Tea Party: Cucumber Sandwiches

Hello ladies. Welcome to the tea party!

I don't know about you, but when I hear "tea party," the first thing I think about (even before tea) is cucumber sandwiches.

They're little. They're dainty. They're light. They're lovely.

A few notes:

• cucumber sandwiches are supposed to be bread, butter, cucumbers, and maybe a little salt
• cucumber sandwiches with the above ingredients taste bland but are perfect for tea
• as much as I love being traditional, I have a hard time making bland
• Ergo, my version isn't traditional
• and I don't care

Now that that's settled, let's proceed.

Very simple. Bread, cucumbers, salt, sprouts (I used clover and radish), cream cheese.

Assemble, with a tomato rose, and voila...

... a dainty and elegant presentation.

You could, of course, use much more thinly sliced bread. And of course you could use flavored cream cheese (garden variety, anyone?). As it was, these were airy little clouds of crispy goodness. Not a flavor-filled punch packer, but a dainty accompaniment to tea.

Perfect.