Bank Holiday weekend

Bank Holiday weekend again, and the weather has been outstanding here in the North East of Blighty.

That is something to be truly thankful for.

I also had my second covid jab on Friday which was a huge relief and also meant that cocktail hour was very much needed.

The cocktail of the week was 

Barbe a Papatini.

I put up a video ( badly shot)  on my Instagram site of me making this.

One part vodka

One part vermouth

Cranberry Juice

Barbe a Papa ( candy floss)

Put the candy floss into a cocktail glass.

Put all the other ingredients along with some ice in a shaker , shake gently and then strain over the candy floss.

The drink makes the floss disappear.

it easy to describe it, although it sounds a bit flat,, it looks better, hence me videoing it.

Super easy, super effective, and super in general.

I hope that you had a great weekend.

Have a great week.

 

Afternoon tea with the girls

 

Oh my days, how long is it since I had visitors? Obviously too long!!!

So on Saturday afternoon, I had a belated birthday tea party.

3 of my oldest friends came and a jolly afternoon we had too.

I have spent the last few months planning this, linen, china, glassware, the food and the party bags, oh come on! you are never too old for a party bag!

I even, one boring evening, made the invitations, its amazing what you can do with a doyley and some ribbon!

Tea  was planned for 3pm and champagne was on ice.

They arrived  in a flurry of pressies, champers and non stop chatter, oh how I've missed them.

Table was set( had been since Thursday) food  was prepared and we were underway for a 5.5 hour marathon of girliness

First course sorted  sandwiches, vol au vents, sausage rolls and mini quiches. 

Now just a quick zoom in on the flowers, I had had a 6.30am walk to gather some wild flowers for the vases 

I walked down to the station and gathered up some cowslips, Rapeseed flowers  and buttercups, back home and added a couple of roses a sprig of rosemary and mint and they were ready.

For 'dessert' we had trifle ( with cherry brandy soaked sponge), scones, and a selection of cakes.

We ate a lot but we did not stop drinking

What a great way to spend Saturday afternoon.

China was a mix of Royal Doulton and Sadler with all glassware either inherited, Morrisons or  charity shop finds. Candelabra was eBay.

Table cloth was Dunelm, and napkins were a selection from my vintage linen collection

 I haven't forgotten about cocktail hour on Friday

The storms that hit us last week were brutal, but some of the cherry trees near to my house had hung onto their blossom so in honour of their strength, I dedicated cocktail hour  to them and made a

 'Cherrytini'

One part cherry brandy, one part vodka, one part rosso vermouth.

Shaken over ice and served, in my case with a macaron garnish, it fell in and became even more delicious!

This could take over from the ginger nut/red wine accident.

Don't know about that?

well that's another blog!!!

I hope you have had as good a weekend as I have.

We are slowly getting to the new normality.

Have a great week

Cocktail hour

 

Friday night always has cocktail hour here at 'Maison des Guichets'.

 After the loss of the diary, I spent the week trying to remember what I had planned, I plan everything from the glass to use, to the nibbles for 'l'apero' , and the china and linen, I hit on an idea that was very close to my heart.

And Yorskhire cocktails and apero were planned

On my way home yesterday, I collected some gin and vodka from The Herbal Gin Company in Newton Aycliffe, yes Aycliffe gin, how brilliant is that and right on my flightpath home! 

The cocktails ( yes there were two last night) were

G & Tea and Rhubarb Martini

so here are the recipes if you want to give it a go.

G & Tea

I went with the 1/3rd gin to 2/3 tonic method of measure and used an Old Fashioned glass instead of a Hiball.

1/3 The Herbal gin company Diamond Gin ( or any gin that you have in)

2/3 of your favourite tonic ( I used Schweppes the best in my opinion)

A teabag of choice ( mine was a Yorkshire Gold teabag)

Ice and a slice of lemon.

Steep the teabag in the gin for about an hour.

Add to a shaker (cobbler)  with ice.

Shake gently and strain in to your glass.

Add tonic and slice of lemon.

Sit back, sip and think of Yorkshire

                                                                  Rhubarb Martini      

This strictly how I make a martini and recipes differ.

20 ml The Herbal Gin Company Diamond Vodka ( or any vodka you have in)

Extra dry vermouth ( slosh it in, technical term for 'I like it so don't scrimp')

Slice of rhubarb an strip of 'skin' to decorate a cocktail stick

Ice

In a shaker (cobbler type for ease), place slices of fresh rhubarb. Muddle these to extract flavour and colour, add the gin, vermouth and ice.

Shake gently to extract more colour and flavour from the rhubarb. Strain into a martini glass. 

Add slice of rhubarb and 'ribbon' .

Both of these cocktails are very easy to make.

And then there nibbles or 'snapas' as I christened it .

I made mini Yorkshire puds ( in a mini muffin tin, bought for upcoming garden party), added roast beef strips and made 'Yorkshire Salad to company them.

Yorkshire salad is a delight, round green lettuce ( not iceberg or Romaine) chopped up onion, small amount of chopped up mint ( optional) pinch of sugar and malt vinegar. Yorkshire puds will never be the same after you try them with this.

There were chips ( in the wrapper) Northern 'guacamole', which were really mushy peas.

Black pudding balls with a melted Wensleydale inner. I made these and they were fiddly but very tasty and  I forgot to take a picture of  it cut!

For sweet 'Snapas' there was fruit cake with Wensleydale cheese ( VERY Yorkshire) , liquorice ( couldn't get any Pontefract cakes!), and of course some Terry's chocolate.

Well that was my Friday cocktail hour, and chuffing enjoyable it was too.

                                            

Cocktails and the lost diary

True to form, the best laid plans and all that malarkey, I had been really prepared with the cocktail side of things, I kept all the recipes and  nibbles and  how it was served in a diary, I was even 6 weeks ahead with this until last Thursday, when I had it in my work bag and then Friday morning it had gone.

As of yet ( 1 week on) it is still to materialise and I really have no idea where it is.

So last Saturday after an unsuccessful search for a diary in all  the usual places, I found one in the charity shop ( the place to find all kinds of treasures).

This meant that I could begin again, and with the aid of the picture on Instagram, I've been able to backtrack and from  this evening we are up and running again.

Have a great weekend.