proper cucumber sandwiches
I invited my friend Nancy over for a relaxing lunch to celebrate her birthday. Before she arrived, I lit candles everywhere, started Nora Jones playing low over the iPod dock, put the tea kettle on the stove, and made a batch of proper cucumber sandwiches. I’ve made almost as many cucumber sandwiches as I have scones, and that’s A LOT. When I was working at Tale of Two Sisters we would make them with fresh basil in the warm months when the herb garden was providing a prolific harvest. In the autumn and winter months we made them with cream cheese and pesto. I’ve started making them a little different since I worked there. All three ways are fantastic. Here’s my cucumber sandwich riff.
for 6 pieces of bread:
In a food processor, combine 3 oz. cream cheese with 2 Tablespoons real mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon minced, fresh garlic and 2 teaspoons dry Italian seasoning. Mix until fully incorporated. Spread the mixture evenly among 6 slices of sandwich bread.
Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Top with thin slices of cucumber (peeled or unpeeled.)
Put the tops on the sandwiches. Using a sharp chef’s knife, remove the crusts.
Cut into fourths and voila…the quintessential, English cucumber sandwich.
(recipe variation ~ add fresh basil leaves! shown in photo at very top)
We enjoyed a lovely afternoon…
I served the lunch in my new favorite style…
xoxo,
~Melissa
I love these!!
Me too! They’re so yummy. Thanks for commenting 😉
Yup – these looked sooooo yummy that I made them for lunch yesterday, and they were soooooo good that I made them again for my dinner!! ;0) Thanks!!
YAY! I’m so glad you like them. They’re one of my favorites too 😉
What’s better than a proper cucumber sandwich? yum 🙂
exactly! these are addictive little sammys. enjoy 🙂
Even High School students love these. They were the first thing to go at my daughters Graduation Party at our house. I couldn’t make them fast enough.
I know what you mean Robin! My friend Nancy and I joke about how cucumber sandwiches are worse than potato chips 😉 It’s amazing how easily they go down. hee hee. xo
I would add fresh sliced onion, replace the italian seasoning with fresh dill, and replace the mayo with greek yogurt. Then it would be perfect for me!
sounds like an awesome, healthier rendition, Susan! 🙂
I will be bookmarking and trying these real soon. I am curious about the tea cups that are stacked on top of each other…..
Hi Particia! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and for leaving a comment! Enjoy the cucumber sammys, and… the stacked teacups are a fun way of serving lunch “teacup” style… just follow this link to read more. Happy Weekend!
http://chindeep.com/2011/10/04/teacup-lunch/
I love cold cucumber sandwiches in the summer – also like them with thin slices of crisp red radishes for a different twist occasionally! Your pictures are making me VERY hungry for one right now!!
Hi Sally! 🙂
Ooh! yes! I love radishes too. I’ve never tried to add them to my cucumber sandwiches, but I do make a tea sandwich with them, if you’d like to try my version 😉 Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! 🙂 XO ~M
http://chindeep.com/2011/01/09/healthy-lunch-idea-german-radish-sammies/
Another sammie post for me to try – thank you for the link!!
These are heavenly thank you for sharing!!! Even my 2.5yr old loved loved them
Hi Shene! 🙂
I’m s glad to hear these little sandwiches were a hit! 🙂 Thanks for visiting ! XO ~M
Thanks for posting these delicious sandwiches. My middle school-er adores them and now makes these for her lunches!
This recipe sounds delicious. Would you mind sharing your recipe for the pesto in your winter version? Thank you!
Love these.. too funny how one gets upset about nothing! So if you run your fork down the cuke, is it considered peeled or not!!LOl
Made a very similar recipe recently, filling is the same, but served on small pumpernickel bread, sooo yummy!
The pumpernickel flavor enhances the cream cheese filling so nicely.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.. Sounds amazing.. Will definitely try on this weekend!!
Take care n God bless you!! 🙂
These were so lovely! Everyone raved about them at my daughter’s “Tea for Two” birthday party! I linked to this page in my blog post about it at growwildmychild.com Thanks for the inspiration!
Yay, yay, yay! I’m so happy everyone liked the tea sammies 🙂 Cheers, Lovely. Thanks for stopping by!
These are beautiful. I’m planning on serving them this Saturday at my daughter’s baby shower. Do you do anything to “prep” the cukes (give them a vinegar or ice water”bath”)?
Why not use a soft spread flavored cream cheese>
It doesn’t hold up and will result in soggy sandwiches.
Hi. It looks like to me that the first photo has some kind of lettuce in it also. Is that Romaine? I think we would like something with it like lettuce. I was thinking some fresh baby spinach might be tasty. What do you think?
Hi Lisa 🙂
The greens you see in the first photo are fresh basil leaves. Cheers!