Tea Table
The beauty of a tea table lies in its simplicity and in the convenience and taste with which it is arranged. Comparatively few women know how to make one inexpensive and attractive. A small silver creamer and sugar bowl impart a certain elegance to the simplest table. Both must be small and should rest on the tray. Lemon cut in small pieces, a slice quartered, is the proper size. Tea served with brandied cherries is delicious and it is always well to have a bottle of preserved cherries on hand.
For an ordinary afternoon tea, fill a cup with cherries and pour over them sufficient brandy to cover. Let it steep well in the cup until the guests arrive, then empty the cherries into a pretty glass bowl. The cherry bowl accompanies the sugar, cream and lemon on the tray, that is passed after the tea has been served. A silver bonbon tongs may be laid on top of the cherries. One cherry is dropped into a cup.
The stiffness so often experienced where people are calling upon other people whom they do not know very well, can invariably be broken up by offering some sort of refreshments. The act of eating and drinking inevitably destroys self-consciousness and renders all concerned less restrained. It does not matter very much whether it is cider and doughnuts, chocolate and wafers, a cup of tea and a biscuit, or what not, so long as it is something. It adds charm, however, to have whatever is served, brought in deftly and served daintily. one.