Books, Tea, and the Trinity: Hummus and Veggie Sandwiches

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 Lorien Legacies. When we started I resolved to share all the recipes, but have fallen behind in posting. Instead of having the book we are reading through at the front of the recipe, I’m changing it to be our tea group’s name: Books, Tea, and the Trinity. 

After we finished The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; the next book in the series was A Horse and His Boy. This book was a bit harder to plan recipes as it didn’t have as many starting off points as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but that also meant we could make whatever we wanted to. 

For the first week we had Cederberg Tea Co. Classic Red and Red Chai Tea. We also had Apple Cinnamon Scones, Heirloom Tomato Tarts with Basil, and a Healthy Waldorf Salad.

The second week we had veggies and Greek Yogurt Dip, Teatime Magazine’s Red Pepper Triple Stack Sandwiches, Zuppa Toscana, and Chocolate Covered Strawberries; with Vanilla Rooibos Tea

The third week we had Tea Time Magazines’ Sweet Cream Scones, Homemade Strawberry Preserves, Tea Time Magazines Egg Salad and Cherry Tomatoes Sandwiches, Hummus and Veggie Sandwiches, Empanadas, and Chocolate Chip Cookies; with Celestial Tea Devonshire Breakfast Tea.

This recipe comes from Simple Veganista

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bread
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup hummus
• leafy greens of choice
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced lengthwise and cut to width of bread
• 2 bell peppers
• 1/4 onion, thinly sliced
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

1. Slice the veggies
2. Spread hummus on one slice of bread.
3. Layer with the leafy greens, tomato, cucumber, red bell pepper, and onion.
4. Sprinkle with salt & fresh cracked pepper.
5. Slice in half and enjoy!

I love veggies and hummus so I loved these sandwiches. Not only were they delicious, but you can add or subtract any vegetables you like when making them.

And food to go with.

For more from our Books, Tea, and the Trinity tea times, go to Egg Salad and Cherry Tomatoes Sandwiches

For more sandwich recipes, go to Red Pepper Triple Stack Sandwiches

For more recipes, go to Sweet Cream Scones

For more tea posts, go to Healthy Waldorf Salad

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Book Club/Tea Party: Spinach Puffs

I am sooo, sooo, sooo behind in these. In October 2020 some friends and I started meeting every Wednesday for a Tea Party/Bible Study/Book Club. We began with The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis, and when we finished moved on to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This is different from my book club and the Book Club Picks I have been reviewing (and also desperately need to catch up on). I’ve been sharing all our tea recipes for you too, to try at home.

For the fifth and final week we did the feast with Aslan:

“Meanwhile, let the feast be prepared. Ladies, take these Daughters of Eve to the pavilion and minister to them.”

For this week we had Nobilitea’s Regal Plum (as the Pevensie’s are royalty), French Bread, Sausage Green Bean Potato Casserole, Spinach Puffs, and Strawberry Shortcake.

One thing I will be doing differently here than in my earlier posts, is that I will be sharing discussion questions that your group can discuss as you read and eat. I didn’t post discussion questions in the previous posts on The Magician’s Nephew, as I wasn’t in charge of that book. For discussion questions, click on this link: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Discussion Questions Chapter 10-17.pdfDownload

Let’s spill the tea.

This recipe comes from Gourmandize.

Ingredients:

• 1 package Puff Pastry Sheets
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Thaw pastry sheets at room temperature for 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix 1 egg and water and set aside
3. Mix remaining eggs, cheese, spinach, onion and parsley
4. Unfold pastry on lightly floured surface.
5. Roll each pastry sheet into 12-inch square and cut each into 16 (3-inch) squares
6. Place 1 tablespoon spinach mixture in center of each square
7. Brush edges with egg mixture. Fold squares over filling to form triangles
8. Crimp edges to seal.
9. Place on baking sheet. Brush with egg mixture
10. Bake 20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.

They were righteous and rocked. Haha, you can’t have a post on spinach puffs without mentioning Kronk!

For more from our The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe teas, go to Sausage, Green Bean, Potato Casserole

For more recipes, go to Marmalade Rolls

For more tea posts, go to Spill the Tea: Bubble Tea Station

Books, Tea, and the Trinity: Savory Meat Hand Pies

So every Wednesday, starting in October, I have been a part of a Tea Party/Bible Study/Book Club on The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis. This is different from my book club and the Book Club Picks I have been reviewing (and desperately need to catch up on). This week we had Cinnamon Bun Scones, Curry Egg Salad Triple Stack Sandwiches, Savory Beef Hand Pies, Cranberry Feta Pinwheels, and Melt-in-Your-Mouth Buttermilk Chocolate Cookies.

I though it would be able to post these faster, but I have really fallen behind. I’m trying to catch up though!

So my friend had made some meat pies a few weeks earlier and they were amazing! I begged and begged her for the recipe but she couldn’t give it to me as she didn’t really have a recipe. She just kind of throws things together.

So I instead went searching online and found a site called Longbourn Farm, and I was like “Longbourn”? Do you mean this Longbourn?

Pride and Prejudice’s Longbourn?

So of course I went with it. I ended up using my pie crust recipe from my apple pie recipe.

Ingredients: Pie Crust

• 2 Cups of All-Purpose flour
• 1 Teaspoon of Salt
• 3/4 Cup of Shortening
• Ice Water

Filling:

• 1.5 lbs of Ground Beef
• 1 Cup of Chopped Onion
• 3/4 Teaspoon of Salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Pepper
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Ground Thyme
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Ground Oregano
• 1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
• 1 Cup of Grated Cheddar Cheese
• 1 Egg
• 1 Teaspoon of Water

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix up the shortening and flour. Add in water, a tablespoon at a time until dough is more malleable. If you add too much and it is too liquid-y, then just add a bit more flour to firm it up.
2. Put dough aside.
3. In a medium frying pan on medium heat, add ground beef and spices.
4. When ground beef is brown, about 8 mins, add onion.
5. Cook until the Ground Beef is completely cooked through and the onoions are translucent.
6. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
7. Roll out pie dough and cut circles out of the pie crust, they should be about 4-6 inches in diameter. You can use a large cookie cutter or biscuit cutter or just trace a drinking glass if you don’t have a cutter.
8. Divide the Ground Beef and cheese up evenly between the circles.
9. Fold the circles in half and press the edges together gently. Crimp them firmly with a fork.
10. Whisk the egg and water together.
11. Brush the egg-water mixture onto each beef hand pie.
12. Place the beef hand pies on a lined or greased sheet tray.
13. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

So these weren’t as good as my friend’s hand pies, but they were extremely delicious.

I did run out of pie dough though, and ended up having to buy more (I just bought the premade frozen ones).

For more from The Magician’s Nephew Tea Party/Book Club, go to Cinnamon Bun Scones

For more recipes, go to Easy Fruit Tarts

For more pie recipes, go to Mini Apple Pies

For more tea posts, go to Brisket and Slaw Roulades

Basic Chicken Salad

So let’s talk about tea time. We’ve had scones and cookies, we need some sandwiches!

I love chicken salad, and here is a basic recipe. I’ll do a Waldorf Chicken Salad in the future. I got this recipe from my sister blog MysteriousEats.wordpress.com

Ingredients:

• 1.5 Cups of Cooked Chicken (I like using the rotisserie chicken)
• 1/2 Cup of Chopped Celery
• 1/3 Cup of Chopped Onion
• 1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Bread

Directions:

1. Toast bread.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
3. Spread the chicken salad on the toasted bread.

Delicious

A great addition to any one’s tea time.

Ready for high tea!

For more recipes, go to London Fog Smoothie

For more salad recipes, go to Triple Berry Salad

For more from MysteriousEats, go to London Fog Fauxccino

Baked Potato Soup

Who likes to eat?

Me too. I don’t really post recipes on her, leaving that to my sister blog Mysterious Eats.

Weeeeeeeeeeelll…with one exception. If it has to do with Jane Austen or a tea party, I review and post it.

Last year I helped put on a tea, and fashioned it after a teahouse I used to go to when I lived near Santa Rosa. They would always serve scones (I did the Cheddar-Thyme Scones and the Harvest Pumpkin Scones) and tea sandwiches. You could also add on tarts, little turnovers, salad, or soup.

This soup may not be a real “tea soup”, but I thought it was tasty, easy to make, and fancy looking.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons of Onion, finely chopped
• 5 Tablespoons of Butter
• 5 Tablespoons of Flour
• 1 14-oz can of Chicken Broth
• 1/3 Cup of Cheddar Cheese, grated
• 1 Baked Potato (6-7 inch baker), cold, cut into bite-sized pieces.
• 2 Cups of Half-and-Half
• 1 Cup of Milk
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
• 1/8 Teaspoon of Black Pepper
• 6 Slices of Bacon, cooked, broken into bits (Or use Bacon Bits)
• Cheddar Cheese, to go on top

Directions:

1. Sauté the onions in butter.
2. While stirring, slowly add the flour and then the chicken broth.
3. Cook until it thickens.
4. Add the cheddar cheese, stirring until it melts.
5. Then add the potato, leaving the skin on the pieces.
6. Finally stir in the half-and-half and the milk.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Top each serving with crumbled bacon and cheddar cheese.

It is a fantastic tasting soup, and having cooked the potatoes it takes like no time at all.

Yay!

The only thing is that you have to be careful when adding the milk or half-and-half. The lactose sugar in them can burn and ruin the dish, so you have to keep stirring. The more you stir the less likely it will burn.

One time I had my niece hep me and I felt like that scene in Goodfellas when Henry Hill keeps telling his brother to watch the sauce. Just like Michael she didn’t enjoy the stirring.

No more stirring.

But it was easy, delicious, and will be a great addition to any future tea parties or dinners.

For more recipes, go to Triple Berry Salad