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 :D )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. :DMy kind of Eton Mess:One cut up angel food cakeAbout ten small macaroons (crushed into big chunks)A ton of fresh berriesAbout 200 ml of whipping cream, whipped but not too stifflyAbout 150 ml of crème fraîchePut 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 topmix 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!