TIME for TEA

So much of cooking for me is pulling old ideas out of the recipe box in my head. Things are created from experimentation, family secrets and the muscle memory of making them for years.

This has always been my approach to tea sandwiches: A little of this, a little of that and a pinch of the other thing, and somehow those cute little sandwiches come out perfect every time.

Of course, the trouble with this is that they come out just a little different every time.

So after years of this method — and years of friends asking me for recipes for a few of my favorite tea sandwiches — I decided to get them on paper.

"Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea." — Author unknown

For so many of the tea parties I have hosted, I spent days preparing. There were chicken and beef to roast for sandwiches. There were cakes to bake for dessert. There was lemon curd to make and clotted cream to be prepared. There was shopping and chopping and slicing and dicing; mincing and measuring and sifting and stirring.

Then I realized it did not have to be so involved.

By taking advantage of the high quality prepared foods at my local grocer and places such as Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, I could put together a lovely tea in a fraction of the time.

"Tea, to the English, is really a picnic indoors."— Alice Walker

Tea — a proper tea with the cute little sandwiches and the fancy desserts — is one of my favorite ways to entertain friends. Bridal showers and baby showers are great occasions for a tea party.

I have hosted teas in spring and teas in winter.

I once even co-hosted a series of six tea parties that revolved around the six episodes of the BBC production of "Pride and Prejudice."

With so much practice at hosting tea parties, I have learned that I can get away with far less than one might think when it comes to the food.

Instead of six kinds of sandwiches, two desserts and scones, I have scaled it back to three favorite sandwiches, one beautiful and easy sweet item and fresh fruit to round out the presentation.

The key for me is to have a variety of flavors when it comes to the sandwiches. Then I focus on the presentation: the quality over the quantity.

I cut perfect little crustless circles and squares and triangles for the sandwiches. I make artful little displays using the lovely mismatched dishes given to me by my grandmother.

Of all the tea sandwiches I have made, two have been popular time and again: a simple version of egg salad with a sweet crunch of cucumber, and a creamy and slightly peppery roast beef.

• CREAMY EGG AND CUCUMBER

Yield: 12 sandwiches

4 eggs, hard-boiled and diced; see cook's notes

1⁄2 cup peeled and seeded cucumber, diced

3 tablespoons crème fraîche; see cook's notes

2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

24 squares of white bread, 2 inches by 2 inches in size; see cook's notes (Bread can be cut a day ahead and stored in a zipper bag or airtight container; use a square pastry cutter or cookie cutter if possible)

Softened butter

Cook's notes: Most grocery store salad bars have hard-boiled eggs. While boiling your own is not that time-consuming, you can cut a step by buying pre-cooked eggs. Crème fraîche is similar to sour cream, but less sour and a bit thicker. While previously difficult to find, it is now available at most markets, including Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. If you cannot find it, substitute sour cream. Don't toss the leftover bread and crusts: Use them to make bread crumbs.

Procedure

Combine chopped eggs, cucumber, crème fraîche and mint. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and refrigerate until needed. Can be made a day ahead of time.

To assemble sandwiches, lightly butter one side of each bread square. If you used a pastry cutter to cut the squares, you can now use this as a mold to uniformly assemble the sandwiches.

Place one piece of bread, butter side up, in the pastry cutter. Top with a spoonful of the egg mixture. Place another piece of bread, butter side down, on top of the egg mixture.

Gently push down on the sandwich and slide the pastry cutter/mold up and away from the sandwich.

• ROAST BEEF WITH CRÈME FRAÎCHE AND ARUGULA

Yield: 12 sandwiches

3 cups chopped roast beef; see cook's notes

5 tablespoons crème fraîche; see cook's notes

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

1⁄2 cup chopped arugula

1⁄2 teaspoon pepper

1⁄2 teaspoon sea or kosher salt

24 rounds of potato bread cut using a 21⁄4-inch pastry cutter

Softened butter

Cook's notes: Save time by buying pre-cooked roast beef. Many stores go beyond the deli-sliced meats and carry cooked portions of roast beef. Or buy it in the deli, but buy a slab instead of a slice. For information on crème fraîche, see note on egg and cucumber sandwich.

Procedure

Combine beef, crème fraîche, horseradish, arugula, pepper and salt. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Can be made up to two days ahead of time.

To assemble sandwiches, lightly butter one side of each bread circle. Use the pastry cutter as a mold to uniformly assemble the sandwiches.

Place one piece of bread, butter side up, in the pastry cutter. Top with a spoonful of the sandwich filling. Place another piece of bread, butter side down, on top of the filling.

Gently push down on the sandwich and slide the pastry cutter/mold up and away from the sandwich.

"Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things." — Chaim Potok

An idea to create a chicken salad beyond what one might find in the local deli resulted in a happy accident. One ingredient had been forgotten at the store, so another was substituted in a pinch, fingers crossed. The substitution was curry paste. And it was such a hit, I can no longer remember what the original ingredient was meant to be.

Another happy accident (thinking I had walnuts when I didn't) led to the addition of pistachios. The chicken salad evolved a few times before I settled on this version, now a tea party staple.

• CURRY CHICKEN SALAD WITH PISTACHIOS

Yield: 12 sandwiches

2 cups roasted chicken, chopped; see cook's notes

1⁄2 cup roasted, unsalted pistachios, chopped

1 teaspoon curry paste; see cook's notes

1⁄2 cup plain Greek or Greek-style yogurt; see cook's notes

1⁄2 cup carrot, grated

2 teaspoons honey

1⁄4 cup more roasted unsalted pistachios, ground and set aside (use a small food processor or a coffee grinder to do this, or chop finely)

12 pieces of wheat bread cut into 3-inch by 3-inch squares then halved diagonally to form 24 triangles

Softened butter

Cook's notes: Buying a roasted or rotisserie chicken is a big time-saver. Curry paste is available in the ethnic food aisle of most grocery stores. The yogurt was a plain, Greek-style yogurt. Most markets carry this. It is thicker than regular plain yogurt, so it binds better.

Procedure

Combine chicken, chopped pistachios, curry paste, yogurt, carrot and honey. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Can be made a day ahead of time.

To assemble sandwiches, lightly butter one side of each piece of bread. Gently spread sandwich filling to evenly cover the buttered side of a bread triangle. Place another piece of bread, buttered side down, on top of the filling.

Once you have all the sandwiches assembled, a fun extra step is to dip one side into the ground pistachios. To get the ground pistachios to stick, lightly butter one of the shorter sides of an assembled sandwich and then gently press into ground pistachios to evenly coat.

"When we sip tea, we are on our way to serenity." — Alexandra Stoddard

My hope, when I invite people to tea, is that no one leaves hungry. At the same time, I don't want people bursting at the seams. So I gave up on making so many desserts. Too much baking and way too many leftover sweets in the house.

I solved this problem by making what I like to call dessert canapés: a couple of little bites that satisfy the sweet tooth without too much diet guilt. Plus they are just so darned pretty.

• LEMONY DESSERT CANAPÉS WITH HONEY-NUT CREAM CHEESE

Yield: 24 canapés

Premade lemon loaf cut into circles using 11⁄2-inch pastry cutter; see cook's notes

4 ounces whipped cream cheese; see cook's notes

2 tablespoons honey

1⁄4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

24 fresh raspberries

24 small, fresh mint leaves

Cook's notes: Trader Joe's Lemony Lemon Loaf is a favorite in this recipe. But use what you like. Banana loaf topped with a strawberry works nicely to change up the flavors. Mix and match to your taste. Leftover cream cheese mixture is good on bagels or toast. I like to make up a little extra.

Procedure

Mix cream cheese, honey and nuts.

Top each round of lemon loaf with 1 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture.

Top with a mint leaf and a raspberry.

"There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea." — Bernard-Paul Heroux

I may take shortcuts when it comes to the sandwiches, but I never skimp on the tea. I use good-quality, loose-leaf teas, steeped using a cotton tea sock infuser. I like Mariage Freres or Harney & Sons or Fortnum & Mason when I can find them. But many coffee shops and tea houses also sell their own blends.

Tea choices can be limitless, but I opt for the classics: Earl Gray, Irish Breakfast, a nice Darjeeling, giving guests the option of adding a touch of milk and sugar. For a warm-weather tea, I might add a pitcher of lemonade or a fruit-flavored iced tea.

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea." — Henry James, "The Portrait of a Lady"

Even with a few twists on tradition and a few shortcuts in the preparation, that small window of time taken for a proper tea is like a mini break from the real world. By letting the prepared-food departments at my favorite stores do the heavy lifting, I allow myself more time with the most important ingredients in a successful tea party: the guests.