Tea Time

We recently decided to have a special little celebration for our daughter with a tea party which is Alyssa's favorite way to celebrate anything. She is such a special girl and she recently faced a major change in her life. We are so proud of how well she has adjusted and how hard she is working at her new situation.





We wanted to give her a little treat to show her how happy we are with all of her efforts lately. So we planned a tea party for her this weekend. When I asked her what would make her tea party extra special she immediately said that she wanted cucumber sandwiches and she would like to bring her dolls, Gabrielle and Chloe. God Bless little girls. How sweet is that?



Alyssa dressed her dolls up in her two favorite party dresses made especially for her dolls by Nana. Nana makes the most amazing doll clothes ever. I don't know who gets more excited about Alyssa's amazing doll clothes collection...Nana, Alyssa or me.


I found a bouquet of flowers that was perfect for the occasion.





So we all went to work making little treats and decorating. We also spent a little time in the kitchen making a few tea time sandwiches and treats. We had so much fun making the food. It was hilarious to see teenage boys doing their best make dainty little tea sandwiches which we eventually decided to use as tasting samples.





Some of Miss Alyssa's tea time favorites are:

Fruit Salad



Shrimp Salade Sandwiches



Tomato Sandwiches



Egg Salade Sandwiches



Cucumber sandwiches



Radish sandwiches



Also, gillettes. Gillettes have been a family standard for a long time. When I was a little girl, my mother would take the left over bits from a pie crust and put them on a cookie sheet sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. They were baked in the over for a few minutes and out popped flaky goodness. I don't make pie all that often, but I will make a pie crust and roll it out just so we can have our gillettes.



I used the demitasse spoons from my silver set. They are so small and dainty. I thought they were perfect for the occasion.



I have loved cucumber sandwiches ever since I was a young girl. Alyssa loves cucumbers so this sandwich has always been a favorite of hers. The rest of the crew is not crazy about cucumbers, but they sure do enjoy this sandwich. Finding cucumbers at the farmer's market in the summer always means we are having cuke sandwiches for lunch. The board of ingredients below is so simple and fresh.




First lets get some cucumbers sliced for the sandwiches. I use one of these handy little slicers. I don't use a lot of gimmicky gadgets in the kitchen, but this is something I really like. I can get a nice pile of cucumber slices in a matter of a few seconds.




Like this. Please ignore the knife.




Now for the first green onion. They need to be minced finely. I do this by slicing a green onion in half, lengthwise. The each half gets cut in half lengthwise. So basically you are quartering the onion length-wise.




Then you cut them cross wise.




The second green onion is going to be cut on the bias. That means it is going to get sliced at a 45 degree angle. These are going to be garnishes on top of the cucumbers so that people know there is green onion in this little sandwich. So I try to make these as neat and even as possible.




I love little piles of ingredients. Also a side note...I have a cutting board that I use every time I cut onions. Onions, garlic and peppers have a tendency to leave a little flavor behind when they are chopped up. I have a special cutting board just for that purpose. So when I use my regular cutting board to chop up some chocolate it does not become the slightly onion-y, pepper-y and garlic-y chocolate...which would be so gross.




Fresh parsley.




Chop the parsley into small bits.




Now for the bread. We need to cut the crusts off first.




To get a clean cut you will need a bread knife. A bread knife blade is serrated it is rather long. I love my bread knife.




When I am cutting bread into a rectangle, I try to use the sides and bottom of the bread to help me frame the rectangle. I cut the sides and bottom off first.




Then cut the top off and give the bread a diagonal cut to make triangles.




Flip one pile of triangles upside down and line the triangles up to assemble the sandwiches.




To a small bowl add the mayo, salt, pepper, minced green onion and chopped parsley.




Stir it up so it is well combined.




Then neatly spread it on the triangles of bread. I do not go all the way to the edges so that when you pick the little sandwiches up, your fingers stay as clean as possible. But you can do this however you want to.




Then grab a handful of cucumber slices and start putting them on the sandwiches. I usually put three slices on each sandwich, but if you cut different shapes or sizes you may need to adjust accordingly.




Here they are.




Then add two or three slices of green onions on top of the cucumbers to advertise that there is green onions in the sandwich. Also sprinkle some chopped parsley on top to make it pretty.

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Ingredients:

18 Thin cucumber slices
2 Green onions; 1 finely minced (white part only), 1 finely sliced
Salt and Pepper
1 Teaspoon fresh parsley, finely minced, divided
2 Tablespoons mayonaise
3 Slices of white bread

Directions:

1. Mix mayonnaise, minced green onion, 1/2 teaspoon of parsley, pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper in a small bow.

2. Cut three sliced of bread into 6 triangles.

3. Spread mayo mixture on bread. Put 3 slices of cucumber on each sandwich. Sprinkle sandwiches with remaining parsley and sliced green onions.

4. Makes 6 tea sandwiches. Enjoy.

For a printer friendly version of this recipe click here.