Menu Question

agoodse

My Book Club is meeting at my house this Monday, and we're doing it British style.  This month's book was "Persuasion", and since it's near Christmas I was going to have "Love Actually" playing in the background.  I'm thinking pf making a Sangria, but I have no clue what kind of foods to serve.  We usually serve hot hors d'euvres and some little desserts.  What would you suggest?

TarHeels&Rebels

Jane Austen's Persuasion?  If you're trying to go with the book, sangria won't hit the right note.  Try instead coffee, tea, punch and crackers & cheese, mini spinach quiches (frozen), maybe a crab or salmon spread.

agoodse

TarHeels&Rebels:

Jane Austen's Persuasion?  If you're trying to go with the book, sangria won't hit the right note.  Try instead coffee, tea, punch and crackers & cheese, mini spinach quiches (frozen), maybe a crab or salmon spread.

Alcoholic tea?  We prefer to add a little spice to our meetings.

TarHeels&Rebels

agoodse:

TarHeels&Rebels:

Jane Austen's Persuasion?  If you're trying to go with the book, sangria won't hit the right note.  Try instead coffee, tea, punch and crackers & cheese, mini spinach quiches (frozen), maybe a crab or salmon spread.

Alcoholic tea?  We prefer to add a little spice to our meetings.

Alcoholic punch.

MegBuisson

Go with the spiked punch idea. for a dessert you could make trifle in martini glasses (or just a bigger trifle they could serve themselves from), you could make little finger sandwiches if it's during the day or roasted meats with rolls and other accompaniments. You could also do scones and smaller versions of other typically British fare. 

KeeneOnGreen

My MIL is as British as they come. hehe I agree with pp, a spiked punch would be nice. But make sure you have plenty of tea. A party just isn't British without tea. Tetley makes a decent tea called "British Blend", and I really like PG Tips. You should also be sure to have fancy little cookies. Small finger sandwiches (w/o crusts of course) are also good. If you want to go all out you could make a pudding, such as "queens pudding". They love puddings in England. If it's cold there you could also consider making a nice warm soup. MIL just recently made a curried parsnip soup, yum!!

     I also agree that while sangria is delish, it just won't set the tone you're going for. You can also google recipes for tea punch. Which apparently became very popular in Britain in the 17th century

http://www.readymade.com/magazine/article/mixology_tea_spiked_cocktails

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/tea-punch/Detail.aspx ( Easier tea punch recipe)

Here's a link to a page with English recipes. Hope it helps.

http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/English%20Recipes.htm

kimnelson09

Tea sandwiches, scones, and triffles or puddings would be great.  I found these on epicurious and have been dying to make them.  They're very British and perfect for the winter. 

Stilton Tart with Cranberry Chutney