Another Afternoon Tea

If you have been reading our blog for a while, you know I love going to and serving afternoon tea.  For all of our new readers, well, I love going to and serving afternoon tea. (Here, here, here,and here).  And today with its freezing temperatures was a perfect time to serve tea to some of my gals.  It was time to chow down on some sweets and savories.   We needed to regroup after the holidays, and you all know that girls just want to have fun.

 

I love prepping for the ritual as much as I love eating and sipping during the ritual.  I pulled out my vintage napkins, plates, and cups along with our wedding silver.  I set everything up on the great room coffee table that I had topped with an old, crisp linen table cover.

 

 

It’s really not necessary to serve a large selection or large servings of the foods.  I made some bread and topped it with a store-bought smoked salmon spread and baked some cheddar crackers. That recipe follows.  For sweets I baked some white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and served them with some assorted chocolates.  Can we all give a collective YUM?

 

 

In the short time we were together, we caught up on each everyone’s news, discussed the latest movies, and solved the world’s problems.  Not bad.  Not bad, at all.

*****

 

JALAPENO CHEDDAR CRACKERS 

Recipe from my girl, The Barefoot Contessa (here)

Note: – For our tea, I eliminated the chipotle chili powder and jalapeno pepper.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons baking powder

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 2 cups milk

• 3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan

• 8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided

• 1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish, 3 scallions

• 3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeno peppers

Directions

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don’t overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the scallions and jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Take care.