I'm lucky enough to still be in touch with some girlfriends from high school/middle school (I KNOW!!) and we've been making a point of meeting up once a month for the last little bit. We had a fabulous jambalaya spread at K's swanky downtown apartment, we had a caroling party at Aunt LoLo's, we had a Chinese feast at Aunt LoLo's...and it was my turn to host, so we had an afternoon tea party. So, so fun. Especially for certain little girls in our families. (And an ecstatic little boy.)
The spread: carrot cake, scones, rooibos chai, hot cocoa, cucumber sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, fresh bread with nutella, curd, and peppermint meringues.
Unfortunately, we were too busy dealing with the kids' enthusiasm to take any pictures. BUT, I took pictures before hand! (Of what I made, at least.)
(You know what else I did before hand? I took a gamble that the baby would let me sleep that night, and spent an hour and a half cleaning the house. I started at one end --our bedroom-- folding laundry, and finished up on the other -- the kitchen-- sweeping. The baby did NOT let me sleep that night, but by golly I had a clean house!)
There, isn't that pretty? Grapefruit-meyer lemon curd, and peppermint meringues.
The curd used 3 eggs and 4 egg yolks...that's a lot of eggs! I saved the 4 egg whites to make a double batch of meringues, and Ernie decided they should be pink. Win-win situation, yes? The kids adored these cookies- I think Mimi had six, and then snagged a few more after the party while I was cleaning up. They tasted like concentrated candy canes, so I'd use way less mint extract next time but that's just personal preference. I cooked them in a 200 degree oven for 2 hours, and then left them in the (turned off) oven for another few hours and pulled them out just before the party. They got nice and crispy, with no browning, on my silicone baking mats.
Another thing that happened on Saturday? This book came. It's awesome.
It's called "Vintage Notions" and is a compilation of excerpts from newsletters printed by Mary Pickens, founder of a women's college for domestic sciences. She's like a mix of Martha Stewart and Gordon Hinckley! Seriously, she's talented in everything, and has such a sunny outlook on life. I love this book, and I love that Su, at Vively Online, hosted a giveaway and sent it to me :) Thanks, Su!!
(The page you're looking at there has a "magic pattern" for an apron- instructions on how to take a yard of fabric and turn it into a pull over apron. And, of course, it's an amazing vintage style because the pattern was written in the 1920's. Very awesome.)
The spread: carrot cake, scones, rooibos chai, hot cocoa, cucumber sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, fresh bread with nutella, curd, and peppermint meringues.
Unfortunately, we were too busy dealing with the kids' enthusiasm to take any pictures. BUT, I took pictures before hand! (Of what I made, at least.)
(You know what else I did before hand? I took a gamble that the baby would let me sleep that night, and spent an hour and a half cleaning the house. I started at one end --our bedroom-- folding laundry, and finished up on the other -- the kitchen-- sweeping. The baby did NOT let me sleep that night, but by golly I had a clean house!)
There, isn't that pretty? Grapefruit-meyer lemon curd, and peppermint meringues.
The curd used 3 eggs and 4 egg yolks...that's a lot of eggs! I saved the 4 egg whites to make a double batch of meringues, and Ernie decided they should be pink. Win-win situation, yes? The kids adored these cookies- I think Mimi had six, and then snagged a few more after the party while I was cleaning up. They tasted like concentrated candy canes, so I'd use way less mint extract next time but that's just personal preference. I cooked them in a 200 degree oven for 2 hours, and then left them in the (turned off) oven for another few hours and pulled them out just before the party. They got nice and crispy, with no browning, on my silicone baking mats.
Another thing that happened on Saturday? This book came. It's awesome.
It's called "Vintage Notions" and is a compilation of excerpts from newsletters printed by Mary Pickens, founder of a women's college for domestic sciences. She's like a mix of Martha Stewart and Gordon Hinckley! Seriously, she's talented in everything, and has such a sunny outlook on life. I love this book, and I love that Su, at Vively Online, hosted a giveaway and sent it to me :) Thanks, Su!!
(The page you're looking at there has a "magic pattern" for an apron- instructions on how to take a yard of fabric and turn it into a pull over apron. And, of course, it's an amazing vintage style because the pattern was written in the 1920's. Very awesome.)
5 comments:
Ok, when you called SJ an "ecstatic little boy" I laughed out loud. He certainly was excited by that spread!!
Those little peppermint cookies look so yummy. I may have to give them a try. :)
How FUN!!! I need to do a tea party. We have no shortage of girly girls around here. The meringues look awesome.
Sounds like a fun time. I haven't made meringues in years. I need to do that. And, I just ordered silicon baking sheets from CSN! No excuse now.
mmmmm! That looks fantastic, and it sure sounds like you had a fantastic feast!
PS- I'm glad you like that book. I really like it, it makes me smile
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