Tea Sandwich Saturday #12 - Chicken Pâté

This week's tea sandwich is a new favorite -- I say that all the time now, don't I? -- and I couldn't wait to share it with you! It's a Chicken Pâté tea sandwich on some particularly yummy new bread I came across at Publix.

One reason we have a pâté recipe this week is that I just got a new food processor since the old one died, and I was ready to check it out. This recipe is very easy and calls for just a few ingredients: chicken breasts, rosemary, cream, salt and pepper, lettuce. That's it!

Now while I had heard of chicken liver pâté, I was not familiar with chicken pâté. What is pâté? Epicurious has a good definition, and another simple one I saw simply refers to it as a mixture of meat and fat made into a paste.

I had planned to make this recipe using plain old wheat bread, but then I saw this variety at the grocery store and quickly changed my mind! The recipe, by the way, pretty much comes from a Laura Childs novel, "Eggs in Purgatory," part of her Cackleberry Club series. The recipes in this book sounded particularly great, and so here is the Chicken Pâté recipe as I made it.

Chicken Pâté Tea Sandwiches

2 chicken breasts, fully cooked in microwave and cut into thin strips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 small (5-inch) sprig of rosemary, with leaves stripped and chopped
Dash of salt
Dash of red and black pepper mix
8 rectangular slices of nut or seed bread
Few pieces of lettuce blend

Place strips of chicken breast, whipping cream and rosemary leaves in food processor and pulse until smooth, light and creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste and pulse again. Spread on slice of nut bread, topping with a few lettuce leaves and another piece of bread. Trim crusts and cut into rectangles. Yields about 12 (very tasty) tea sandwiches.

A new Kimberly Shaw stationery giveaway!

The Kimberly Shaw stationery giveaway last month was such a hit, I decided it was time to do another one! And since I know some of you do "catch up blog reading" on the weekends and often miss the giveaways, I am going to let this one run through Monday at 7 a.m. EST. The winner will receive six of Kimberly Shaw's famous tea-themed cards, all with a teabag tucked into the design. (I saw these designs selling for $3.50 each in a tea room gift shop recently, so I'm especially grateful to have received such a generous amount of them to give away here!)

There are also four great little pins featuring her designs which can be given away to friends or worn on a blouse or purse strap.

And a beautiful sheet of stickers for sealing letters, scrapbooking or whatever your heart desires. Just let me know you'd like to be entered, and I'll announce the winner sometime Monday morning. Good luck!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you all have a very Happy St. Patrick's Day today! In what has become a yearly tradition at our house, I'll be having Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner. Will you be enjoying any special treats today? Some Irish Breakfast Tea or Irish Soda Bread, perhaps?

The Aqua Cup Tea Co.

Spring is not quite here yet, so when I had a chill the other morning I wanted a nice bracing cup of tea and remembered I had a brand new blend just waiting to be sampled!

This "Aqua Cup Tea Co." box of tea is from Kimberly Shaw, whose beautiful notecard is featured up top.

This Orange Spice Tea was just delicious, and exactly what I needed to chase away the morning's chill. If you'd like to see this and other teas she has for sale, and at some very reasonable prices, go here!

"The Herbal Tea Garden"

Over the weekend I read "The Herbal Tea Garden" by Marietta Marshall Marcin, and I cannot recommend this book highly enough! I've had it for a while but when I started to read it last summer, I realized I had missed out on using the spring planting tips, so I re-shelved the book and vowed to read it early this year. Now, I am armed with a shopping list of new herbs I plan to try as well as some great ideas for planting and using them!

Marcin is clear about the fact that herbal teas are not camellia sinensis, the tea plant we are all familiar with, but she notes that herbal teas too have been brewed for thousands of years. If you've never grown herbs before, she provides a wealth of information to get you started, from soil preparation and the merits of using seeds vs. plants to dividing and transplanting herbs. There are also some lovely illustrations of herbal tea garden designs, including one for a three-herb knot garden.

Most helpful, however, is the "Compendium of Herbs" in which she provides detailed information for 70 herbs. She lists the common and generic names as well as alternative names that have been used for the herb. She describes each plant's height, soil and light needs, propagation and care, which part is used for tea, the taste, and how to brew the herb. I learned of two herbs which when prepared are said to taste similar to Chinese tea: Labrador Tea and New Jersey Tea. Labrador Tea, while drunk by the Eskimos and Indians of eastern Canada, comes with a caution since drinking more than a cup or two can cause drowsiness and possible poisoning! New Jersey Tea, however, is one I definitely hope to try. This tea is also sometimes called Liberty Tea because after the Boston Tea Party and during the American Revolution, it was used by those who were protesting the British taxes on Chinese tea. These were just a few of the many things I learned from "The Herbal Tea Garden," and I think anyone who drinks herbal teas would enjoy reading it!

Hello, Cookies!

Several weeks ago I wrote about my new tea friend Lani in Honolulu and the wonderful package of photographs and gifts she had sent me. One of the gifts was some Hello Kitty cookie cutters which make for particularly delightful cookies!

Here are the Hello Kitty cookie cutters, some stencils and some stickers she thoughtfully included for the little girls in my life. And they're not in the photo but she even included some cute Hello Kitty bookmarks for this book lover!

I especially loved the cookie cutters and decided to try baking a few cookies yesterday after church. One part of the foot is larger than the other, and I'm not quite sure whether the larger part should go in front or back. Any thoughts? (My only thought is that these sugar cookies sure are tasty with a cup of Mango Tea!)

And speaking of cookie cutters, someone at the Wai'oli Tea Room in Honolulu cuts out these adorable cinnamon ornaments, one of which Lani very carefully packaged and sent to me. Wouldn't you love to end your visit to a tea room with such a lovely treat!

Tea Sandwich Saturday #11 - Shamrock Sandwiches

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to feature some shamrock-shaped tea sandwiches today!

These are filled with egg salad. You can use your favorite egg salad in this sandwich, whether it's from the local deli or homemade. (My favorite egg salad recipe is included in a previous blog post, but I used store-bought for these particular sandwiches.)


I've seen the edges of tea sandwiches embellished with herbs before, but I'd never actually tried making them myself, and it couldn't have been easier! I used a knife to spread a light coating of mayonnaise around the edges, and then I just sprinkled on the dried parsley. When my herbs are growing this spring and summer, I'll be able to use fresh instead!

I have to say, though, that I enjoyed the light crunch from the dried version of the parsley. It's an easy way to "dress up" a tea sandwich so it's ready to celebrate St. Paddy's Day!

Some new teatime linens

During a recent Saturday trip to Woodstock, my husband and I shopped at several nice antique malls, including one where I found this cheerful tea towel trimmed in bright green rickrack.

I loved that it featured cups and ...

... a sugar and creamer.

And I'm astonished to report that the next two pieces were *both* discovered by my husband! This tea towel looks straight out of the Early American decorating period. I can just see it polishing some brass Eagle plaque hanging on a wooden plank wall.

Of course, it sports a label boasting "Parisian Prints" -- made in the U.S.A.

Alex also found this great runner featuring red piping and ...

... an embroidered tea kettle and sugar bowl. I told him he's getting so good at finding tea-themed stuff, I'll just start staying home while he shops. (He did not agree to this arrangement, by the way, but I love him anyway!)

Tea recall announced

Well, this is a first! I've never heard of a tea recall before, but just in case any of you have purchased the Peppermint Organic Herbal Tea from Teavana, I wanted to make sure you know about this recall.

Green tea bath and body products

One of the vendors at the recent Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta was Indigo Bath & Body. The "Indigo" in the name makes me think of the Indigo Tea Room in Laura Childs' tea shop mysteries, so I was immediately charmed. I bought a bar of soap and a vial of a Green Tea & Aloe Face Mask. The powdered mask is interesting in that you can mix it up with water, milk, honey or apple cider vinegar. I mixed it with water and indeed it did leave my skin feeling silky smooth. Unfortunately, the smell was pretty wretched. I decided I'll wait 'til I'm all stuffed up one day to try this mask again!

I had a better experience with the yummy smelling Scrubble Bubble Green Tea Exfoliating Massage Soap. It lathers up just great, and I also like the exfoliating tapioca pearls, but the fragrance is just incredible! Quite yummy, and I can still smell it in my bathroom hours later. (If they could only make the mask smell like the soap!)

A new tea mug for spring

It caught my eye as soon as I entered the store.

Could it be? That British designer I so love? Sure looked like her work.

Yes, it was!

And the price was right! You just never know where a new treasure will turn up, do you?

Dilmah Peppermint and English Toffee Tea

At Marshalls recently, I came across a tea blend that struck me as so odd, I simply had to try it. Peppermint and English Toffee? Hmmm. I wasn't quite sure about that. Wouldn't the peppermint overpower the toffee flavor?

When I opened the box and tore into the foil pouch, I was pleasantly surprised at the terrific scent which greeted me from these pyramid shaped teabags. Half peppermint, half toffee. I poured water into my electric tea kettle and soon was enjoying a truly wonderful cup of tea!

Want a pairing suggestion? Alex bought a box of Dulce de Leche Girl Scout cookies, and oh my ... the caramel flavor of the cookies combined with the toffee flavor of the tea is awesome!

My new vintage teacup was in a box of this-and-that my mom gave me for Christmas, and I'll bet she didn't pay over $1 for it. Gardener friends, are those sweet peas on this teacup and saucer? At any rate, it made for some lovely teatime sipping!

The Laura Childs book giveaway winner is ...

Andrea/Samovar! If you'll e-mail me your address via the button at right, I'll get this in the mail to you. Congratulations!

Antiquing my way to the beach

Friends, I am afraid I am losing my touch. I left for the beach Thursday morning, visited eight antique malls (and one Montessori School yard sale) between Seagrove Beach and Fort Walton over the next few days, and I did not buy one, single, solitary thing. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Fortunately, we had stopped by Angel's Antiques in Opelika, Ala. on the way down, and it was there I found this pink 9-1/2-inch oval vegetable bowl in the Tea Room pattern. Whew!

My two favorite Depression Glass patterns really are polar opposites. I love the Lace Edged design with its open, frilly edges (you can see a plate here), but I also like the very Deco styled Tea Room pattern with all its sharp, angular lines.

As I've read about Depression Glass, I've learned that some "flaws" were pretty standard, like this tiny air bubble. I can live with that!

The lines of this pattern also make me think of finely cut gemstones. I just marvel that these Tea Room pattern pieces, in particular, were once common in tea rooms and soda fountains of the twenties and thirties. I'd probably go to Dairy Queen more than a few times a year if I could eat off something like this!

And until I find this piece some companions, I'm using my "vegetable" bowl as a "fruit" bowl!

Tea Sandwich Saturday #10 - The Mini Muffuletta

Now if you're a New Orleans native like my husband, please don't get your Mardi Gras beads in a bundle. Yes, I know the only real muffuletta to a New Orleanian is the one from Central Grocery on Decatur Street in New Orleans (see a photo of it here), but since Mardi Gras is coming up this Tuesday I thought I'd give a nod to the famous muffuletta by making some mini muffulettas as this week's tea sandwiches. If I were planning a tea on or around Mardi Gras season, I would simply have to serve this sandwich or some variation thereof!

Some of the main ingredients for layering are ham (I used Black Forest Ham), salami and Provolone cheese. I got the deli clerk to slice mine 1/8 inch thick. (I love buying one slice at a time, and they truly don't seem to mind slicing them.)

But the most important ingredient of all is the Olive Salad that pulls all these great flavors together. The Publix I usually shop at didn't have any, so I had to go to Kroger to find a jar of Olive Salad. Their deli had some bread already neatly sliced into 2 to 2-1/2-inch rounds, so I opted for that. My husband likes the taste but says this is "definitely not a girl sandwich," and he's right in the sense that it's not your usual delicate tea sandwich. I actually thought of making this with thin-sliced meats and cheeses and doing something with the olive salad mixed in with cream cheese, but that just seemed wrong, somehow, since the muffuletta was never designed to be a dainty sandwich. At a seated (as opposed to buffet-style) tea near Mardi Gras, I think this could work!

You can find lots of recipes online for the muffuletta as well as the Olive Salad, so this would be something fun to experiment with. Here's Emeril's version, just to give you an idea of one variation. I got to eat a muffuletta, the real thing, at the Central Grocery counter on vacation a few years ago, so I definitely have good memories to associate with this sandwich.

So will you be enjoying any special foods for Mardi Gras this year? As they say in New Orleans, "Laissez les bons temps rouler!" (Let the good times roll!)

Win a copy of Laura Childs' "Scones & Bones"!

Today, I am celebrating two importation occasions: 1) The release of Laura Childs' newest tea shop mystery, "Scones & Bones" and 2) my four-year blogiversary! I didn't have a clue what I was doing when I began blogging four years ago (some days, I still don't), but I will say I've learned a lot and I could not have imagined the many wonderful friends I would make as a result. That has been the greatest pleasure for me! Because I was given a book to read as well as one to give away to a reader, I decided today was a great day for a celebratory giveaway! You can just leave a comment to this post anytime between now and Monday at 7 a.m. and you'll be entered to win the newest tea shop mystery.

As always, Childs has me eager to find out what's been going on with Theodosia and friends at the Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston. This time, the action begins at a Heritage Society show on pirates, where a famous "skull cup" rumored to contain Blackbeard's skull is stolen and an intern is murdered in the process. Naturally, Theodosia is called on for her sleuthing abilities. With modern-day pirates in the news so much lately, I found it very timely to be reading about pirates of yesteryear and those who study them. And this is really a minor subplot in the book, but after seeing Theodosia for so long paired with some gentleman callers who seemed nice but not quite worthy of her, I was simply delighted to see a new romance unfold. I hope this goes somewhere!

Of course the tea and foods in these books are almost "characters" unto themselves, and I love that. One of the special events hosted by the tea shop is a Tea and Cheese pairing, and since I'd like to host such an event myself I was especially interested in reading that portion of the story. This book also has lots of great recipes, and I want to try the Goat Cheese Truffles, Couscous Salad and Lemon Chess Pie in particular. I always hate finishing a new tea shop mystery, though, because the next one can't come out fast enough for me. If you feel that way as well, be sure to leave a comment and maybe you'll win this book!

Tea Time Nightshirt

My friend Ashly assured me it is *not* tacky to blog about the new nightshirt I came across when we were out shopping last week, because it's not like it's underwear or something. At any rate, I had been shopping for a new nightshirt and was pleasantly surprised to come across this sweet design at Marshalls!

Very comfortable. Very soft. Perfect for dreaming of teatime.

And it's even got the right name. (But you know I didn't pay $59 for this -- the Marshalls price of $19.99 struck me as just about right.) And if you're interested, this design comes in PJ's as well. Sweet dreams, everyone!