Lower tea prices and the rise of temperance in the early 19th century led to the widespread adoption of tea drinking. People across the country were consuming tea, and rituals like elevenses and afternoon tea were born. Elevenses in Literature: Hobbits & Pooh I can't imagine why somebody would mention Elevenses in England because we just know Elevenses. If you ask a Brit, "Do you know elevenses?" it's like asking an American what the Super Bowl is. There was once an advert or, sorry, a commercial for this bar — it was a candy bar — but it was this "health" bar that they called Elevenses. They were just using the term that everyone knows. As coffee becomes more popular around the world, some people have started drinking it instead of tea. The options for food and drink during elevenses are endless. The purpose of this break, after all, is to stem any hunger before lunch and to get enough energy to make it to lunch. Similar Traditions Around the World

Winnie-the-Pooh did not have tea with his elevenses. He preferred bread with honey and condensed milk. Another famous literary bear, Paddington Bear, would have hot cocoa with marmalade sandwiches. Pastries and Tea are Traditional Elevenses Fare The entry also mentions “fours”: “RAYNBIRD Agric. Suffolk vi. 296 The name ‘fourzes’ and ‘elevens’, given to these short periods of rest and refreshment, show when taken.” Tolkien says that the hobbits loved elevenses, and one of the Lord of the Rings films has this delightful little exchange. The hobbits are on a trek when hobbit Pippin suggest they take a break. The hard-working human Aragorn is all for pressing on: We agreed with Slimming World that we would remove the Syns from our food and shopping lists. LOOKING FOR WEIGHT WATCHERS SMART POINTS?

The concept of elevenses has even made its way into literature. In the Middle Earth novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, elevenses are one of the seven daily meals of the hobbits, served between second breakfast and luncheon.

Both parents working, so no pre-school sitting around the kitchen table as Mum takes a well-deserved sit-down. As British food traditions go, elevenses are a relatively new one. The mid-morning tea break became popular during the rise of the industrial revolution. For the first time, Britain had a labor force working long, set hours in mills and factories. Unlike brunch, they are not a full meal, rather a little something to keep you going until lunchtime. Margaret Thatcher did away with the 11am ⅓ pint of warm milk in schools that had conditioned all of us to take a break and our stomachs to expect a little something.

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Unlike Western Europe and North America, many countries in Central and Eastern Europe have a second breakfast as part of the daily eating schedule. Countries that observe a second breakfast include: My phone, that's all I can handle. We don't have Alexa or whatever all those other things are. Literally no interest whatsoever. Anything techie, I've got to turn all that off. I cannot use tech, it drives me insane. Because it always crashes, it's always complicated. You always have to reboot something, and I don't know how to reboot something. Boots are the gorgeous heels I've got. Other than that, I want to talk about a boot. You must have a laptop... EricRadley - How about some home-made low-fat muffins, crepe rolls with a bit of jam or some fruit kebabs? Tan France: Oh no! OK, then I'm going to be honest. I have the flu. We're gonna get through this together! I moved three days ago, and I think it's the exhaustion of how insanely stressful it's been. There's a study that says the top three stressful things in life are divorce, moving… I live in the US now and had friends over the other day for toasted teacakes by the fire. American guests peppered me with questions about whether people in England actually do stop for tea. My relations tell me no – not unless you have people over. Bummer!