Summer Tea, and Life is Easy

An afternoon tea is a less elaborate and less expensive entertaining idea than other options. Yet it’s an elegant way to celebrate birthdays, graduations and showers, and it’s terrific for neighborhood get-togethers and for entertaining house guests.

For a relaxed summer tea, I recently made a refreshing strawberry tea smoothie, cucumber and arugula tea sandwiches, and ginger snaps with fresh lemon curd and whipped cream.

If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, patio, deck or porch, that’s the place for summer tea. Cover the table with a flowered cloth and center it with a bouquet of garden flowers in a pitcher. Use bright cloth napkins, and wine or small water goblets for the tea (also a clear glass pitcher for pouring it), silver spoons and spreaders and salad-size plates; this is casual elegance--paper and plastic are for other times.

There are many easy finger foods that can enhance this basic menu: spiced nuts; a bowl of chilled grapes, cherries or raspberries; tiny sandwiches with ham, smoked salmon or roast beef; small scones or biscuits with butter, jam or Devonshire cream; brownies; a variety of cookies and chocolates if the day isn’t too warm.

Although this menu is geared to serve six (with the exception of the cookies, lemon curd and cream), it’s easy enough to double or triple the recipes for the tea and sandwiches, making it a great menu to serve a crowd.

ICED STRAWBERRY TEA SMOOTHIE (IT’S A SNAP) WINE

6 cups boiling water

6 Earl Grey tea bags

1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberry halves in syrup

1/2 cup sugar

12 ice cubes

6 strawberries

Mint leaves

Pour boiling water in medium bowl and add tea bags. Cover and let steep at room temperature 30 minutes. Remove tea bags and set aside on small plate. When cool enough to handle, squeeze bags to get every drop of tea. Chill several hours or overnight.

Process tea, frozen strawberries, sugar and ice cubes in 2 batches in blender until frothy. Pour into chilled pitcher.

Serve in stemmed glasses garnished with strawberries and mint leaves.

6 servings. Each serving:

101 calories; 1 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.28 gram fiber.

GINGER SNAPS WITH LEMON CURD AND WHIPPED CREAM

Serve the ginger snaps on a platter and the cream and curd in separate bowls. Make snap sandwiches using lemon curd and/or whipped cream as a filling between two snaps or spread one snap with the curd and cream and eat it like a tart. If you’re too rushed to make lemon curd, it’s available in grocery stores and specialty food shops. Just add a little fresh lemon juice to tart it up.

LEMON CURD

Grated peel of 1 large lemon

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

5 tablespoons lemon juice

Pinch salt

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

WHIPPED CREAM

1/2 cup chilled whipping cream

2 teaspoons powdered sugar

SNAPS

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature

Sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoons dark molasses

1 teaspoon minced ginger root

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon salt

LEMON CURD

Pulse lemon peel and sugar in food processor until peel is fine as sugar, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg, yolk, lemon juice and salt and process until blended, about 5 seconds. With processor running, pour melted butter through feed tube.

Pour mixture into small heavy non-aluminum saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon until mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Do not let mixture come to boil. Cool, cover and refrigerate. (Note: Lemon Curd can be made up to 5 days ahead.)

WHIPPED CREAM

Whip cream with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar and continue whipping until cream is thick. Be careful not to over-whip. (Note: Cream can be whipped up to 5 hours ahead and refrigerated, covered airtight.) Serve chilled.

SNAPS

Cream butter and 1 cup sugar by beating with electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg, molasses and ginger root. Mix well.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Add to butter-sugar mixture and mix well. (Note: Dough can be made ahead, wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 1 month.)

Put 1/2 cup sugar in shallow bowl. For each snap, make 1-inch ball from dough. (Note: A teaspoon dipped frequently in water makes it easier to handle dough.) Roll each ball in sugar to coat evenly.

Place balls 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Use bottom of glass to slightly flatten to 1 1/2-inch rounds. Sprinkle lightly with remaining sugar in bowl and mark tops with tines of fork. Bake at 350 degrees until cookies are darker brown around edges, about 12 minutes. Cool on rack. (Note: Store up to 1 week in airtight container at room temperature; cookies can also be frozen up to 1 month.)

To serve, pass cookies on plate with separate bowls of lemon curd and cream.

70 cookies. Each cookie with 1/2 teaspoon lemon curd and 1/2 teaspoon whipped cream:

53 calories; 37 mg sodium; 19 mg cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.01 gram fiber.

CUCUMBER AND ARUGULA TEA SANDWICHES

The key to the success of these sandwiches is really fresh bread and paper-thin slices of cucumber. I like using the small pickling cucumbers; they are almost sweet-tasting and just the right size.

1 large green onion, minced

1/3 cup minced arugula leaves

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

18 thin slices white bread, crusts trimmed

2 firm pickling cucumbers, peeled, sliced paper-thin (about 40 slices each)

36 baby arugula leaves, stems trimmed

Nasturtium blossoms, optional

Combine green onion, minced arugula, mayonnaise and Worcestershire in small bowl.

Spread 1 teaspoon arugula mayonnaise on each slice of bread. On 9 slices, overlap 8 cucumber slices to cover mayonnaise. Top with 4 arugula leaves, arranged so leafy ends extend slightly beyond edges of bread. Close sandwiches.

Cut each sandwich diagonally in half. (Note: Sandwiches can be made few hours ahead, arranged on platter, covered with plastic and refrigerated.) Garnish platter with nasturtium or other blossoms before serving.

18 sandwich triangles. Each triangle:

59 calories; 101 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 7 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.13 gram fiber.