A Thank You Tea

I've just had the joy to share a supper tea party with a friend. She had recently taken some pictures for me and I wanted to thank her. It was her first official tea party (with real tea party foods), and so it was fun, fun for me to plan!

Our menu was special in two ways: 1 - I made up several of the recipes and 2 - I used many things that were either locally grown or grown by the DH! More on that in a future post. For today, and in honor of Valentine's Day, I want to share with you my recipe for the sandwich I've named Blood Orange Hearts. Blood oranges are offered only for a limited time each year (which is now), so give this a try soon! This sandwich has just become my new favorite!

Ingredients:

• Honey whole-heat bread (I made this from scratch a week earlier and froze it, tho purchased bread will work fine)
• 4 oz cream cheese (I used "light" cream cheese; it was also the softened kind, which I find easier to work with)
• 1.5 Tablespoon honey (I used local, wildflower honey; you can adjust the amount of honey to your taste - I go lightly on the sweeteners)
• Zest of a blood orange, some in tiny shreds and a few longer pieces for garnish
• Dash of ground ginger powder

Mix the cream cheese, honey and ginger powder. Stir in the blood orange zest (use as much or little of the zest as you prefer). It's good to make this a few hours ahead, so the flavors can meld. When you're ready to make the sandwiches, thinly slice the bread. Cut into heart shapes and reserve the cutoff pieces for another use. (I gobbled them immediately.) Spread the cream cheese mixture onto the bread and add a heart dimple in the corner. If not serving immediately, cover with a lightly damp cloth and store in an air-tight container.