7-Elevenses: My Week of Breaking Like a Brit

It’s no secret amongst the people who really know me that I’m a bit of an Anglophile. I don't know why or how my Anglophilia developed, but I’ve been drawn to English culture for as long as I can remember. Oliver! was my favorite film when I was a kid, Haley Mills my favorite actress. And when I was in 5^th grade, my friends once made fun of me for listing Duran Duran before New Edition on my list of favorite bands. I’m sorry, but Ralph Tresvant didn’t have anything on Simon Le Bon. No competition. None.

When I hear an English accent, my ears perk up not unlike when Fido hears a dog whistle. I see a Union Jack and I want to belt out “God Save the Queen.” The Sex Pistols version (sorry, Your Majesty). Don't be surprised if you hear me call a potato chip a crisp, a French fry a chip, a cookie a biscuit, a biscuit a scone, and a line a queue; and I may or may not say it all sounding like Madonna after she married Guy Ritchie. Truly, I fancy almost all people and things that are quintessentially English, such as: Wellies, Dickens, gin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Pimm’s, minding the gap, Mike Leigh films, Radiohead, Zadie Smith, Harry Potter, Idris Elba, the Victorian era, Stella McCartney, Thandie Newton, English new wave, Dame Maggie Smith, sticky toffee, the BBC, and also tea.

Of course tea.

Afternoon tea. High tea. Low tea. A true Anglophile should know all the tea about, well, the tea. So how is it that until very recently, I was completely unaware of the very English tradition of taking tea and a snack at around 11:00 am and calling it...wait for it...elevenses? Elevenses? Bloody hell, are you kidding me? I just like saying it. Elevenses. And here I was sipping tea only once a day, in the late afternoon, acting like I understood what it meant to adore all things English. You mean to tell me all this time I could have been kicking back every day at 11:00ish with a nice cuppa and a digestive to tide me over until lunch? Elevenses is brilliant!

When I found out about elevenses, the slow lifer in me immediately loved the idea of routinely indulging in a short break after the day has already started but before it’s gotten away from me. Sitting down with a cup of tea and a morsel — if only for fifteen minutes or so — and maybe flipping through a magazine or simply staring into space as tea steam warmed my face, that sounded heavenly. So I decided to see if I could incorporate this tradition into my life by committing to a week of elevenses. Here’s how I fared:

 

DAY 1: I took elevenses from 11:23 - 11:36. I started a tad later than I'd planned, but since it was Sunday I was able to enjoy the experience with my husband, Matt. We had masala chai with cashew milk and Matt's homemade cinnamon sugar biscuits. Elevenses is the jam.

  

 

DAY 2: I took my elevenses from 11:10 - 11:29. I looked at Facebook while my cat, Crookshanks, looked at me. By the way, Crookshanks is a very Anglo name, wouldn't you say? The tea was Teavana's Maharaja Chai Oolong & Samurai Chai Mate. I ate not one, but TWO cinnamon sugar biscuits because who gon' check me, boo? Crookshanks didn't know what to make of my presence on the couch so early in the day.

 

DAY 3: I took elevenses at my fitness club because my Zumba class was from 10:45 - 11:45. The jasmine tea bag and peanut butter crackers weren't exactly my preferred loose leaf and homemade biscuit but they got the job done.

 

DAY 4: I just couldn't seem to start my elevenses at 11:00 on the dot. This one was from 11:10 - 11:31. I had masala chai with cashew milk and another one of Matt's homemade biscuits. I found this tin at HomeGoods. Nifty, init?

 

DAY 5: I came home after spin class and had elevenses from 11:11 - 11:29. Once again, it was Maharaja Chai Oolong & Samurai Chai Mate with one of Matt's cinnamon sugar biscuits. To be honest, I was a little sick of the latter but I didn't have any Burton's on hand.

 

DAY 6: After Zumba I didn't feel like sticking around the club so I went home. Having elevenses from 12:04 — 12:25 was more like twelveses but nobody's perfect. I had Teavana's tea again, but instead of yet another cinnamon sugar biscuit, I paired the tea with a wee slice of the homemade lemon cake I'd been having with my afternoon tea. Scrumptious.

 

DAY 7: Since it was Saturday Caturday, Crookshanks joined me in bed to watch me elevenses (does it work as a verb?) from 11:14 - 11:31. The tea of choice was vanilla cream with cashew milk and sugar. My homemade whole wheat scone fell apart when I bit into it but it was bloody good! I couldn't help feeling like Crookshanks was judging me for still being in bed though.

So that's it. Seven elevenses! I must say, I was sold on the routine. It was nice to have a short break to look forward to and it gave me a chance to focus on myself, which I especially needed on those days when I was giving a lot of my energy to other people or responsibilities. While I realize I won't always be able to take my elevenses every single day, I intend to get it in whenever I can. As an Anglophile, it’s the least I can do.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I believe it's time for my afternoon tea. Or shall I say, fourses.