Monday Meals: Tea Party Recipes

This weekend I hosted a tea party for several of my lovely coworkers! We had a lovely time, but I couldn’t have done it without my family’s help!

My dad polished all the silverware and made 3 different kinds of tea.

My mom cleaned the house (no photo available). It was her birthday too!

And my sister cut up all the fruit! (We had a ton!)

As for me, I prepared all the food. I made 2 kinds of pie, but I won’t get into that on here, since they are featured on pie pages.

I also made some sandwiches and scones, which are the recipes I’m going to share here!

A word about tea sandwiches: I bought the super thin bread, cut off the crusts, filled the sandwiches, then cut into triangles. In addition to the recipes below, we also did classic cucumber sandwiches, which were just buttered bread with thin cucumber slices placed in the middle.

Recipe #1: Chicken Salad (which we used in sandwiches)

I was told that my ingredients were very exciting and different. (I used some of the add-ins suggested below.)

It took a lot of chopping, but it was worth it!

Basically, everything just gets mixed together, and it looks like this!

Chicken Salad

1 (4.5 oz.) can chicken, drained

¼ cup chopped celery

1 tbsp. finely chopped onion

3 tbsp. mayonnaise

Season to taste with:

pepper

garlic powder

lemon juice

dill

tarragon

Optional add-ins:

Chopped apples

Quartered grapes

Chopped and toasted walnuts

Dijon mustard

Curry powder

Craisins

1. Chop celery and onions, and optionally apples, grapes, and walnuts (then toast walnuts at 350 for 5 minutes to add flavor).
2. Combine ingredients in bowl, stir, and season to taste.
3. Spread on thin sandwich bread. (makes about 30 sandwiches)

Recipe #2: Egg Salad (also made into sandwiches)

The eggs were boiled the night before, so they could be sitting in the fridge all night. (I doubled the recipe, which is why there appear to be so many here.) 

Then they all got peeled…

…and chopped using our nifty egg slicer!

Add in the mayonnaise and the spices (I just think of Blue’s Clues when I see Mr. Salt, Mrs. Pepper, and baby Paprika together! haha)…

…and you have egg salad ready to spread on the bread! 

Egg Salad

6 eggs

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. yellow mustard

⅛ cup chopped onion

¼ tsp. paprika

salt and pepper to taste

1. Place eggs in saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in water for 20 minutes. Remove from hot water; soak in cold water, then cool in refrigerator for at least an hour (overnight is best). Peel and chop eggs.
2. Place chopped eggs in bowl; stir in other ingredients.
3. Spread on thin sandwich bread. (makes about 20 sandwiches)

Recipe #3: Teapot Scones

This was a little more my comfort zone – I love to bake! Pretty simple ingredients.

Look at the lovely way this flour looks when it’s been sifted!

The instructions say after the butter is mixed in, it should resemble “fine breadcrumbs.” This is what I came up with.

And here’s what it looks like when it’s all mixed together!

Yes, classic scones are cut into circles, but we had this cute teapot cookie cutter that was just dying to be used!

When they’re all on the baking sheet, brush them with milk… 

…and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Basic British Scones

4 cups flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

2 pinches of salt

½ cup butter

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 425. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together in bowl.
3. Rub in butter and vanilla until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Stir in sugar and enough milk to mix a soft dough.
5. Turn onto a floured surface, knead lightly, and roll out to ¾ inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch rounds (or using a shaped cookie cutter) and place on prepared baking sheet.
6. Brush with milk, sugar, and cinnamon.
7. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, then cool on wire rack.
8. Serve with strawberry preserves and whipped cream. Makes 2 dozen.