Back to Life

So, I must admit I have been a little blog stagnant lately.  I have no excuses (single mom, full time job, ahem).  Not to mention the holiday craziness.  When the holidays come in my family, so do the birthdays!  My grandma is two days before and my sister's is the day after.  She never complains about this.  Ever.  This year both parties ended up being last minute and at my house.  For my grandma this was the big 80, my mom suggested WE throw a party.  Which means my sister and I scrambled around like maniacs trying to get food, decorations, and invitations done while my mother took my grandma around for bon bons and croissants.  She claims she was "distracting her" from the surprise (she knew all along by the way).  Luckily my aunt pitched in as well and the party was amazing.  My grandma does not like people to fuss over her.  We didn't let that stop us.  We decorated with photos of her throughout her 80 years, although finding a photograph of the woman who hates to be photographed was like finding a needle in a haystack.  We made her favorite foods, which is also difficult since she lives off of chocolate ice cream. We bought her gifts, which she always demands we never do.  In the end I think she really appreciated the effort.  Since one of her favorite things is tea, I made some fantastic tea sandwiches.  I used the pimiento cheese recipe I have blogged about before and I made the all time favorite cucumber tea sandwich.  Instead of taking the time to thinly slice a bunch of cucumbers I made a spread.  It was easy and ended up being delicious!!  Here is the recipe.  Enjoy!!

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
Makes 48 Small Triangles

24        Each        Slices of Soft White Sandwich Bread
2          8 oz         Blocks of Cream Cheese, Softened
2          Each        Cucumbers
1          Half         White Onion
1          Tsp          Garlic Powder
1          Tsp          Salt
1/2       Tsp          Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

Peel the outer skin of the cucumber using a potato peeler.  Cut the ends off the onion, slice in half and peel off the skin.  Take a cheese grater and grate the cucumber and onion.  Sprinkle with the salt and place into a colander, allow to drain for 30 minutes.  Place cream cheese in a medium sized bowl, add in the cucumber, onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Whisk together until well incorporated.  Spread mixture evenly on 12 slices of the bread, top with the remaining 12 slices.  I cut off the crusts and cut into four triangles.  If you have any leftover cucumber spread, it is delicious as a spread on a veggie or turkey sandwich.  Enjoy!
Love as Always, "Big K"