Picture via australiaentertains.com
When we were growing up if my aunties were invited over it was nearly always for Sunday tea. When Mr. Boo and I entertain it is usually dinner or a weekend lunch but very rarely Sunday tea. My mam and her sisters would take it in turns to host in their different houses, and once a month or more, the 4 sisters and their children would gather to eat, chat and laugh. I really enjoyed those Sunday gatherings and while I know I complained sometimes about being dragged away from the very important business of playing with my toys I only have fond and happy memories of those get togethers.
We would all be dressed in our Sunday finery naturally, having been to mass first thing, and the tables would be laid with all manner of treats. Quiche and vol au vents made regular appearances and as the years progressed so to did the salads. In the early days standard salad fare consisted of quartered tomatoes, onions sliced into thin rings, ham or turkey slices (rolled of course), some boiled eggs quartered (the quartering of objects was the height of fashion), beetroot, pickled onions, a sliced pan buttered and cut on the diagonal, and coleslaw. You couldn't have a Sunday tea salad without coleslaw, the shame of it all. Later things progressed to such exotics as cos lettuce, cherry tomatoes and croutons. Be the hokey, did you ever in your life hear the likes.
If there were loose tea leaves in the house my auntie would read our fortune afterwards. Every ones cup held the same for the future funnily enough. "You'll be getting a letter in the post, maybe you're getting an invite to a party or a wedding, that'll be nice won't it." "Oh, there's some money in this one. Now not much mind but a bit of money is coming to you. Did you check your lotto yet?" And if you were a single lady, "there's an initial in here, I bet you've a new fella coming to you". Reading the tea leaves always resulted in howls of laughter and animated conversation as discussions mounted on the analyses of who was going to win what and who was going to be invited where.
Naturally you couldn't have a Sunday tea without cake or a sweet of some kind and mountains of biscuits, the good ones, no custard creams or rich tea of a Sunday thank you very much. Sometimes my mam would whip up a pavlova or maybe some cream slices and other times a Tea Time Express box would be produced. Either way everyone would be stuffed to the gills by the end, and that was before the bottle of Baileys made an appearance to be sipped sitting on the sofa in attempt to digest the feast.
I miss the tradition of Sunday tea and think I should make more of an effort to bring it back into vogue in my own family at least, but wouldn't it be fun to have Sunday tea right here on the blog? I need your help though. If you bake any of the recipes from the blog, other blogs, your collection of cookbooks or just fresh out of your brain take a picture and email it, marked Sunday Tea, to me here on the blog likemamusedtobake@hotmail.com . Don't think that you have to be a professional chef or a food blogger to get involved, I want everyone to take part. On the last Sunday of every month I will pull all of the photos together and put them into a Sunday tea post. If baking is not your thing feel free to send me a picture of something that you cook. Better still if you still enjoy Sunday tea send me a picture of your table heaving with yummies. Also include your name and the name of your cake/dish. If you don't want your name to appear with the pic that's cool, just let me know and I will list it as anonymous. If you like, jump into the picture too. I am looking forward to seeing some lovely pictures coming through and I hope I can make this a monthly thing going forward. So don't be shy, send me on your pictures and let's all enjoy Sunday tea together.
Brilliant idea!! What a great way to finish any weekend with a dollop of cream and a wedge of cake, door stopper more like! Bring back the Sunday Tea! Count me in! xx Trish
ReplyDeleteHi Trish,
ReplyDeleteIt was the perfect finish to the weekend and we should definitely try to bring it back. I hope you will send me on a picture and join me this month. :)
This is a fantastic idea! We (meaning about half of the extended family) had Sunday tea in my mam's mam's house every week when I was a kid. Apple tart, sponge cake and loaves of crumbly brown bread always featured on the menu. The adults got to chat and catch up on their week, and us kids got to run riot outside before coming in for a feed. I'll definitely send on a recipe.
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine,
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how it was for us, all of the kids got to play together and all of the mammys (the men always stayed at home) got to have a good old natter. Looking forward to getting some pictures through now. :)
Bringing back memories of Sunday afternoons at my Nana's.... sponge cake, tea brack, griddle cake, lots of biscuits, and on a bad Sunday cream crackers with jam!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea!! We always had Sunday Tea in our house when we lived in London but sadly the tradition didn't move with us to Ireland. Sandwiches and cakes, jam tarts and biscuits. It was such a treat back then and it is such a shame that it has died out. Great idea to all join in :)
ReplyDeleteThats such a nice idea! We always had sunday tea, apple tart, scones, spring onions dipped in mayonnaise with boiled eggs & soda bread; such a weird mixture of stuff! We loved it though & all got to help too. Can't wait to see the photos you get in!x
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDeleteMemories flooding back of when i was younger and my Gran's visit's that were mostly always on Sundays. The previous week the "Good Room" would be cleaned, all ready for pending visit.
The fire would be lit early that morning so my Gran could not say she was feeling the cold!
My dad would go to collect her, the round trip would take about 2 hours, so during this time various jobs would be assigned to us..
Taking shells off boiled eggs, scooping out salad cream or mayonnaise into fancy bowl, also beetroot would be put into another matching bowl.
After all the greetings were out of the way and we were once more reminded to remember our manners or we would not get any niceies, usually a homemade apple pie or a swiss roll.
All the chat would be of the going's on in the family, the weather, how big we had all gotten since our last get together, putting the world to right..
It does make you think how little time we spend actually talking to each other, finding out what is happening in each other's lives.
I am going to make a definite effort to try and have a few more afternoon teas here, even a Girlie afternoon tea, as it is often difficult to get an evening together if you ave kiddies..sure kiddies can have their own afternoon tea...let them make some memories of their own for when they are older..
Hi Margaret,
ReplyDeleteI sometimes got cream crackers and jam in my lunchbox, had forgotten all about them. I must give them another go some time, they were actually quite yummy if my memory serves me correctly. :)
The Glutton,
ReplyDeleteIt died out for us too as we all got older but we still did it on occasion. I LOVE jam tarts, think they will have to make an appearance soon (I'm going to be like a hippo soon with all of the things I am being reminded of). It was a huge treat back then and such a pity the tradition seems to be fading.
Hi Lilly,
ReplyDeleteWe always had a bit of a mix too, but that's what made it so good, such an eclectic mix to choose from unlike set week day dinners. We all got little jobs to do too, although I hated having to dry the dishes afterwards. I can't wait to see the pictures that come through. :)
Hi Melly,
ReplyDeleteSounds like there must have been great excitement in your house preparing for your Gran's visit. Sadly I think we do all spend much less time face to face with people these days. People are so busy with work and families and we also live further apart. Hopefully we can get back some of that family time that we had as we grew up. :)
Still a tradition in our house! Have sent you an email! Emma :)
ReplyDeleteSunday Tea sounds like a lovely tradition - we never did that when I was young as we were always at rugby matches on a Sunday or we would be in my grandparents house who lived next door partaking of a nice Sunday Roast! It is a lovely idea! yay!
ReplyDeleteHi Emma,
ReplyDeleteYay! Glad to see it is still a tradition in some homes. Thanks for the email. :)
Hi Orla,
ReplyDeleteYou have never had Sunday tea? *faints* You will have to rectify that. :) Will you join in our first virtual Sunday tea? Send me on a pic if you would like to.
This is such a fab idea! For Sunday tea in my Nana's house (she was a cook in a "big house" for years,amazing stuff came out of her kitchen) we all got a job. When my Aunt moved back from the US in the early 80's she brought a salad spinner home with her and we used to fight over who was in charge of the lettuce :)
ReplyDeleteWhen we had Sunday tea in my other grandparents house we had red lemonade. Oh the joy and anticipation of the special little glasses we were allowed to take out of the cabinet to drink it from! We weren't allowed red lemonade in our house, probably because we would have bounced off the walls for the rest of the night,so it was a special treat.
Will defo try to get you a picture,thanks for this post, brings back lovely memories
I think it is a lovely tradition! I was looking at the picture and though... wow.. spring must have come a bit further in Ireland than in the UK, how very peculiar LOL But then saw it was a borrowed picture.
ReplyDeleteOh, memories, what a great idea. We used to have sunday tea every week with one or both of my Grannies. Sandwiches, pancakes or french toast with tons of varieties of teabreads, biscuits and traybakes and loose leaf tea. All on our knees in the "lounge" (unused the rest of the week!). I'm so in!! Will email soon.
ReplyDeleteFabulous idea! I love the whole concept of Sunday tea. It's so lovely and Sunday like.. And it's clearly early and my brain isn't functioning..
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine J,
ReplyDeleteThat all sounds fab, I have visions of all of the lovely treats your Nana must have produced. My auntie had a red salad spinner and I was always fascinated by the thing. :) We also had red lemonade on occasion, I can only imagine the additives in one tiny glass. Please do send on a picture, will be so lovely to see everyone's treats.
LF,
ReplyDeletehehehe I know, I borrowed the photo from lovely Australia. I just thought it was so pretty. :)
Hi Katatethat,
ReplyDeleteWow, sounds like Sunday tea was a rather yummy affair for you, my mouth is watering reading your list. :) Looking forward to your email.
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, it is so Sunday like. Now send me a photo, stat!
Hello likemamusedtobake, this is a wonderful idea. I too remember the rolled ham/turkey slices and always beetroot and then lots and lots of cakes, I am sure there was a tiny bit of competition between the family households too! Black Forest Gateau was my favourite, haven't had that in years! I would love to participate in this great initiative, unfortunately I won't be in the Country at the end of this month, but if you decide to continue, I would love to try my hand in May. Best regards, Praline
ReplyDeleteHi Praline, (great name)
ReplyDeleteRolled ham and turkey slices were the height of sophistication. And yes there was definitely an element of healthy competition. You don't have to be in the country to praticipate, simply send me on a photo to likemamusedtobake@hotmail.com if you want to take part. The post will appear on the blog on April 24th.