmas, we'll carry our trays to the living room to be by the tree.

He doesn't work Sundays very often now, and obviously, the summer heat isn't always a conducive feeling to having a tea tray. But, he worked today, and as we face a very busy month, we thought a tea tray tonight would feel good. And, indeed it did!

Tonight's tray had a big pot of Tetley British Blend, which is a simple, sturdy black tea. (Well, to be precise, I think it was British Blend... we'd taken the tea out of the package awhile back and put it in a canister.) And the food was Yorkshire pudding!

We ate together as a storm brewed in the distance... and just sat and talked ... and were together.