Holding court! Lemon curd, scones and clotted cream take center stage at neighborly afternoon tea

Neighborly afternoon tea tablescape included pretty china teapots, festive napkins and fresh flowers

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."   Henry James - The Portrait of a Lady

At BTS, we fully embrace this oft quoted homage to afternoon tea by the author of "Washington Square" and "Turn of the Screw", but this week, we'd like to revise it to include:

". . .and if your commute to said tea is less than 30 seconds, so much the better!" And, that was our delightful experience just a few days ago.

Over five years ago, when my husband and I were ready for a more maintenance-free residence, we scouted out several condominium communities in our area. After kissing a lot of "condo frogs", we found the perfect princely place for us just two miles north of our home of twenty-three years. This condo had private patios, mature trees in abundance, and, like a royal fairy tale, it just happened to be on a court.  A court, I may add, with wonderful neighbors.

Afternoon tea hostess, Clay, brewed delicious teas and whipped up clotted cream

At a recent court happy hour, where the ladies in the 'hood congregate in a common area with their own chair and choice of drink, it was suggested that rather than just talk to the person to your immediate right or left, that we go around the circle, each take the floor for a few minutes and share whatever you'd like with the group. It was such a great idea.  We collectively cried, laughed and applauded the members of our court congregation and I learned more about my neighbors in those few hours, than I had, in some cases, in five years. 

When I talked about - you guessed it - tea, I found I had a lot in common (that I didn't know before) with my neighbor, Clay.  We share a passion not only for afternoon tea, but travel as well. After happy hour, we continued talking about the tea rooms we had visited at home and abroad and decided we'd chat more over tea in the next week or two.

Enjoying tea time (attire to match hostess' china, optional)

And, that's what brought us to our neighborly tea this week at Clay's lovely home. She set a beautiful tablescape with blue-and-white china, festive napkins and fresh cut flowers from her garden. 

We had a "cream tea", which is an abbreviated afternoon tea. It's simply tea and scones, served up with clotted cream and jam. 

Raspberry lemonade tea from  Tea and Tumeric, pretty and pretty tasty!

Clay brewed two loose teas from Tea & Tumeric of Laguna Beach:  raspberry lemonade (herbal) and black current, a blend of black tea and berry leaves. Both were delicious and the herbal blend steeped up to a pretty red-punch hue, adding an extra pop of color to the tablescape.

I brought over lemon poppy-seed scones from Trader Joes and Clay provided the accompaniments, lemon curd, mixed berry jam and homemade clotted cream, whipped to perfection.

Black and herbal teas from Tea and Tumeric

Over scones and tea we talked about our travels, discovering that on more than one occasion, we were in the same place within a week of each other.  However, my neighbor has far exceeded my global traveling and I enjoyed hearing about her adventures around the world.

Our court "happy hour", lead to, paraphrasing Henry James, "more agreeable hours devoted to afternoon tea". 

Neighbors sharing an afternoon cream 

I highly recommend the "cream tea" for a neighborly tea time without the fuss of a full afternoon tea. It's a chance to brew some good tea, find a use for your pretty china, focus on conversation and indulge in some tasty scones, curd and cream. 

And, a thirty second commute is an added bonus!