Chicken Salad Sandwich Filling/Sweetheart Tea

Last weekend I threw a Sweetheart Tea for all the women in my family (there were 17 of us!).  Originally it was supposed to be one year after our Teddy Bear Tea, which would have put it last November, but on calling around to my daughters, they all agreed that November/December was too busy, and why not schedule it for January/February when the weather is terrible and you're just dying for a party to go to to break up the monotony of winter.  I thought that sounded like a good idea, so we had it last Saturday, Feb. 5th, which was a little early for Valentine's Day (hence the theme) but I also wanted to work in a celebration of my mom's 93rd birthday on Feb. 4th.  Everyone was supposed to wear a Valentine shirt or Valentine colors, bring a card for my mom, and could bring their favorite doll if they wished.  My mom brought her only doll from her childhood (it's 81 years old) and told us about it.  I decorated with dolls from my childhood

and several of the granddaughters brought their dolls.  Here's Lauren showing us her doll:

For the menu, we had mini croissant chicken salad sandwichs (no gluten intolerance in this group) and Pasta Chicken Fruit Salad for the savory course, mini Poppy Seed Muffins and Applesauce Spice Raisin Muffins, and Orange-Cranberry Scones cut in heart shapes (recipe coming soon) for the scone course, and Valentine's Day Breakfast Cake (also coming soon) for the sweet course.  Here's a picture of the table with the above dishes on it:

I got the recipe for the sandwich filling from my daughter-in-law Julie (who also supplied the recipe for the previous post).  It would look and taste great on any of the GF breads sliced thin, lightly toasted, crusts cut off and cut into small squares or triangles (or hearts for a Sweetheart Tea :), especially the Soft White Bread. 

Chicken Salad Sandwich Filling

3 Cups cubed cooked chicken

1-1/2 Cups grapes, sliced in half

1/2 Cup sliced almonds or roughly chopped cashews

4-5 diced green onions

2 stalks celery, diced

8 fresh basil leaves, minced (if you can't find fresh basil leaves, substitute 1 tsp dried basil)

3-4 - 1 Cup mayonnaise

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Havarti cheese

lettuce

Mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, pepper and basil together until well mixed.  Combine chicken, grapes, nuts, onions and celery.  Fold in mayonnaise mixture.  Refrigerate.  When making sandwiches, top filling with a thin slice of Havarti cheese and a lettuce leaf.  Serve immediately.

I decided to serve all the courses at once this year because at the Teddy Bear Tea I did each course separately, and everyone was too full by the time we got to the sweet course.  Here's everyone filling up their plates:

and our group shot:

A good time was had by all!