Tea With Miss Janice, Post #13

As promised, here is a list of tea etiquette faux pas you don't want to commit (in no specific order, cuz they are all important):

~Dunking your teabag, it's tacky!

~Blowing into your teacup--practice patience.

~Placing a used teabag on the saucer--makes such a mess!

~Drinking tea while wearing gloves--nevah evah!

~Slurping your tea--please don't do this.

~Leaving lipstick prints on the serviette/teacup--this is gross! Use a tissue to blot your lips before you sit down for tea.

~Extending your pinkie finger while holding the teacup--it's considered an affectation and you'll end up looking like a mafia character!

~Pouring milk in first--it's poured in last!

~Draining a teabag by winding the string over the bag around the spoon--why would you even do this?

~Using lemon wedges instead of slices--the slices are much more dainty, don't you think?

~Taking big bites of food--"I is told ya and told ya that you can always tell a lady by the way she eats in front of folks like a bird, and I ain't aimin' for you to...eat like a field hand and gobble like a hog"! Mammy, from Gone With the Wind

~Using cream in your tea...use only milk please!

~Sipping from the teaspoon--this is just silly.

~Putting the whole tea sandwich in your mouth...again, very field-handish lookin'.

~Putting jam/butter/lemon curd, cream directly on your scones (place small dallops on your tea plate and then spread).

~Placing your teaspoon, iced teaspoon, or spreader on the table after you have used them--flatware is never returned to the table after it has been used.

~Placing your serviette on the table before you are finished--this is a sure sign to others that you don't know a cotton pickin' thing about dining etiquette!

~Eating while talking--do I even have to bring this up?

~Chewing your food with your mouth open--ditto.

~Reaching across others--nevah evah!

~Licking your fingers--y'all please don't do this!

~Placing your elbows on the table--four-year old students of Miss Janice's programs know better than this!

~Slouching while eating--every Southern lady knows that her back should never touch the back-side of the chair...she sits up straight!

~Asking for seconds before being offered--didn't y'all pay attention to Mammy when she spoke in Gone With the Wind? "Don't act like a field hand," please!

~Washing your food down with tea--chew your food, then take sips of tea.

~Calling iced tea "ice tea," we Southerners know this already--it's iced tea y'all!

~Calling Afternoon Tea "High Tea," it's not...read my posts this month!

~Burning candles at Afternoon Tea without drawing the curtains--I'll admit this was a tea etiquette rule new to me until I studied about the etiquette of the Afternoon Tea.

~Cradling the teacup in one's fingers when it has a handle--are you guilty?

~Swirling the liquid around in the cup as if it were wine in a glass--what's the point?

~Lifting only the teacup when the saucer is 12 inches away from you. Remember that the teacup and saucer are married, just like the salt and pepper shaker. They should always be together.

~Leaving a teaspoon upright in a teacup--a spill waiting to happen.

~Putting scone halves back together like a sandwich after slicing and spreading on the jam and cream--Lord have mercy, don't do this!

~Using a serviette as handkerchief. Now, I know all you ladies would nevah evah do anything like this!

~Removing food from your teeth during teatime--enough said!

~Touching your face or head during teatime.

~Looking over instead of into the cup of tea. This is true with any beverage you are sipping!

~Failing to write a thank-you note to the hostess.

I am planning to participate in "Tablescape Tuesday" and will feature an Afternoon Tea tablescape. I hope that you will stop by then. I know that Susan, our wonderful hostess for "Tablescape Tuesday" is thinking about switching it to Thursday. So, I will feature my tea tablescape either on Tuesday or Thursday! See y'all then!