I recently threw a little party to help raise money with my sister in law Monica.  Every year she participates in the Susan G. Koman 3 Day but can not this year because her little flat feet just can’t take it anymore!!  Instead of walking she decided to donate all of the proceeds from her Scentsy sales for the month of June to the 3-Day walk.  I hate Cancer so I decided to help her on her quest!!

I wanted to keep the party fairly simple but I’m a sucker for themes and I tend to get a little carried away.  I decided to call this one Scentsy and Sandwiches for Cancer.  I made 4 different types of bite sized sandwiches and for dessert I made ice cream sandwiches!

I wanted the food to be easy to prepare and it is always a challenge to keep things warm so I thought fun sandwiches would be perfect.

Pear and Pesto Sandwich:

Sliced green pear,  pesto, thick slices of dill cheese, and sprouts on hearty wheat bread.  This one was my favorite!  I made the pesto the day before, which is the same recipe from the Portobello Lasagna minus the lemon.  Click on the word pesto for the link to the recipe.  I would cut it in half though.  You don’t need that much pesto for a few sandwiches.

Pulled Pork Sandwich:

This is the same recipe from the Pulled Pork recipe that I posted last week.  I made this the day before too so all I had to do was plate this sandwich on a tasty dinner roll.

Peppered Turkey with Cranberry Relish:

I made the relish for this sandwich the day before as well so that it would be one less thing to worry about.  I just layered the relish, peppered turkey,  spinach, Gorgonzola cheese, and walnuts on hearty wheat bread.

Cranberry Relish:

1 can cranberry sauce

1 shallot

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp garlic

Heat the oil on a small skillet and add the shallots and the garlic.  Once the shallots have begun to caramelize add the black pepper and cranberry sauce.  Cook on medium high heat until everything is combined and the sauce has thinned and warmed.  Set aside. This can be made up to three days in advance.  I would also recommend if you have extra sauce to pour this over chicken and bake it.  Very yummy!!

Cucumber Sandwiches:

These are super easy and one of my all time favorite sandwiches.  I just buy flavored cream cheese.  I like the chive and garlic the best.  Slice the cucumbers nice and thin and then sprinkle with black pepper.  I like to serve these open faced because they are so pretty.

Ice Cream Sandwiches:

I desperately need to buy the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid but until then you all get store bought ice cream.  For these sandwiches I made homemade butter cookies from my wonderful “Butter” cookbook and used strawberry ice cream to make the sandwiches.  These cookies were amazing and had a simple flavor similar to an ice cream cone.  The ice cream was a little finicky and I was really glad I had a lot to practice with.  The first batch I made I let the ice cream get too soft and they fell flat before the ice cream could refreeze in my freezer.  You can do this up to a week ahead of time which is a total time savor.  You can get cute little baggies with colored ribbon to tie them up individually too.  I had planned to do this and bought all the stuff but then I totally forgot so they just went on the plates.

Butter Cookies: Makes 84  (The Great Big Butter Cookbook, Von Glahn)

1/2 pound or 2 sticks butter unsalted at room temp

8 oz cream cheese

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

Cream the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer in a large bowl.  Add the sugar and beat.  Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract.  Beat well.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.  Add the flour mixture to the cream cheese mixture and beat until it is well mixed.

Divide the dough in half and wrap both haves in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one and a half hours.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to 1/8″ thickness and cut with desired cookie cutter.  Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 for 8-10 minutes.   Allow cookies to cool fully before making ice cream sandwiches.

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