I looked like a wet rat when I walked into the office yesterday. It was pouring when I left class, and 30 seconds later, my hair was dripping, my shoes were soaked, and I was wishing I was in London. The rain made me homesick for strolls through Hyde Park under an umbrella, for the sound of raindrops hitting the Thames, and for steaming pots of peppermint tea with scones, wild strawberries and clotted cream, and tea sandwiches.
I was homesick for British accents on the streets and the splash of puddles under my feet running into the Tube. I missed the bells of Westminster Abbey, and the way the lights of Millenium Bridge reflect off the water, with St. Paul’s Cathedral peeking out over rooftops.
A little rain can be a dangerous thing.
I could almost imagine I was there, except that if I were in London, my hair wouldn’t be wet because I would have stashed a pop-out umbrella in my purse. And I would already be sitting in front of my very own pot of tea and a little tray of watercress sandwiches and teacake. That would have been lovely.
Instead of pulling up Expedia for the eleventh time this month to look at airfares, I decided to pretend I was there and to celebrate the breath of spring that swept through Salt Lake this week with some pea shoot tea sandwiches.
I love pea shoots because they are light and delicate, and they pack all of the flavor of garden peas into just a few crisp and airy sprigs. The first Community Supported Agriculture boxes of the year can be depressing, meagerly filled with the last onions from the fall, some cheese, and a few bitter, leafy things that wish they were real vegetables. But pea shoots are the star of early spring, and I always find myself caught between wishing it can be March forever so that the pea shoots will never grow up to be peas, and being even more excited for the first vegetables to pop out of the ground.
These sandwiches started out as something much messier, and I still love them stacked high with tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, and sprouts. But when I’m pretending I’m in London and wishing for spring, I like to cut things back and enjoy the creamy swiss and the pea tendrils all by themselves. Today, I even sliced off the crusts and cut each bread slice into quarters.
Now all I need is some more rain, an umbrella, and a pot of tea.
Pea Shoot Tea Sandwiches
for one open-faced sandwich
1 slice of whole wheat bread (I used Great Harvest’s Honey Whole Wheat)
1 wedge of The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss Cheese
1 small handful of pea shoots
Spread the cheese evenly across the bread and sprinkle the pea shoots on top. If you want to have a tea party, cut the crusts off, and quarter the sandwich.