Tea Party!

My close group of girlfriends at the law school started a tea party tradition at some point last year, and it has gradually formalized to include dresses, crustless sandwiches, and enormous flowered hats. 

This time around, I hosted and served up some unprocessed takes on old favorites...

Egg salad made from free range eggs, Spectrum brand mayo, a fancy whole mustard, diced green olives and cucumber with salt and pepper to taste, served up on a de-crustified hearty whole wheat bread. 

Shauna also brought some sandwiches: Roquefort and pear on rye.

I'm allergic to blue cheese, which was seriously regrettable, because these looked and smelled amazing.  

Amy brought muffins and fruit, Allison and Katie some cookies which I couldn't eat but photographed nonetheless...

Thankfully, I'd also baked some cookies, so I didn't need to work the willpower too hard:

These are a simple butter and sugar recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  After mixing them up, I chilled the dough for about a half an hour, then rolled it out with my rolling pin and punched circles with the rim of a champagne glass.  I then cut out shapes from half of them using this adorable mini-canape-cutter set Santa stole from my grandmother's apartment and put in my stocking this Christmas.

They baked at 375 for about ten minutes, after which I spread the bottoms with a little of Katie's home-made strawberry rhubarb jam.  Cover with the cut-out tops, and voila!  I AM MY OWN BAREFOOT CONTESSA.