What little girl doesn’t loves her tea parties? I grew up having tea parties with my dolls, dog and sometimes my sister. I have to confess that I didn’t think I really felt like a grown-up until I had my own tea set.
Now, my tea setup doesn’t follow any set of rules. Afternoon tea is designed around three key themes: 1. good tea & food, 2. beauty 3. ease.
I invite you to check out how @aimeesapron does tea according to me.
good tea & food
You must supply a variety of teas – in a satchel and loose leaf. I love a good tea box that presents the tea beautifully to your guests.
The food is simple, but themed. At least two breads are necessary and at least three varieties of sandwiches. I chose pumpernickel and a gluten free oat bread. The sandwiches were cream cheese and cucumber, smoke salmon canapes and egg salad. Check out the recipes for each below. You must also cut the crusts off the bread and cut them into thick matchsticks, 1-2 inch squares or you can use a biscuit cutter like I did for the round canapes.
beauty
The beauty comes from the chine. Be it new, like mine, or handed-down, the tradition of tea itself is beauty. You don’t have to drop a lot of cash to get a good china set. You can peruse the aisles at your local antique store and find a steal – or even mismatched tea cups and saucers sound like a fairy-tale.
ease
Now I feel that this might be the most important element to a great tea. Easy does it. If you make it overwhelming, you find yourself reaching for teat anytime soon. Make the sandwiches ahead. They keep very well and cut even better this way. Get help from the store. For a sweet note, I added store bough Madeline’s which would frankly be too stressful for me to make. Afternoon tea was meant to be a time to relax, reflect and share. So take it easy.
cucumber sandwiches
- 1 English cucumber (they don’t have many seeds and are not as watery)
- Softened cream cheese
- Bread of your choice
- Slice the cucumber as thinly and uniformly as you can.
- Spread and even layer of cream cheese on both bread slices.
- Lay the cucumber slices on the bread, covering the bread as much as you can. Cut the cucumber into shape as needed.
- Put the bread slices together. Cut the crusts off and cut into the shape of your choice.
smoke salmon canapes
- 1 package of smoke salmon
- An English cucumber
- Softened cream cheese
- Fresh dill
- Bread of your choice
- Use a round biscuit cutter, cookie cutter or even a cup to cut round pieces out of your bread.
- Spread the cream cheese over each bread slice.
- Thinly slice the cucumber and lay a slice or two on top of the bread.
- Lay a few slices of smoke salmon on top of the cucumber.
- Place a small dollop of cream cheese on top of the salmon and add a sprig of fresh dill.
egg salad sandwich
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
- Pinch of salt & pepper
- 2 stalks of celery, finely diced
- Finely dice the hard-boiled eggs and add to a small bowl.
- Add the celery, mayo, salt & pepper and stir to combine.
- Add a generous helping to one slice of bread and then lay the other slice on the bread to make the sandwich.
- Cut the crusts off the bread and cut into whatever shape you prefer.
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