Seasonal/tea party offerings?

Parent Cafe
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<p>I’m pretty sure this is the best possible place for me to ask this question so here goes. </p>

<p>So I was invited to a birthday/Christmas tea party this upcoming weekend by another grad in my program. She is asking that people bring drinks and/or food that are festive or theme-related (or wine). </p>

<p>I’m trying to think of what to bring for this occasion. One thought that crossed my mind was mulled cider, which I could make in my crock pot and bring to the party. On the other hand, I think there will be a lot of desserts and sweets, but not really anything savory to munch on. So I was thinking maybe tea sandwiches?</p>

<p>Does anybody have any particular suggestions as to what to bring? There are about ten “invi-teas” that I will have to provide for, and I don’t really want to spent more than $15 to $20. Recipes would be wonderful.</p>

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<p>I think tea sandwiches would be appreciated. I like to make curried chicken salad with walnuts. I don’t have a recipe but I’m sure you could google it. One thing about tea sandwiches is that the bread can dry up quickly, so they should be covered right after being made.</p>

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<p>Mulled cider sounds wonderful, but I think that you are right that there will be a lot of wine and sweets. Tea sandwiches sound great. I don’t have any recipes, but I’m sure you can find some online.</p>

<p>I’m not sure whether this would fit in with the theme, but I here is a great recipe:</p>

<p>[Smoked</a> Salmon in Cucumber Boats Recipe | MyRecipes.com](<a href=“http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/smoked-salmon-cucumber-boat-50400000117849/]Smoked”>http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/smoked-salmon-cucumber-boat-50400000117849/)</p>

<p>It’s easy, healthy, and delicious. You could put them on a nice platter with a lot of fresh dill branches.</p>

<p>When I googled that recipe, I saw a fancier version from Epicurious:</p>

<p>[Salmon</a> and Cucumber Boats Recipe at Epicurious.com](<a href=“http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Salmon-anad-Cucumber-Boats-353109]Salmon”>http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Salmon-anad-Cucumber-Boats-353109)</p>

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<p>I go to a holiday tea each year and the offerings always are on the sweet side. To me, the more sweets the merrier.</p>

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<p>I am a sugar addict, and I feel much better when my sugar intake is minimized. I am always grateful for simple, protein-rich foods. I was at a group breakfast once where people brought all their spectacular baked goods. One person brought a huge bowl of hard-boiled eggs. I wasn’t the only person who was happy to see it. They all disappeared.</p>

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<p>Do you have a food processor? If so, you can make a simple smoked trout mousse, and serve it in a nice bowl on a larger plate, surrounded with sliced red and green vegetables. I’d suggest a European cucumber (The kind that comes with a plastic cover. They are unwaxed, so you can leave the skin on.) and/or a bunch of snow pea pods (very quickly blanched and shocked) and a couple of sweet red peppers.</p>

<p>I use Martha Stewart’s recipe. (You could cut it in half for that many people.) </p>

<p>1 8-oz smoked trout, bones and skin removed
1 cup heavy cream
salt and fresh black pepper
Lemon juice
1 to 2 tablespoons bottled grated horseradish.
2 8-oz packaged cream cheese, softened</p>

<p>Put fish in food processor and chop fine. Add cream in steady stream until absorbed. season with a little salt, add horseradish and process. Add cream cheese and process til smooth. Add lemon juice and S&P to taste, process to blend.</p>

<p>Several plusses: vegetarian, diabetic-friendly, gluten-free.</p>

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<p>I just made salmon, caper, and cream cheese roll-ups for tailgating and they were a HUGE hit. </p>

<p>You would need two bags of flour tortillas, a tub of cream cheese, a bottle of capers, two bags of smoked salmon. </p>

<p>Just spread each tortilla with cream cheese, thin slices of salmon, and sprinkle with capers. Roll up, wrap in Saran wrap overnight. Slice in about 1/2 inch slices (you do lose the ends) Garnish with fresh dill. </p>

<p>The twenty-somethings at the tailgate wolfed them down.</p>

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<p>How about Strata? It’s savory, can be prepared the night before and put in the oven in the morning, served at room temp. Lots of options for fillings including vegatarian or fancy with shrimp. Can be lightened up with low fat cheese and skim milk. There’s even something called christmas morning strata.</p>

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<p>Make the hard boiled eggs a little fancier by making them deviled eggs. These are really popular, cheap and only a few ingredients. There are lots of fancy updated recipes to be goggle. Hint-don’t use super fresh eggs as they are harder to peel. You could also make cheese pennies or cheese crackers that you can freeze. Then you could just slice and bake for each event. These are often served in the south. Especially in restaurants in old houses that serve ladies chicken salad for lunch :slight_smile: ! Many people like to make cheese balls covered in nuts and served with crackers for the holidays. Some even make them in holiday shapes with red and green garnishes.</p>

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<p>Thank you for all of the suggestions so far!</p>

<p>I’ve been looking into tea sandwiches and other recipes and most of the ones I’m finding require things that I don’t have, like food processors, or they’re odd pairings that I would not be accustomed to eating (like mixing cheese with fruit - something that my unsophisticated palette is freaked out by). I really only have very basic cooking equipment at my disposal. I only just got a handmixer. </p>

<p>One thing I’m a bit concerned about is making food that’s too fussy/for sophisticated palettes. I also have to bear in mind that the host is also Indian (though raised in America) so I do not want to prepare anything that a) she cannot eat or b) would be a bastardization of the food she grew up eating. </p>

<p>I wonder if a baked brie with some fruit would be appropriate. This is tougher than I thought!</p>

<p>What are cheese pennies, by the way? Never heard of those before.</p>

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<p>I think a baked Brie with fruit would be excellent.</p>

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<p>Deviled eggs always get snarfed up at parties I’ve been to or given.</p>

<p>Tea sandwiches really can be anything. The trick is to cut off the crusts and slice them on the diagonal into four triangles.</p>

<p>I like:
egg salad
tuna salad
thin sliced cucumber and butter
deli roast beef with russian dressing (I really like this on rye)
Watercress and butter
Ham and cheese
BLT</p>

<p>Baked Brie is also popular - it can get messy.</p>

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<p>Thanks mathmom! I was looking at the pictures and thinking that might be an issue with the baked brie. I also was concerned that it might cool down too much before it can get served, and the hostess will be doing a lot of baking so I do not know if her oven will be available. I was looking at the recipe below, and wondering if I could substitute dried cranberries for the dried cherries to be more seasonal:</p>

<p>[Baked</a> Brie Recipe : : Recipes : Food Network](<a href=“http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/party-starters/baked-brie-recipe/index.html]Baked”>http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/party-starters/baked-brie-recipe/index.html)</p>

<p>Maybe I will just make the sandwiches look festive without using a super fussy recipe. I had not even considered that possibility. Maybe I will do some of the more dainty ones with the cucumber and then some more basic ones like ham and cheese for everyone to enjoy.</p>

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<p>How about a brie and cranberry strata? I’m not giving up on my strata suggestion :)</p>

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<p>Cheese pennies are just homemade cheese crackers -usually just cheddar cheese, flour, etc mixed up with handmixer. Pretty much like making cookies, they are called pennies because the are round and thin. All of the tea sandwiches mathmom listed and chicken salad can be made without a food processor or any special equipment. Deviled eggs require a pot and a fork to mash the cooked yolk with other ingredients.</p>

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<p>This thread has my mouth watering. Yum, yum, yum. There’s brie in the fridge, honey in the cupboard, and an oven available. I know what I’m going downstairs to make. :)</p>

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<p>Speaking as a diabetic, I would REALLY appreciate something without carbs at an event like this. So would the gluten-free contingent. None of us would be able to eat strata, sandwiches, or Brie in phyllo, although all are delicious. Of course, we would probably bring something we could eat in a potluck situation. I certainly do. Or I just don’t go.</p>

<p>I am a veteran of many large and small-scale teas. If you are going to make tea sandwiches, buy Pepperidge Farm thin sliced bread, white or wheat or both. (The very square loaf.) Soften some butter, and skim both slices with it before adding the filling. This sill prevent the bread from becoming soggy. Spread the filling evenly on one slice and top it with the other, then use a sharp serrated knife to cut off the crusts. Then cut the sandwich into triangles. My favorite fillings are chicken salad and egg salad. Another great filling is a spreadable cheese, such as Boursin or one of the cheaper alternatives, with very thin cucumber slices If you want to make cucumber sandwiches, remember that cucumber slices will exude liguid if exposed to anything with salt, such as the aforementioned cheese or butter. You can avoid this problem by slicing and salting the slices in advance, letting them drain in a colander, then rinsing them well and drying them. DO NOT make tea sandwiches more than a couple of hours in advance. Pile them attractively on a nice large plate, sprinkle very finely minced parsley over all, cover them with a dampened (not WET) paper towel, and cover that with plastic wrap.</p>

<p>A really great sandwich that they used to sell at the NYCB is ham and ripe brie with honey mustard on a baguette cut into slanted slices.</p>

<p>Here is a great recipe from Sarah Leah Chase. Everyone loves it. It can be served in a bowl with crackers or bread as a spread (with a butter knife or two), or used as a sandwich filling. When I’ve used it as a filing, I normally use some kind of comparatively strong rustic bread, sliced thin, rather than the Pepperidge Farm loaf.</p>

<p>1 1/2 lbs cream cheese, softened
3T dry sherry
3T light brown sugar
1T high-quality curry powder
1T ground ginger
1 tsp ground mustard
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and minced
2/3 cup mango chutney, finely chopped (I normally used my own chutney, which is made with apples and pears, but I haven’t been making it since I can’t eat it. :frowning: )
6 oz shredded sharp cheddar
grated zest of 1 lime
6 oz hickory-smoked almonds, coarsely chopped</p>

<p>Using a mixer if you have one, cream together the cream cheese, sherry, brown sugar, curry, ginger, and mustard. Stir in the remaining ingredients and let mellow for a few hours. Keeps well refridgerated.</p>

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<p>If you decide to bring something sweet, chocolate covered strawberries are easy and always a big hit.</p>

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<p>Tea sandwiches don’t have to be fancy. I’ve had high teas where the sandwiches were cucumber sliced very thin with butter or cream cheese, tuna, and egg salad.</p>

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<p>i think lots of people love egg salad sandwiches.</p>