You can't beat a proper afternoon tea. Especially on a Sunday. I enjoyed the one I had with the Gorgeous Girlie at the Landmark recently so much that I decided to try and re-create it, including the champagne, at home. So, out came the flowery cups and saucers, the teapot, the cake stands, the tablecloth, the napkins.
On the menu: a selection of finger sandwiches, teeny cupcakes, little scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream, cheese scones, a raspberry pavlova and.....
... macarons! This was a first attempt, using a recipe from some magazine or other, at recreating those little Laduree delicacies. They were vanilla, sandwiched with raspberry buttercream. Not perfect but melt-in-the-mouth delicious and which the Boy tactfully said he preferred to the Laduree ones.
We three were joined by Aunty M and my 93 year old father in law. Unfortunately, the Girlie's plan to come home for the weekend was scuppered when she went down with the dreaded lurgy, aka Swine Flu.
And the occasion? My (almost) birthday which I've not been looking forward to particularly. Yes, it's very nice to be showered with cards and gifts (I'm assuming I will be) but it's hard to face up to The Number which is now so high it's giving me a nosebleed!
Let's just say that if I was a cat, I'd be a hundred and eleventy twelve.