Tea Time with Jennifer Trethewey – Herbed Cream Cheese Finger Sandwiches

My local chapter of RWA had its first ever Afternoon Tea in August. It was a potluck so people brought tea sandwiches, tarts, cakes, scones, anything and everything associated with afternoon tea. I picked up a great little cookbook in Caithness, Scotland called “Maw Broon’s Afternoon Tea Book.” It contains recipes and tea time traditions with humorous Scots comments and asides.

Here’s another simple recipe I chose to use for the Wisconsin Romance Writers of America Tea Party.

Herbed Cream Cheese Finger Sandwiches

I’m making this a triple decker by using the thick slices of Pepperidge Farm white and a thin slice of Pepperidge Farm wheat bread. I start in the garden.

Mince a teaspoon each of dill, thyme, and chives.

Mix them with 4 oz. of Philly Cream Cheese (1/2 a brick) along with a heaping tablespoon of sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spread a layer on the bottom slice and the middle slice. About a ¼ inch thick. Assemble and cut away the crusts. Then cut the square into triangles.

Here comes the fussy part. You can skip this if you want. Get some micro greens, pinch off the green tops until you’ve got about two tablespoons. Coat one side of each triangle with cream cheese mixture and dip it in the micro greens.

Pretty! You can make the cream cheese mixture ahead of time and fuss with the micro greens, but I would wait until the day of the party to assemble.

Slainte!

*****

While enjoying your sandwiches pick up a copy of Jennifer Trethewey’s Betting the Scot.

Declan Sinclair is a Highlander who believes his dreams never lie. When he spots Caya at a public house, he knows instantly she is the woman in his dreams—his future wife. Though her brother had promised never to gamble again, he engages Declan in a card game—and the prize is the lovely Caya.

Caya Pendarvis has no time for childish things like dreams or fairy-tales or love. She’s the sacrificial lamb on her way to the far north of Scotland to wed a wealthy merchant in exchange for settling her brother’s gambling debts.

Winning at cards is one of the many things Declan Sinclair does well. Unfortunately, the ability to court a woman—a talent he lacks—is the only skill he desperately needs to win Caya’s heart.