Guest Post: Afternoon Tea Anyone?

It is with great pleasure to introduce Chef Shari of The Saucy Gourmet she is a personal chef and culinary instructor, I love her blog and admire her skill in the kitchen. Yesterday she had a fabulous post on afternoon tea. I asked her to share it with us, oh the joy of afternoon tea with all those little finger foods, heaven, enjoy everyone......

How very exciting, my first guest blog! Thank you Rebecca for asking and perfect timing! I just had a wonderful Afternoon Tea class at the Rolling Pin yesterday and have so many recipes I would love to share. It is just so fitting that I would blog about a tea on Chow and Chatter, since Rebecca is a Brit!

Here is just little bit about little old me. I have been married to my wonderful husband for the last 27+ years! We were a team in the Army for 25 years and now we are enjoying semi retirement and cooking together. We have 2 grown children, our daughter is married and living in Orlando and our son just finished his first semester at FSU Law School. I am currently personal chef in the Tampa, Florida area doing mostly in home party planning. It is great fun, I get to plan the parties and cook all the food! Best part, I get paid to do it and do not have to do the cleanup! It is very similar to my other job, a teaching Chef at Rolling Pin Brandon, Florida. Oh yeah, I love to blog about food, my passion. Please come over and check out my blog, The Saucy Gourmet!

Ok, that's enough about me, on to the best part FOOD!

My class yesterday was "A Snowflake Afternoon Tea". Perfect choice for a very chilly start to a Florida day. 12 students braved the Arctic temperature (ok, so it was 40 degrees when I left the house, but that is FREEZING for Florida standards)

We always start our teas with a scone, yesterday's choice was Frosted Cream Cheese Walnut Scones.

Our tea sandwiches were very yummy and we spent a good deal of the class talking about easy presentations for the sandwiches. We wrapped our Roasted Beef Sandwiches with Kalamata Mustard Butter with a blanched chive topped with pimentos. We topped our Caviar and Egg Tea Sandwiches with Crème Fraiche, caviar (lumpfish roe) and snipped chives. Just taking a little extra time to decorate made a huge difference on our plates!

After the sandwiches were enjoyed and another pot of tea was poured, we move on making the best part of almost any meal, DESSERT! On the menu yesterday was Winter White Tea Cookies and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies, remember I had a snowflake theme going on.

We had a fabulous time yesterday and I am looking forward to my next tea January 19, if you are in the area, please join us, there are still a couple of seats available!

Roasted Beef Sandwiches with Kalamata Mustard Butter

• 1/2 cup butter -- softened
• 1/2 cup kalamata olive -- chopped
• 1/4 cup deli style mustard
• 1 tablespoon parsley -- chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 10 slices whole wheat bread
• 1/4 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef
• Optional Garnishes
• Blanched chives
• parsley
• pimientos

1. Using food processor, combine butter, olives, mustard, Italian parsley, and black pepper. Pulse until mixture is combined but still chunky.
2. Spread Kalamata Mustard Butter on each bread slice.
3. Top half of bread slices with thinly sliced roast beef.
4. Place remaining bread slices on top of roast beef. Trim crusts from bread, and cut into finger sandwiches.
5. Wrap each sandwich with blanched chive, and tie in knot. Trim ends of chives if necessary. Garnish with Italian parsley and pimento, if desired.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter -- melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar -- packed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups macadamia nut -- chopped
• 2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
2. Beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the egg, then beat in the egg yolk, then beat in the vanilla.
3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until just moistened. Stir in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips by hand with a rubber spatula.
4. Roll into balls or drop by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets, and press down on the cookies with your palm a bit to flatten (not too much!).
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges look golden brown and the middles don't look quite set. Allow to finish cooling on the baking sheet.

Wish we were all there with her, but if your in Tampa, why not!