Afternoon Tea, ala Marie

Next weekend I'm going to have my 3rd Annual Pride & Prejudice Party/English Tea. Always trying to find ways to make the winter pass as painlessly as possible, I figured mid-January is as good a time as any to watch a four-hour movie starring Colin Firth. So, for the last couple of years I've invited like-minded friends over for a marathon viewing of P&P, breaking mid-way for a traditional English Tea.

Here's where the "Marie" from the title comes in. Mark's grandmother, Marie Versprille, was an amazing woman with many distinctive traits (some more distinctive than others...like never being afraid to voice her opinion, which made for some really funny family situations). One her main "quirks" she passed onto me and others in the family (whether or not they were related by blood), was the desire to have everything in her home and at mealtime "just so." Always a tasteful decorator of her home, she passed those gifts onto her children. When you dined at Gram's there was never the use of paper plates, and every meal featured table settings, linens, and whatever tchotchkes were in season. Always at the center of the table, there was a very small bible, which I'm proud to say sits on my bookshelves today. About the only exception to the rule about Gram's "table" was if we had a picnic, but even that was exempt if the actual meal occurred inside (real plates) vs. outside (paper plates).

Gram's legacy continues to this day. At family parties there's a little pressure (not a lot, and it's always for the best) to emulate Gram's entertaining practices, right down to the fact that you would never put a container of "something" on the table...it would always go into a small dish (i.e. grated cheese, and sometimes condiments). And using paper plates? Done so very sparingly. If you do use paper plates, they match the theme of the event and tie all the colors together. Even last weekend, when we were in a furnished mountain chateau, Lena and I agreed that we would not use the paper plates we had brought, and would do our best to put out a nice dinner setting, even if there were mismatched forks, knives, plates and cups. We had a good laugh over that.

So, as I approach my tea party next weekend, I ask WWMD - What Would Marie Do? Well, she'd probably like it that I'm using my maternal grandmothers china tea cups upon a lace tablecloth, complete with the sugar and cream in a matching set, fancy spoons, a candle centerpiece, and some traditional English Tea treats. I know it sounds silly, but it does give us a moment to pause and enjoy the finer things, one of many lessons our amazing Gram taught us!