Tea, Books, and the Trinity: TeaTime Magazine Cucumber Canapés with Lemon-Basil Butter

Back in 2020, some friends and I started a Tea Party/Bible Study/Book Club. We met every Wednesday and worked our way through the Chronicles of Narnia and are currently working through The Chronicles of Prydain. When we started I resolved to share all the recipes, but I couldn’t keep up and that’s why I’m still three years behind (but I’m getting there!) All recipes are now going to be titled Books, Tea, and the Trinity.

After we finished The Magician’s Nephew, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; A Horse and His Boy,Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: the next book in the series was The Silver Chair.

The first week we had: Cheese and Basil Scones, TeaTime Magazine Cucumber Canapés with Lemon-Basil Butter, teatime magazine Egg Salad and Watercress Sandwiches, and yogurt fruit bark; along with Winter Grey tea.

This recipe comes from TeaTime Magazine, a wonderful gift from a friend that keeps on giving! 🙂 I love anything with radishes or another way to use up the lemons and lemon juice from our tree that never stops being full of fruit.

Ingredients:

• 1 English cucumber
• 3 slices white sandwich bread, frozen
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
• ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh basil
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• Garnish: radishes, sliced

Directions:

1. Using a fork, scrape the sides of the cucumber lengthwise to create lines.
2. Using a sharp knife or a mandoline, slice the cucumber into 12 thin rounds. Place cucumber rounds on paper towels to absorb liquid.
3. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut 12 rounds from frozen bread slices, discarding scraps.
4. In a small bowl, stir together butter, lemon zest and juice, basil, and salt until combined.
5. Spread a thin, even layer of butter mixture onto each bread round.
6. Top each with a cucumber slice. Serve immediately, or cover with damp paper towels, place in a covered container, and refrigerate for a few hours until ready to serve.
7. Just before serving, garnish each canapé with a radish half, if desired.

Delicious!

Yum!

For more canapé recipes, go to Radish-Dill Canapés

For more cucumber recipes, go to Salmon, Cucumber, and Radish Canapés

For more from our Books, Tea, and the Trinity tea times, go to Cheese and Basil Scones

For more recipes, go to Glazed Cinnamon Scones

For more tea posts, go to Tea for Me, Tea For YouTea for Me, Tea For You

Tea, Books, and the Trinity: Cheese and Basil Scones

Back in 2020, some friends and I started a Tea Party/Bible Study/Book Club. We met every Wednesday and worked our way through the Chronicles of Narnia and are currently working through The Chronicles of Prydain. When we started I resolved to share all the recipes, but I couldn’t keep up and that’s why I’m still three years behind (but I’m catching up!) All recipes are now going to be titled Books, Tea, and the Trinity.

After we finished The Magician’s Nephew, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; A Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: the next book in the series was The Silver Chair.

The first week we had: Cheese and Basil Scones, teatime magazine Lemon-Basil Butter Cucumber Sandwiches, teatime magazine Egg Salad and Watercress Sandwiches, and yogurt fruit bark; along with Winter Grey tea.

The first recipe, the scones, I actually came up using an old recipe as a base.

Ingredients:

• 8 Tbsps (1 Stick) of Cold, Unsalted Butter, Cut into Small Pieces, Plus Extra for Baking Sheets
• 3.5 Cups of All-Purpose Flour, Plus Extra for Later
• 2 Tsp of Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tsp of Salt
• 2 Cups of Grated Cheddar Cheese
• 1 Tbsp of Fresh Basil, Chopped
• 1.5 Cups of Sour Cream, heavy cream, or Buttermilk
• 1 Egg, Beaten, or Milk for Brushing Scones

Directions:

1. Preheat the Oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Coat two baking sheets with butter.
3. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.
4. Add butter, using fingertips to combine until mixture takes on texture of fine cornmeal.
5. Stir in 1.5 cups of grated Cheddar cheese and 1 Tbsp of chopped fresh basil into mixture.
6. Add sour cream, buttermilk or heavy cream and stir until flour mixture is just moist and dough begins to stick together.
7. Gather dough into a ball and knead lightly until fully integrated.
8. Place dough on floured work surface and roll with a floured rolling pin to 3/4 inch thick.
9. Dip a 2-inch cutter into flour and cut out scones as close to one another as possible or roll out and cut into wedges.
10. Place on prepared baking sheets with space in between. Let stand ten minutes, then brush the tops with egg or milk.
11. (Optional Sprinkle tops with an additional 1/2 cup of Cheddar cheese before baking.)
12. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 mins

These were absolutely delicious! For for anyone’s table.

Emma (1996)

For more scone recipes, go to Glazed Cinnamon Scones

For more from our Books, Tea, and the Trinity tea times, go to Pepper Teigen’s Thai Sweet Chili Tea Sandwiches

For more recipes, go to Marilla’s Raspberry Cordial

For more tea posts, go to Tea for Me, Tea For You

Glazed Cinnamon Scones

When we had our Anne of Green Gables book discussion we had raspberry cordial and of course we had to have scones.

This recipe comes from Money Saving Moms.

And eat scones!

Ingredients

For the Dough

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup butter very cold, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg separated
• 3 Tbsp honey
• ⅓ cup buttermilk or ⅓ cup milk mixed with ½ tsp lemon juice

For the Crumb Topping

• 2 Tbsp sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon

For the Icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-3 tsp milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
4. Separate the egg white and yolk. Set the egg white aside.
5. In a smaller bowl, mix egg yolk, honey, and buttermilk (or milk/lemon juice mixture).
6. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
7. On a floured work surface, form the dough into a ball.
8. Roll or pat the ball into a half-inch-thick disc, roughly 8 inches in diameter.
9. Cut dough into eight equally-sized pieces.
10. Transfer the dough to a greased baking sheet (a pie spatula makes this very easy).
11. Whisk the egg white until froth forms and brush over the tops of the scones.
12. Mix sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over egg-white-topped scones.
13. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
14. While scones bake, mix powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until a thin glaze forms.
15. Drizzle glaze over scones after they come out of the oven.

This recipe was delicious and one that since that time my mom loves make again and again whenever she wants scones.

For more scone recipes, go to Dragon Cheddar and Tomato Scones

For more recipes, go to Marilla’s Raspberry Cordial

For more cinnamon scone recipes go to, Apple Cinnamon Scones

For more Anne of Green Gables, go to Which Austen Characters are Kindred Spirits to Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe?

Marilla’s Raspberry Cordial

As we read Anne of Green Gables for book club, we of course had to have an Anne of Green Gables tea. We drank actual tea but also needed to make raspberry cordial and definitely raspberry cordial not wine.

“But you can ask Diana to come over and spend the afternoon with you and have tea here.” “Oh, Marilla!” Anne clasped her hands. “How perfectly lovely!…Oh, Marilla, can I use the rosebud spray tea set?” “No, indeed! The rosebud tea set!…You’ll put down the old brown tea set. But you can open the little yellow crock of cherry preserves. It’s time it was being used anyhow—I believe it’s beginning to work. And you can cut some fruit cake and have some of the cookies and snaps.”

“I can just imagine myself sitting down at the head of the table and pouring out the tea,” said Anne, shutting her eyes ecstatically. “And asking Diana if she takes sugar! I know she doesn’t but of course I’ll ask her just as if I didn’t know. And then pressing her to take another piece of fruit cake and another helping of preserves. Oh, Marilla, it’s a wonderful sensation just to think of it. Can I take her into the spare room to lay off her hat when she comes? And then into the parlor to sit?”

“No. The sitting room will do for you and your company. But there’s a bottle half full of raspberry cordial that was left over from the church social the other night. It’s on the second shelf of the sitting-room closet and you and Diana can have it if you like, and a cooky to eat with it along in the afternoon…”

–Anne of Green Gables by Anne Shirley

This recipe comes from Nourishing Simplicity

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds fresh or frozen raspberries
• 5 cups water
• 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions:

1. Wash your berries, removing any
   steams or leaves. Place them in a 2-3
   quart sauce pan.
2. Add the water and sugar. Bring to a
   low simmer over medium/low heat.
   Cook for 30 minutes.
3. Strain through a fine strainer or
   cheese cloth to remove the pulp and
   seeds.
4. Pour into a quart size glass jar. Store in
   the fridge for up to a week.
5. To serve mix 1 part cordial with 1 part
   water or mineral water.

This was delicious! A great addition to tea, especially one about Anne of Green Gables.

For more drink recipes, go to Magical Matcha Latte

For more recipes, go to Pepper Teigen’s Thai Sweet Chili Tea Sandwiches

For more raspberry recipes go to, Tea Time Magazine Lavender White Chocolate & Cranberry-Raspberry Scones

For more Anne of Green Gables, go to Which Austen Characters are Kindred Spirits to Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe?

Magical Matcha Latte

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

I hope you all have a wonderful and magical day.

I was on Instagram and scrolling through reels and saw this Saint Patrick’s Day matcha latte made with Lucky Charms by Steven Smith Teamaker. It looked delicious and I knew I would have to make it!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon Matcha
• 3 Tablespoons of hot water
• 1-1.5 Cups of milk
• 1 Cup of Lucky Charms Cereal (I used the discount brand)
• Sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Remove marshmallows from cereal.
2. Pour a cup of Lucky Charms or other cereal in a bowl. Add 1-1.5 cups of milk.
3. Mix to combine and let stand for 30 minutes.
4. Strain cereal and milk mixture through a sieve/cheesecloth and gently apply pressure to remove all the milk.
5. Put the Matcha powder, sugar if using it, and water in a mug
6. Whisk together to ensure no lumps (use a matcha whisk or electric stirrer.
7. If making a hot matcha latte; warm the cereal milk and pour into the mug. If making a cold latte, pour cereal milk into the mug.
8. Add marshmallows on top of the drink.

It was delicious! The cereal made it sweet enough for me so I did not add any sugar or sweetener to my drink.

My marshmallows did end up melting fairly quickly, so I would watch for that if you make the drink hot. It probably is better to have the marshmallows in a cold matcha latte. But otherwise, it was truly magical and delicious. I would definitely make this again!

For more matcha recipes, go to Brown Butter Matcha Brownies

For more tea recipes, go to How to Make Royal Milk Tea

For more recipes, go to Pepper Teigen’s Thai Sweet Chili Tea Sandwiches

For more tea posts, go to Spill the Tea: B & B (Bakery and Boba)