Gail Greco - Afternoon Tea Is the New Happy Hour: More than 75 Recipes for Tea, Small Plates, Sweets and More

Afternoon Tea Is the New Happy Hour

1997, 2023 Gail Greco

Portions of this book were excerpted and updated from: Tea Time Journeys (ISBN 9781558534735).

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Nelson Books and Thomas Nelson are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

Photography by Gail Greco

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Cover Design: Jamie DeBruyn

Interior Design: Kristen Sasamoto

ISBN 978-1-4003-3433-9 (eBook)

ISBN 978-1-4003-3432-2 (HC)

Epub Edition March 2023 9781400334339

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Greco, Gail, author.

Title: Afternoon tea is the new happy hour : more than 75 recipes for tea, small plates, sweets & more / Gail Greco.

Description: Nashville : Nelson Books, 2023. | Summary: Afternoon Tea Is the New Happy Hour features more than 75 recipes to make your teatime memorable.

Inside youll find easy-to-follow recipes to create sandwiches, scones, breads, cakes, dips, and, of course-tea. This beautiful cookbook will provide you with the high-tea food ideas you cant find anywhere else--Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022040617 | ISBN 9781400334322 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781400334339 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Tea. | Afternoon teas. | Cooking.

Classification: LCC TX415 .G73 2023 | DDC 641.3/372--dc23/eng/20220830

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022040617

Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

Please note that the endnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication

For my own Joans of Arc...

Joan Masker, who let the cant out of the bag. She has no idea how significant my growth and lifes successes were thanks to the gift of her . One day in class she slipped me a note, her eyes twinkling and head nodding assuredly, as if knowing she was coming to my rescue. She didnt know how it would also become a springboard for everything I have done and can do to this day.

Thank you, Joan, wherever you are.

And, I raise my teacup to my editorial muse Jone Meyer. Her trusty words still linger whenever my fingertips start typing, as they did for this book. Being a writer is enduring... forever.

I ts amazing! In just minutes, delicate tea leaves turn water into the most powerful and popular beverage in the world. Tea is a perfect drink, which explains its longevity since it was first brewed for medicinal purposes thousands of years ago. Fast forward to Britain in the Victorian era, and the occasion of tea was high tea and afternoon tea. Now, though, afternoon tea isnt just a dainty parlor event; its taken to the streetsliterally and figurativelyin the most unlikely of places.

Step right up to the bara bar with happy hourand you may find friends together after a long day to let go over mixed non-alcoholic cold tea brews and hot tea mocktails. The Happy Hour Tea is a modern teatime with a vintage vibe that makes so much sense because its a time-out thats chockablock with all that is delicious beverages, good food, and dear friends.

I couldnt wait to write this cookbook and create the delicious complementary teas and foods so you could hold afternoon tea as happy hour in your own home. Is it just a trend or much more? Tea is tea, right? Well, not so fast. Theres actually much more to explore, beginning with the tea itself.

Lets have a cup of tea, invites a pause. As Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, Dont just do something, sit thereand Ill add, with a cup of tea. Tea offers clarity in a free-spirit way. Tea is usually described as having a moment, but the increasing popularity and tea trends suggest that today tea is having a renaissance. Its so popular that tea food trucks are wheeling into towns.

Today consumers want to know where their food is grown and packaged. Tea leaves are mostly from the Camellia sinensis evergreen bush, but their tastes vary as a result of their growing environment. The location, soil, and climate (also referred to as terroir) impact the assortment of tea flavors.

Tea drinkers want a natural beverage. And if you open a tea bag, you see and feel this up close. Fresh, fragrant tea shimmies out of the silk or muslin sack like undulating sands on the shore. It brings to mind an observation from Greek philosopher Aristotle. In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. I dont think you can get any closer to nature than drinking tea.

The health benefit of tea is one of the reasons it has become increasingly popularespecially with the millennials who are credited with starting the happy hour tea trend. Tea delivers that breathe-easy, no-worries, soothing finishlike nature that doesnt hurry and yet accomplishes everything.

Tea at happy hour serves up more savory foods with fewer and lighter sweets. And tea isnt only in a teapot, but in a cold pitcher, too, refreshing after a long day. At a bar, you may find smokier teas, like Lapsang Souchong and nitro teas (effervescence swipes any bitterness) that you cant make as easily at home.

An abundance of mouthwatering teas, including Limoncello, Raspberry Creme, and Passion Plum, have also broadened teas passionate draw. Flowers, fruits, and healing botanicals like chamomile, ginger, and turmeric say they are teas, too, as well as new, dried wine-grape-skin teas with the flavor of chardonnay, ros, and cabernet. Happy hour sans the hangover sounds like a perfect afternoon.

If youre unsure about how to make entertaining easier, Ive included tips and suggestions to make hosting more enjoyable. If you want a more formal happy hour Ive also included traditional foods, easy, fresh tea blends, and steps to help you make your own unique blend.

Theoretically, afternoon tea has always been a happy hour. I hope this book inspires you to gather with your friends and family to enjoy a cuppa.