A Spot of Tea…or Not?

It was less than a  year into homeownership and pre-marriage (read: before we got all of our wedding registry items!) when I had the first rude awakening that I was domestically ill-prepared.  My in-laws-to-be were visiting for the weekend and their friends who live near us were stopping in for a visit.  As any good domestic goddess in-training would do, I immediately offered our guests something to eat or drink.  A drink sounded good and the request was afternoon tea.  Sounds pretty standard, right?  Wrong.  Not only was there no tea bag in sight, I sheepishly had to admit that we didn’t even own a teapot!  Truth is, I barely know how to make tea, never mind think to stock it!  My groom swooped in for a valiant rescue, realizing we had some loose leaf tea in a decorative container, which had been from a corporate Christmas party years back.  How it made the cut to move from Vermont is beyond me…

And what did we do without a teapot, you wonder?  A microwave, of course.  How embarrassing…old loose leaf tea brewed in microwaved water.  Could I be any less domestic?  Needless to say, a box or two of tea bags now sits on my cupboard shelf eagerly awaiting the next nice old lady who stops by and requests a cup.

Thankfully, I learned an important lesson about being domestic that day:  Being a gracious host means having the foresight to think about what a potential guest might like, not what you like.  In the time since, my list of basic must-have food/beverage  items has grown (and we now have a tea pot).  How does my list compare to yours?

Be prepared; stay stocked!

• Tea (you can’t go wrong with Earl Grey or English Breakfast)
• Caffeine-free tea (read: Herbal teas)
• Coffee (Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is my choice)
• Decaffeinated coffee
• Milk (Not a regular milk-drinker?  A pint of 1% milk will satisfy most)
• Half & Half (Again, a small container won’t break the budget and will make you seem super prepared)
• Coffee-Mate non dairy powdered creamer (the shelf-life is forever!)
• Sugar (check out the sugar bowl to make sure it’s full…or that the sugar hasn’t hardened…)
• Sweet-n-Low, Equal, and Splenda (Yes, some of each.  Grab ‘em from restaurants if you must.  Trust me, people are loyal to their sweetener of choice and will appreciate your foresight!)

Optional equipment items

• Tea pot (obviously highly recommended!)
• Coffee maker (we even have our old coffee maker for a back-up when we have overnight guest.  One pot of decaf, one of regular)
• Matching sugar bowl and cream container (my friend Dave was quite creative when he used a glass measuring cup for half & half; I might get him this cute set from Crate&Barrel for his wedding…)
• Some nice, matching tea cups and coffee mugs