Time for tea

I had envisioned a tea party, something out of "Alice and Wonderland," for our latest Thursday Night Raw, but due to lack of planning (I've been a little under the weather lately), it didn't turn out quite as elaborate as I had imagined. Besides, Matthew refused to wear the crazy hats (you know, like at the Mad Hatter's unbirthday party).

Actually, I don't know if I can even refer to it as a tea party, since none of us drank any tea, although Jacob enjoyed sipping his hot chocolate out of his tea cup (okay, it's really an espresso mug). So, I guess it is better summed up as an unbirthday celebration (none of us had a birthday that day).

We did have a spread that was fit for a party. I made a variety of simple tea sandwiches, which I creatively displayed as one would for a formal tea (except these sandwiches were entirely raw).

My first idea for a sandwich was something with cucumbers, since cucumber sandwiches are quite common. However, I opted to use the cucumber as the bread and filled them with cashew dill "cheese," shredded carrot and thinly sliced radish. I topped some additional cucumber bases with some sliced tomato, marinated cucumber (my husband loves those) and a piece of red onion (also from the marinade).

Next, I moved on to some zucchini rounds, which I sandwiched around a slice of tomato, a basil leaf, some red onion, sea salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. These were simple, but very good.

Then, I had some nice sized mushrooms that I thought would be perfect as little sandwich buns, although I hadn't really thought about a filling. The first thing that came to mind was a raw version of chicken salad, but in the end, I chose to make a Waldorf salad-style pate instead.

I also had some jicama, which looks a lot like sliced white bread with the crusts cut off. I made some more sandwiches out it with mango and avocado slices.

Lastly, I had to have something sweet for the boys, so I made some almond butter and banana sandwiches using apple rings. The cutest ones used the tops and the bottoms of the apples. They were like the muffin tops of the bunch.

Alongside the sandwiches, I served some carrots and celery sticks, as well as some cantaloupe (Jacob has been craving it lately, so we'll be having it a lot). I have to say that I left the table with a full belly. Not bad for a tossed together meal. Maybe next time, we'll actually have tea :-)