Tea Party with Grandma

My little girl just adores her great grandma and wanted to invite her over for a tea party. We called our special guest and setup the day and time and then headed to the grocery store.

We made cucumber sandwiches, cranberry orange scones, white hot chocolate (tinted pink) and caramel turtle pretzel bites.

Everything was really tasty and we had a great time. The standout dish was probably the scones. They were so good and quick to make. We made everything in about an hour and were ready to relax and visit when grandma came over.

Cucumber SandwichesIngredients
1 container whipped cream cheese
4 tablespoons sour cream
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (1 pound) loaf cocktail rye bread or french bread, sliced
2 cucumbers, sliced thin
Dried dill or dried basil for garnish

Directions
In a small bowl, blend cream cheese, sour cream and dry Italian-style salad dressing mix.
Arrange cocktail rye bread slices on a medium serving dish. Spread with the cream cheese mixture. Top each with a cucumber slice and sprinkle with dried herb.

Easy Cranberry Orange SconesIngredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
Zest of one orange1/2 cup cranberries
Sugar for sprinkling

Directions
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a food processor, pulse flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pulse frozen butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

In a small bowl, whisk sour cream, egg and zest until smooth.
Pulse sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Stir in cranberries.

Pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

White Hot ChocolateIngredients
1 cup white chocolate chips 1 cup heavy cream
4 cups half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vanilla whipped topping, for garnish
Mint leaf, for garnish

Directions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine white chocolate chips and heavy cream. Stir continuously until white chocolate chips have completely melted. Stir in the half-and-half, and vanilla extract. Stir occasionally until heated through. Pour into mugs and top with a dollop of vanilla whipped topping and garnish with mint leaf.

Caramel Turtle Pretzel BitesIngredients
20 small mini pretzels
20 chocolate covered caramel candies
20 pecan halves

Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).

Arrange the pretzels in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place one chocolate covered caramel candy on each pretzel. Bake for 2-3 minutes. While the candy is warm, press a pecan half onto each candy covered pretzel. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.