Snapshots of Thyme

Henry James said “There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.” (The Portrait of a Lady)

I couldn’t agree more with this quote. I love afternoon tea. I definitely get this love from my mum who adores this British tradition too. I remember her taking me to The Savoy in London for one of my very first afternoon teas and after that I was hooked! Between the two of us we have done a lot of the London ones and they are incredible.

In the summer I met one of my friends much closer to home for a spot of afternoon tea at The Slaughters Manor House in Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire.

The Slaughters Manor House is a 17th century hotel nestled in the Cotswolds. It is not a hotel I had been in before but I’ve had it on my list for a while to either stay at or eat at. I love staying at hotels in the Cotswolds and regularly get asked for recommendations via my Instagram. I hope to share more hotel and restaurant recommendations with you on here but if you have any questions please do not hesitate to message me.

We were seated in the lounge next the the fire. The room which I unfortunately don’t have photos of, is a mix of contemporary and countryside chic. I love the pops of pink and grey furnishings in the room. Now onto the food!

So what is afternoon tea?

Traditionally is includes home made finger sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream and a selection of sweets, fancies and cakes. There are variations on this though. This pastime started in the 1840s as a way to starve off hunger between lunchtime and dinner. Today though it is a meal in its own right. I like to have it as a late lunch or early dinner. it is very popular here in the UK and if you have never experienced afternoon tea then I highly recommend you do if you have a sweet tooth like me.

In what order do you eat the items?

In any way you want! Traditionally you start with the finger sandwiches and then move onto scones. Generally you get plain and fruit scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream but again different places do different things. The sweets and fancies come last.

Can’t get through it all? That’s no problem, as you can take home whatever you can’t eat in a cake box. Do you like afternoon tea?