As promised last week, I have a few quick photos from last weekend’s steampunk tea party at AnomalyCon.  Note that Beloved Husband took many more (and probably better) pictures, but I grabbed a few as well.  I’ve been wanting to practice my food porn; I’d also like to start collecting pictures of food I’ve prepared so I can add them to the “deluxe edition” of my cookbook.

So, keeping in mind that you’ll probably get to see more pictures later, here’s what I’ve got:

These are my favorite Cucumber and Mint Butter Sandwiches.  Note that for this particular occasion, I made the sandwiches on “sandwich slims” rather than on regular bread.  I think they held up better to being stored for a couple of days, then transported and set out for a picnic.

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Sandwiches.  These were a last-minute “pinch hit” for the watercress sandwiches I’d planned to make.  Alas, while my regular supermarket usually carries watercress, on the day I went in to shop for the tea party, they were out.  So I punted.  Note that for these sandwiches, I used what they bill as “smoked salmon trim,” which I’m guessing means the leftover bits after they make nice little slices of lox.  They’re a little thicker and more randomly-shaped, but a little less expensive, and sometimes, pennies count.

The recipe is about as straightforward as it sounds:  Soften one 8-oz. package of cream cheese and spread onto both parts of eight sandwich slims.  Top one side with smoked salmon bits (this was about a package and a half, or 12 oz.).  Cover and cut into triangles.

These are my famous Curried Egg Salad Sandwiches.  Well, I don’t know how famous they are, but I do get requests for them.  And oh, gosh darn, there was some left over!  It made a couple of breakfasts for me this week.

And finally, per Beloved Husband’s request, Ham Salad Sandwiches.  I didn’t post the recipe last week, so here it is now:

Ham Salad Sandwiches

3/4 pound ham, diced small
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/8 teaspoon dill weed
8 sandwich thins

Mix filling ingredients and spread on sandwich thins. Cut into interesting shapes.  Makes 32 tea sandwiches.

And as a bonus, here are some pictures of the overall spread.  (As I said, Beloved Husband got more/better pictures of this, so I might post those later.)

My nifty serving doo-hickey.  I’ve been dying to use this ever since I found it in a thrift store.  The middle tray swivels into a vertical position, then the two side trays fold up for storage.  (I meant to get a picture of it in its “stored” position, but forgot.)  I was surprised to see how many sandwiches it held.

The spread, part 1.  This was before the rest of the food showed up.  The table is actually two of our roll-up tables (like the ones sold here), covered with an India-print bedspread my dad brought back from Pakistan 35+ years ago.  (Mom kept it around for years and never used it for anything, and recently passed it along to me.)  In the bowls are (top to bottom) marniated cucumber slices, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, and sweet pickles.  We also had a lovely fruit tray.

The spread, part 2.  The other two varieties of sandwiches, made by my friend Melanie, are avocado and bacon, and roast beef and bleu cheese, both very yummy.

Of course, after this, I got too busy prepping stuff to take more pictures–there were actually two more tables full of stuff, along with decanters for beverages.  But this gives you a basic idea.

In the meantime, a couple of members of the Denver Victorian and Steampunk Society (DVSS) and I decided it would be cool to have a place to share our recipes.  So to that end, I created a group for us on cookeatshare.com.  Feel free to drop in, leave comments, and browse through our recipes.

What’s everyone else cooking up, now that spring is here?