The Tea Party

 

”Let us be grateful to people who make us happy: they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom”

Marcel Proust

Bonjour!

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been decades since I first learned that Valentine’s Day was a chance to express love and affection to those near and dear to me.

 

 

As an adult it’s been a wonderful occasion to shower friends with my favorite gesture of kindness …A Valentine’s Day Tea.

 

 

This past week I colored my sweet cottage with the colors of love…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

red, pink and white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sprinkling candy hearts around the cottage table…

 

 

 

 

and scattering them generously with love💕

 

 

enjoying a teatime conversation embracing the theme of friendship…

 

 

and creating an environment which encourages each other…

 

 

as we share from the heart as friends.

 

👨‍🍳💕👩‍🍳👨‍🍳💕👩‍🍳👨‍🍳💕👩‍🍳👨‍🍳💕👩‍🍳👨‍🍳💕👩‍🍳👨‍🍳💕👩‍🍳👨‍🍳💕👩‍🍳👨‍🍳💕👩‍🍳👨‍🍳💕👩‍🍳👨‍🍳💕👩‍🍳👨‍🍳💕👨‍🍳

 

 

 Since I was hosting a Valentine Tea Joe helped choose which tea sandwiches to prepare the day before the tea. It was fun and we enjoyed the process of creating some yummy English tea sandwiches.  What’s nice about making the sandwiches is that there was enough mixture left to make sandwiches for ourselves  the next day!

 

 

English Tea Sandwiches

Ingredients:

For the Cucumber Dill Sandwich:

1/2 cucumber large

4 oz cream cheese softened

lemon zest

1 pinch salt

dill chopped

6 slices potato bread

 

 

For the Salmon Sandwich:

1 package smoked salmon

1/2 cucumber

2 oz. cream cheese

dill chopped

pinch of salt

6 slices potato bread

 

 

For the Egg Sandwich:

4 eggs hand boiled

2 tablespoons butter softened

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 pinch paprika

6 slices potato bread

For the Cranberry Chicken Sandwich:

3 chicken breast boneless

1/4 teaspoon thyme

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 oz. cranberries

Sprig of watercress

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

2 teaspoons dijon

6 slices potato bread

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Instructions:

For the Cranberry Chicken Sandwich:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Season chicken breasts with olive oil, salt and thyme. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool, cut cooked chicken into 1 1/2 inch pieces.
  2.  Mash the cranberries in a bowl. This step is messy! ( I forgot to add the cranberries. so I didn’t have to get messy. )
  3.  Chop up watercress.
  4. In a bowl, mix together mayonnaise and dijon mustard.
  5. Combine cranberries, chicken, mayonnaise mixture until incorporated
  6. Butter sliced white bread. Add chicken mixture and a layer of watercress. Cut off crusts, then cut rectangles.

For the Cucumber Dill Sandwich:

1. Chop dill. Combine with softened cream cheese, lemon zest and a pinch of salt. (This mixture will be used again).

2. Cut paper thin slices of cucumber.

3. Spread cream cheese mixture onto white bread and add cucumbers slices. Cut off crusts, then cut rectangles.

For the Salmon Sandwich:

  1. Spread the same cream cheese mixture from the cucumber dill sandwiches onto the pumpernickel bread.
  2. Add a layer of cucumbers, then salmon
  3. Cut a circle out of the sandwich.
  4. Transfer some of the cream cheese mixture to a piping bag and pipe a dollop. Add a dill sprig for garnish.

For the Egg Sandwich:

  1. In a bowl, mash hard boiled eggs.
  2. Chop watercress
  3. Add butter, mayonnaise, paprika and watercress to a bowl. Mix until combined.
  4. Butter bread slices. Add egg mixture.
  5. Cut off crust. Cut rectangles.

🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥

Whether you are a first time tea-goer, or have attended many teas…it’s always good to review the basics of a successful tea. Here is a video with a few tips.  (I apologize for the screen being small.  Earlier in the morning I had done a Facebook LIVE and didn’t realize that the camera was still at a different angle.) Enjoy! 💕

 

 

 

 

Marcia
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6 Responses to The Tea Party

  1. Joe says:

    Thank you for capturing the real essence of Valentine’s: sharing love through a celebration of giving!
    Happy Valentine’s Day!!

  2. Carol says:

    Marcia….everything for your tea party looked terrific….and the recipes sound so delicious . .. it has been quite a while since I hosted a tea party……..I will have to try your recipes for a tea party…..hopefully soon!….Thank you for sharing…

    Much love to you and Joe..
    Sincerely Carol

    • Marcia Ren says:

      Hello Carol,
      It’s so nice to see you today. I’m glad you enjoyed the tea gathering. You must try the tea sandwiches they are very easy to prepare and quite tasty! You might have many of the ingredients at home already. Wishing you a wonderful day and fun weekend. XOX
      Marcia

  3. Jenny Bonynge says:

    How very fun! A beautiful table setting…love the tablecloth. ;0)

    • Marcia Ren says:

      Hi Jenny!
      Thank you. It was a wonderful afternoon. I am so lucky to have met such nice friends. The table came from one of my favorite shops here called Truffles. Unfortunately they just closed their business. I do hope that they will open again in the future. Happy a Valentines Day! XO

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