A Tea Party for the Girls

Me (pouring) and Mom

I recently had the LOVE-ly opportunity to host a tea party at my Mom's house.  Very special guests included my mom, sister, a dear friend, my niece and a friend of hers, and the dolls.

I love digging in Mom's china cabinet to find family treasures as serving pieces.  I also brought the fresh Rosemary sprigs with me from Oregon. 

My niece loves cucumber, and so cucumber sandwiches were required.  I used a Rosemary butter base (my favorite cucumber sandwich).  The picture below shows one.  It is supposed to look like a Christmas tree, but my sister thought it looked like a spade.  ;-)

We also enjoyed thick cucumber rounds topped with two types of hummus:  red pepper and chickpea, and mushrooms on toast.  For scones, I made my favorite yeast ones which we ate with raspberry jam from the local Amish market and mock Devonshire cream.  The savories and scones courses were vegan-friendly. 

And for dessert, we had dates stuffed with pecans (vegan) and wonderful cookies brought by my friend.  The girls  had an English Breakfast tea and the grownups enjoyed a delicious tea, new to me, Capricorn Tea.  I very much enjoyed this blend of black and white tea blended with vanilla and rose petal.

I can't tell you how precious these tea times are to me, especially since I live far away. I'm so grateful for tea's presence in my life.  It brings together people I love.

Guinness with Your Tea

Guinness Soda Bread Scones, and other delectables

It was tea-times-two on Saturday!  A friend joined me for a tea party at my home before heading to our Japanese Tea Ceremony class, where she was the guest instructor on kimono dressing.

With a nod toward St. Pat's, I served the following.  All of these were vegan, except for the salmon and the macarons.  (I've had a nasty respiratory virus and am off dairy.)

Sandwiches:

• Blood Orange sandwich - This time, I used vegan cream cheese, blood orange rind, a drop of vanilla and a drop of orange extract
• Smoked salmon on rosemary butter (vegan spread) 
• Sprouts (made by the DH) on rosemary butter (vegan spread)

Scones:  Guinness Soda Bread Scones These were a big hit!  To make them vegan:

• Use 4 Tbsp of vegan margarine
• Use 1/4 cup of nondairy milk with 2 Tbsp vinegar to curdle it
• Use agave or sugar instead of honey
• I started with 1/4 cup of Guinness and added 3 Tbsp.  This kept the dough firm enough that I could cut out shapes.
• This version is just as good as the non-vegan...you won't notice the difference.
• PS - It just occurred to me, after I'd posted this, to check if Guinness is vegan. Technically, it's not.  If this is a concern for you, read more here.

Desserts: 

• Dates stuffed with pecan
• French macarons from a local bakery
• Fresh Strawberries!  I'm so happy because I wait for the CA ones each spring.

A Japanese-Themed Tea Luncheon

Last week, I had the honor of hosting several women colleagues in my home for a tea luncheon.  Given my interest in all things Japanese these days, I decided to provide a Japanese-themed lunch.  New territory for me!

I used a combination of my own disheware with some items borrowed from a very generous tea friend (thank you JE!).  She also provided several Japanese cookbooks and suggestions of menus.  

We started with yuzu spritzers, made from club soda and yuzu syrup.  Then we moved onto lunch.  We enjoyed green beans that had been blanched and dressed with a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil and agave (I made this one up) and sprinkled with sesame seeds and seaweed.  I purchased a few rolls (California, avocado and cucumber) from the sushi shop down the street. I kept these vegetarian and cooked (the California roll is cooked crab meat) because not everyone loves raw fish. 

I also made Japanese pickles, and I was delighted with these!  We'll definitely be keeping these around in my household. These are better know as "refrigerator pickles" by my Grandmother, meaning they're fresh and not heat-processed.  The pickling solution includes sugar, white vinegar, water and mirin (a cooking sake).

For dessert, I gave my friends a chance to try mochi.  These sweets had a chunk of strawberry in the center, wrapped in red bean paste and covered with a sweet rice flour dough.  They're chewy and sticky and I like them.  My friends were all very good sports!  (We also had Rice Krispy treats.)

I very much enjoyed the planning of the event, and of course spending time with my friends!  Interestingly, much of this menu is vegan and gluten-free.

Persimmon Hearts

If you need a last-minute, easy and yummy Thanksgiving treat, try these persimmon pastry hearts!  I made up this super-simple recipe, and I look forward to having it again soon.

Fuyu persimmons are new to me.  I grew up in the Midwest with the native persimmon, smaller and only edible when mushy.  When I discovered that fuyu persimmons could be eaten like an apple, I was doubtful...until I took my first bite.  They are yummy raw, but also cooked!  I even had pickled ones recently that were heavenly.

The photo above is from the Asia Tea Tour in 2011.  We visited a street market and these fuyu persimmons were colorful and abundant. (See more pictures of the Beijing street market.)

I had never seen them in the US in a store until I moved to the Pacific Northwest.  Are they now being carried back home in the Midwest or other places?

The recipe is simple...

The filling
* Peel and chop a fuyu persimmon into very small pieces
* Splash on a little lemon juice (just enough to wet)
* Sprinkle on 1-2 tsp of sugar, depending on your preference (it doesn't take much, the fruit is quite sweet)
* Sprinkle on a bit of your favorite spices (I used a sprinkling of cloves)
* Stir and let sit for a few minutes; the mix will get a little juicier

The pastry
* Either make or buy pie crust pastry (vegan versions work well for this!)
* Roll out the pastry to pie-pan size, and fold over to make a double layer (or place two sheets together)
* Cut out heart shapes (you want two layers)
* Open the layers and add a the filling, taking it near the edge
* Press the layers together

The baking
* Bake for ~15-20 minutes, or until the pastry is done and turning golden
* Once or twice during the baking, use a brush to bathe the crust with any juice that escapes (this helps with making it golden, especially for vegan pastry)
* When done, remove from oven and allow the hearts to cool until they can be handled with the fingers
* FYI - I made mine in the toaster oven; it's a fast treat for two

Two Vegan Tea Party Sandwiches

Here are two very simple recipes from the after work tea party earlier in the week.  Let me know if you try them!  I'd love your feedback.

I needed things that could be made ahead.  I also wanted one sandwich that had a bit of sweetness and one that was more savory.  And they're both vegan, which is something you're going to see me write more about.  I'm not trying to be preachy, as I'm not strictly vegan or even vegetarian (mostly so inside our home).  Rather, I find this a fun challenge, and a healthy one too!  So here we go...

Chow Chow with Cream Cheese

Marmalady shared a jar of her famous chow chow with the me.  It's yummy!  Sweet with a bit of tartness, colorful and just perfect for a tea sandwich.

To prepare, I spread vegan cream cheese on both sides of hearty bread (with crusts removed).  It's easy to find vegan breads in the grocery store.  Just watch out for whey and honey, among the other obvious items.  Then I spread on the chow chow, taking it right up to the edge so that the color would peek through.  I cut into triangles and devoured an entire sandwich on the spot.  Delicious! 

Honestly, I'm surprised how well the vegan cream cheese works.

Mushroom on Toast

This one is sure to please even the most carnivorous of your friends.  Sautee half an onion and one crushed clove of garlic.  Add a pan full of diced mushrooms.  Sautee until the mushrooms release their juices and then reabsorb it (some liquid also evaporates).  Season with just a pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper.  Shape your bread as desired and toast it.  Spoon on the mushroom mixture and enjoy several helpings.

An After-Work Tea Party

A friend and I enjoyed a tea party last evening after work. We've both got full schedules and wanted some dedicated time to catch up. Tea is the best way for that, I think!

We kept things streamlined and I think it turned out beautifully.  Notice the clean, unfussy display.  I love it!
We started with two finger sandwiches:  Mushrooms on toast and chow chow with cream cheese (recipes).  We enjoyed a delicious Summer 2012 “Mi Xiang” oolong tea from Global Tea Hut, sent by a generous friend in Taiwan. 

Next we enjoyed pumpkin scones with mock Devonshire cream and the DH's homemade red plum jam.  We drank a Yunnan Gold tea, courtesy of a sample provided by Jing Tea.  We experimented with the best way to brew this and agreed that it needs a light steeping (don't overdo it!).

The finishing touch was a fuyu persimmon heart.  I made this recipe up and was quite pleased with the result.  Lightly sweet with a pretty orange center.

And by the way, all recipes were vegan with the exception of the pastry crust.  And they were soooo yummy, even though I was the cook.  ;-)