During the summer, what could be more fun than a picnic tea?!  Especially if you have siblings to share the fun!  Summer can get crazy busy.  It does for us. When we had our picnic tea we were up to our ears in 4H projects! I almost didn’t do it because we had so much to get done, but sometimes that is when you need to do it the most!

I really wanted to bring out our china for this picnic to make it special, but any picnic shared with a sibling, even if it is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on paper plates, can still be fun!   It is so easy for us older siblings to get busy and not make time to be with our younger sisters and brothers, doing something they like.

Here is  what our “menu” looked like.  Some of my younger sisters don’t care for tea, and since it was hot outside we had chocolate milk!

cold chocolate milk

hard boiled eggs {or deviled eggs}  we did the hard boiled eggs because we were out of mayonaisse and I was out of time!)

chocolate chip scones with mock devonshire cream

hot artichoke dip with crackers

tiny pineapple cream cheese sandwiches

:: the chocolate milk::

:: dip, crackers, and eggs ::

Hot Artichoke Dip

I admit, I wouldn’t have originally thought of this as tea party food, but we had part of it made up already and we needed to use it up!  It worked out well.

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped fine

2 T. artichoke juice from can

1 cup real mayonnaise

1 c. Parmesan cheese

8 oz. cream cheese

1/4 t. dill weed

1/4 t. garlic powder

Beat all ingredients until smooth and creamy.  Pour into a small casserole dish (8″x8″) and bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for 30 minutes or until hot.  Serve with Wheat Thins or any other cracker.

Hard Boiled or Deviled Eggs

5 eggs

salt

mayonaisse

mustard

Place your eggs in a small saucepan and cover with water.  Bring water to a boil.  Cover with a lid and remove from heat.  Let set for 20 minutes.  Drain eggs and cool in ice water.  Peel and cut them in half.  If you just want hard boiled eggs, and not the deviled eggs, arrange them on a pretty plate and salt them lightly.  For deviled eggs, scoop out the yokes and mix in a separate bowl with {about} 3-5 T. mayo and 1 t. mustard and 1/8 t. salt.   Blend together well until it is smooth. If it still looks dry, add more mayo.  Add more salt if it needs it.

I’m sure there are fancier recipes out there, so experiment!

:: scones & cream ::

Chocolate Chip Scones

2 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/8 t. salt

1/3 c. butter, chilled

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream (we always just use milk)

1 egg

1-1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 or 1  c. chocolate chips

1 egg mixed with 1 t. water for glaze

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Lightly grease a baking sheet or stone.  Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Cut butter into chunks, and then blend into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender until the butter is the size of small peas.  In a small bowl, combine egg, cream and vanilla.  Stir into the flour mixture until just combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Pat dough into a 1/2-inch thickness.  Cut out like for biscuits and brush with the egg glaze.  Bake at 12-15 minutes.  Note: these scones are very good even without the chocolate chips. I just wanted something a little sweet for our tea party!

Mock Devonshire Cream

1/2 c. heavy cream or 8 oz. softened cream cheese

2 T. powdered sugar

1/2 c. sour cream

In a chilled bowl, beat the cream on high speed until medium stiff peaks form.  Add the sugar during the last few minutes of beating.  (If you use cream cheese, just stir it and the sugar together.) Fold in the sour cram and blend.  Serve on top of scones.

:: the sandwiches ::

Pineapple Cream Cheese Sandwiches

Pineapple Cream Cheese Sandwiches

1 loaf of bread, sliced

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1-2 T. sugar

2-4 T. pineapple bits

Beat the cream cheese, sugar and pineapple together.  Spread onto a piece of bread and top with another slice.  Cut sandwiches diagonally, or into little wedges.  Serve cold.

:: Charissa ::

:: our cat, Shachor, enjoying a little milk! ::

Be creative!  Make it pretty!  Usually when we have a picnic, I am more likely to just use the basics — plastic and paper — nothing fancy.  There’s nothing wrong with plastic and paper, but sometimes it is good to get out the china  and flowers and make it special!

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