First Tea at (Not) Café John

Today we're lucky enough to have very clear skies and comfortable temperatures.  Also, it's the first weekend of Spring, which means that it's time to open  Café John.  Sort of.  Actually, the deck has been designated Not Café John by Mark... but in any case, I wanted a real tea with real savories.

So I whipped out the table cloth, the Ceylon Black Tea, and put together a savory.

• Preheat Oven to 200 F
  
• Take three slices of gluten-free bread and toast them; set aside.
  
• Slice Gorgonzola (or "Oregonzola") cheese as thin as you can, and place on the toast in a single layer.  Place in oven to melt chase.
  
• Chop about a half-cup or handful of toasted, unsalted almonds.  Fine is nice, but you don't have to get microscopic.
  
• Mix almonds into 2 to 3 oz Chevre (goat cheese) spread.
  
• Once you're happy with how melted the Gorgonzola cheese is, remove toast from oven and top with the Chevre almond spread.  Roughly three times as much of the Chevre should be used as the Gorgonzola; this will take some practice to find the point where the Gorgonzola is adding an earthy aftertaste or base note without having it overpower the Chevre.
  
• Serve with apple wedges and sliced turkey.  In lieu of tea, substitute sparkling apple and cranberry cider.

I'd had visions of bacon wrapped dates stuffed with the Chevre, but I would have had to go shopping (and I would have had to made up that recipe, too.

The tea itself was pleasant, and now that it's over, I must channel my inner Oregonian and observe that we really need more rain, not more sunshine.