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hello from Sunday night
It’s been a lovely weekend round here.
Our weekend actually started late Friday afternoon, when, after a seriously long day of appointments, C and I found ourselves out at the river delta in the late afternoon and decided to take a look around.
It wasn’t long before we found a beautiful little vintage shop in a little community.
Where I found these incredible handmade Steampunk robots, and this ray gun!
While C found a vintage Hudson’s Bay blanket in great shape.
We didn’t get out of the shop empty handed…lol. I immediately bought the blanket for our collection and I also scooped three vintage Bowie records, (you know, true love lasts forever 😀 )
Then I remembered a little agricultural island with an organic farm nearby and so we found the rickety old turquoise bridge which led to it crossed over one arm of the Fraser River. (PS, I live way in that distance, just at the foot of those mountains!)
We found the farm.
An organic nursery, with a little general store selling local handicrafts.
Homemade jams, jellies and honey.
And they had freshly picked strawberries and this year’s first crop of new potatoes for sale. I was really excited about the potatoes and strawberries because I had invited 15 people for supper Saturday night.
Saturday morning C gave me a hand cleaning the house and we ran a few things to the Salvation Army. I had it in mind to make a fabulous Eton Mess for desert but only had six vintage, crystal finger bowls to serve it in and so we looked around for some similar pressed glass bowls to have enough for all our guests.
We found loads! At $.69 each!
With so many people, I decided on a BBQ featuring pulled pork, baked ham, those lovely new potatoes with butter and parsley, and a huge green salad from my garden.
By the afternoon, the kitchen was clean and two heads of garden butter lettuce, some red lettuce and some herbs waiting…
Bedrooms were clean and decorated with the new blanket…
The James Bond bathroom…clean, with fragrant hand soaps at the ready, the stairs to my studio cleaned of papers, books and other detritus that naturally collects on stairs…
Wine glasses ready, wine bottles open…
Dining room table prepared…
Everything shiny and bright…but where are our guests?
Here they are!
the Eton Mess was absolutely delicious, and the youngins went to hang out in my studio and catch up.
We all had such a lovely time and talked and laughed into the evening.
Sunday I put away the cleaned silverware and my new glass bowls, figured out how to photo transfer onto glass, and spent some time in the silversmithing studio. (Evidence of creativity on Instagram)
And big bonus for me: lovely memories, vases of fresh flowers and a clean house. 😀
My kind of Eton Mess:
One cut up angel food cake
About ten small macaroons (crushed into big chunks)
A ton of fresh berries
About 200 ml of whipping cream, whipped but not too stiffly
About 150 ml of crème fraîche
Put the cut up angel food cake on the bottom of a platter,
pour most of the berries on top, reserving a hand full for the very top
mix the whipped cream plus the crème fraîche together and pour over the cake/berries on the platter,
sprinkle the remaining berries and the crushed macaroons as a final layer.
Serve immediately so the macaroons stay crisp.
Yum city!
Sally
Looks like a great day & a wonderful party!
Veronica
It really was. 😀 I wonder why I don’t do this more often. So lovely to catch up with friends.
Sara v
Those floors just glow with warmth! The whole house does, in fact. Thank you for sharing your lovely day and party with us 🙂
bkdonegan
sounds and LOOKS! fantastic 🙂 enjoy the space while it stays orderly-
Veronica
Oh I know! I give it two days…:)
daryledelstein
at a recent crafts fair here in nyc, someone was selling those robots .. very pricey and very clever … lovely weekend here too!
Veronica
They cost $150-$200 here and I was like, “are you kidding me? There’s a max of $10 worth of thrift store stuff in them plus a drill plus a spanner plus an investment of maybe one hour!” How hard can it be? 😀
woolf
you clever women! a dinner party for 15! jeez’. you are both courageous!! and the eton mess looks every bit appetizing; also very surprised to find youse shopping so far away from home (foot of those far away mountains…!). thxs, LOVELY post! n?
Veronica
Lol, thank you so much. 😀 It’s a bit of a “when in
DenmarkDelta…” shopping. But really, Vancouver is such a small space caught between the mountains, the ocean and the border, that everything’s so accessible, and it’s a shame not to use the whole Lower Mainland when I live here. 😀mysoulfulhome
What a perfect day…then a fabulous dinner party! I want to be in on all that with you too!! Just sent you an email re: your comment on my tour post. Please let me know if you can!
Dana Fulton
What fun you had! My favorite kind of weekend! Your house looked beautiful and welcoming and the menu sounded divine! I’m so thankful you included the recipe for Eton Mess. I’ve never heard of it before and will definitely try it! Here’s wishing you a great week!
Veronica
I’m glad you will Dana. These no-fuss puddings are so easy and so lovely. 😀
vastlycurious.com
You have a beautiful home! The shop was so quirky and I also have a couple of horse blankets but mine are scratchy!
Veronica
These can be scratchy too Kathryn. Wool is like that, isn’t it? But I like that scratchiness. 🙂
EllaDee
Gorgeous vintage shop. And I that Eton Mess is sure to appear as on offering here – no shortage of macaroon shops locally. I love simple dinner parties, that are about quality not quantity or fuss 🙂
Veronica
Me too Ella. It’s been years since I took on something complicated, (like a two day cassoulet), and sometimes think that my Cordon Bleu training is for naught, but then I really enjoy the no fuss, relaxed times so much more than the “look what I cooked…aren’t you impressed!” dinner parties. Stuff that for a game of soldiers says I. 😀