clicker's Full Review: Elizabeth Knight - Tea With Friends
I found this book delightful...and I don't even particularly like tea! Despite my lack of enthusiasm for hot tea, I plan to order three copies for gifts for my friends who entertain frequently.
With this book, one can hold a tea party every month of the year, two for December, and find everything for planning that month's celebration, from menus to invitations to centerpieces, music and related activities.
BOOK'S CONTENTS
The book starts with a charming introductory section, called "Taking Tea" and includes basic tea and tea party information: descriptions of the different types of teas; a chart with names, origin, brewing time, serving suggestions, etc.; making a good cup of tea or tea for a crowd and tea history, etc. Before reading this book, I didn't know the difference between a light tea and afternoon tea. Did you know that one of Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting originated afternoon tea? Probably, if you're a tea aficionado or English, but it was an interesting tidbit for this Texas girl. However, my favorite part of this section was the beautifully illustrated pages on setting a tea table.
The heart of the book is divided into months with a tea party idea and completely planning information for each month. Some are ideas one would expect for the month as a Saint Patrick's Day tea for March but it's a fresh take on the subject as a Ceili tea, a traditional Celtic form of entertainment. Everything about the party is coordinated and planned out for the hostess, including a menu with a recipe for Irish Soda Bread, a centerpiece of a rustic thatched cottage, Irish music as background and entertainment of an Irish sing-along to tunes like "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling".
A get-together I'd love to hold is September's literary tea, perfect for groups of people who love to read and talk about books with their friends. Each month's party is enhanced with historical anecdotes and quotes such as the September quote, "Next to acquiring good friends, the best acquisition is that of good books," by Charles Caleb Colton.
AN OUT-OF-THE-ORDINARY GIFT
What I feel makes this book extra special is its format. Glossy paper and colorful layouts are further enhanced with charming watercolors done by Carolyn Bucha, an English award winning artist who specializes in book and greeting card illustations.
Those who enjoy "Tea With Friends" as much as I did will probably want to look for another book by the same publisher, Storey Books, called "Country Tea Parties" by Maggie Stuckey. Bucha is also the illustrator for this one.
The only drawback to the book is its lack of an index. Insistence on an index for any non-fiction book is a personal idiosyncracy of mine (see my other non-fiction reviews). I personally feel that a book's usefulness is greatly increased with an index, even for a book as short as this one, 60 pages.
The book's small square size would make it ideal to put in a gift basket containing an elegant tea cup and an assortment of teas. As soon as I receive my gift copies from www.amazon.com, I plan to start putting together my gift baskets to have on hand for birthdays, house warming gifts, bridal showers or just plain "you're a special friend" present.
I expect that I'll end up keeping a copy of "Tea with Friends" for myself. Who knows? This old Texas girl might just end up becoming a little more elegant and a hot tea drinker to boot!
(Note for traditional Texans: There's even instructions for making terrific iced tea.)
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