A Mother/Daughter tea is a perfect way to entertain over the Christmas holidays. Your house will be beautifully decorated already, you don’t need a lot of different food, it’s not as expensive as an evening party with alcohol and it’s different; so fun!

Have your party between 3 and 5 pm either after school (for the little girls) or on a Saturday or Sunday in December. Let the guests know this is the time for pretty dresses! Use your good china for once! And play Christmas music in the background. So easy!

Menu

Tea
Hot Cider
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Cucumber Sandwiches
Chicken Curry Sandwiches
Orange Spiced Nuts
Cranberry-Lemon Scones
Spritz Cookies
Chocolate Toffee Bars

A nice touch would be to send a small box of the cookies tied with a big red bow home with each guest.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

8 hard-cooked eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbl finely chopped fresh dill
6 Tbl unsalted butter, room temperature
20 slices white or wheat bread

Peel eggs and place into a medium bowl. Slice eggs and then coarsely mash them with the back of a fork. Add mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and dill; stir until well blended.
Note: This mixture can be refrigerated, covered, up to two days.
Spread butter onto one side of each slice of bread. Spread the buttered side of 10 slices of bread with 2 tablespoons egg mixture. Top with remaining slices of bread, buttered side down.
Carefully cut the crusts from sandwich with a long, sharp knife. Cut in half diagonally, then cut in half again. If desired, decorative shapes can be made with cookie cutters.
Yields 10 whole sandwiches or 20 halves or 40 fourths.
Note: Freezing the bread before cutting and then spreading makes for easier handling.

Cucumber Tea Sandwich

1/2 seedless cucumber, peeled and very thinly sliced (about 32 slices)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup coarsely chopped watercress leaves
16 slices white or wheat bread
Salt to taste

Place cucumber slices between layers of paper towels to remove excess moisture.
In a small bowl, combine butter and watercress; spread on one side of each slice of bread.
Lay cucumber slices onto the buttered side of eight slices of bread. Sprinkle the cucumbers with salt. Top with the remaining slices of bread, buttered side down.
Carefully cut the crusts from each sandwich with a long, sharp knife after the sandwiches are filled. Cut the sandwiches in half diagonally and then cut in half again. If desired, decorative shapes can be made with cookie cutters.
Yields 8 whole sandwiches or 16 halves or 32 fourths.

Chicken Curry Tea Sandwich

2 cooked whole chicken breasts, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped nuts
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Mayonnaise (enough to moisten)
Curry powder or paste to taste
16 slices white or wheat bread
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

In a large bowl, combine chicken, nuts, celery, salt, and mayonnaise; stir until well blended. Add curry powder or paste
Spread one side of each piece of bread lightly with butter. Top the buttered side of 8 slices of bread with some of the chicken mixture and top with the remaining bread slices, buttered side down.
Carefully cut the crusts from each sandwich with a long, sharp knife. Cut the sandwiches in half diagonally and then cut in half again.
Yields 8 whole sandwiches or 16 halves or 32 fourths.

Cranberry-Lemon Scones

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbl chilled butter
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 tsp grated lemon peel
2/3 cup Buttermilk
2 tsp milk
1 tsp sugar

Combine the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter until crumbly. Stir in the dried cranberries and lemon peel.
Pour in the buttermilk and stir with a fork until the mixture holds together. Gather the soft dough into a ball and gently knead a few times on a flour surface.
Pat out dough to an 8-inch circle and cut into 8 wedges. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet and brush the tops with the milk. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar.
Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven 15-20 minutes, until golden. Serve warm.

Spritz Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the butter or margarine, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla. Add the flour and mix by hand.
Spoon into cookie press and press onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugars.
Bake in preheated 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) oven for 7-10 minutes

Chocolate Toffee Bars

2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

Topping ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Combine crumbs, brown sugar and butter. Press into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
In a saucepan, bring butter and brown sugar to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir for 1 minute. Pour evenly over crust.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand for 2 minutes.
Sprinkle with chocolate chips; let stand until chocolate is melted. Spread evenly over top; sprinkle with pecans. Cool completely before cutting.

Orange spiced nuts

3 cups pecan halves
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
1 Tbl ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Spread the pecans on a jelly roll pan. Toast at 275degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
In a saucepan, combine sugar, orange juice, cinnamon, salt and cloves. Cook and stir over medium heat to the soft-ball stage (236 degrees F). Remove from the heat. Stir in the nuts.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the nuts and spread on waxed paper. Separate and let dry 2 hours.
Store in airtight container.