Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Very Vegetable Tea Sandwiches

I had the pleasure of having tea with a former Girl Scout of mine. We have been trying to get together for tea for a few weeks, and schedules have just interfered repeatedly. We finally managed to coordinate a time. Since we were meeting at her home, and she has small children, I decided to whip up some tea sandwiches that I thought even little kids would like. I think the jury is still out on that one.

Very Vegetable Tea Sandwiches



One package cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. carrots, chopped
1/4 c. onion, chopped
1/4 c. celery, chopped
1/4 c. cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 t. lemon juice
1 t. mayonnaise
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper

Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until well mixed. Spread on bread of choice (I used a multigrain bread) and cut into quarters.

We enjoyed a passionfruit and coconut green tea, and her children enjoyed the cookies I brought. It made for a very pleasant couple of hours!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

A Tea for Valentine's Day

A little late, but...

I decided at the beginning of the year that I would have at least one themed tea each month. Last month it was in honor of Twelfth Night and this month it is, of course, Valentine's Day.

Despite the fact that I have an entire room devoted to Valentine's Day, filled with lots of pinks and reds and hearts, I don't have much in the way of decorations to put on my table. I do, however, have a lovely heart decorated tea pot.



I bought a red tablecloth to set the mood, and got to work on my special tea sandwiches. I pulled out my Valentine themed cookie cutters and got to work.



For the sweets category, I went with a cherry and a strawberry sandwich spread.

Cherry Tea Sandwiches

One package vegan cream cheese
One jar of maraschino cherries
Slivered almonds

After the cream cheese has softened, add the cherries with just a little bit of the juice for color and the almonds. Mix well.

Strawberry Tea Sandwiches

One package vegan cream cheese
One box of strawberries, hulled and chopped
Chopped pecans

After the cream cheese has softened, add the strawberries and the pecans. Mix well.

For the savory category, I went with a classic cucumber with a twist.

Benedictine Cucumber Tea Sandwich

One package vegan cream cheese
One cucumber, peeled
One small onion

Chop the cucumber and onion. When the cream cheese has softened, mix in the cucumber and onion and mix well.

I slathered on the spreads to a couple of different loaves of bread. I used heart and lips shaped cookie cutters to cut the sandwiches out of the bread. I packed up the unused trimmed sandwich bits to nibble on at a later time.

For the tea, I decided upon a hawthorn tea. Good for the heart, you know!

I was gifted with a dozen beautiful roses from my equally beautiful daughter, and they graced the table.


Because it fell on a work night, the hubby and I decided to wait until the weekend to go out for a romantic dinner. I could not, however, let the day pass without something special.



Tuesday, January 8, 2013

A Tea for Twelfth Night


January 6 is Twelfth Night, or as some would call it, Epiphany. Since for some this signals the end of the holiday season, it seemed appropriate for the first tea party of the new year. I decided to keep it fairly simple, augmenting the food and tea with a viewing of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.


Tea party food typically includes bite size sandwiches, a savory and a sweet. Scones or biscuits are often served, as well.


My sandwiches were pimiento cheese sandwiches, made with Daiya cheddar and vegan mayonnaise.


My savory was pecan halves with a vegan cream cheese filling.


My sweet was cake balls. Leftover rum cake pulsed into crumbs, mixed with a vegan cream cheese frosting, chilled then rolled into balls.


I offered a variety of teas so that participants could choose their favorite.

An alternative to watching a performance of Twelfth Night is to have your guests assigned roles and read. It's okay to double or triple up on roles, depending on the number of guests. As always, the important thing is to keep things light and fun and enjoyable for everyone.

You can learn more about ways to add to your celebration here.