Throwing a French Tea Party

Sigh...Is there anything more wonderful than lounging in a ankle length dress, lips bright red and hair pinned up in curls, sipping tea and eating french pastries? NOPE!

How to throw a French Tea Party:

Having mastered the art of making scones, whipping up fresh Devonshire cream, and hosting a proper engligh tea party, I'm excited to add throwing French Tea Parties to my repertoire of lofty pursuits. Though I'm fairly certain the french don't do tea parties and if they do it's just a funny euphemism for drinking more wine. But what a french tea party may lack in authenticity it makes up for with butter. Oh so much butter. And what's more french that that?

Some things you'll need:

1. French pastries: The french bake, right? A french tea party must have french pastries. I chose a raspberry tart with pate brisee crust (or shortbread) and financiers with raspberries. And again this weekend, I made the same with cherries. Financiers are an interesting pastry made with butter cooked on a stove and ground almond flour then topped with fruit. Both cherries and raspberries worked perfectly with them. The raspberry tart was a bit hit or miss. It's made with pate brisee (a fancy way of saying a shortbread cookie crust). I wasn't a fan of the tartness of the raspberries on the first try so I customized it with dark cherries and clarified butter (Mmm memories)--a huge improvement. Anything that's fruity and delicate will give your tea party a french flair. (Recipe links below)  

2. Decor: When you're setting your table for low tea, ask yourself, "Would Marie Antoinette approve?". Think pastels and creams, and for God's sake put a tablecloth on your table! Think palace of Versailles: baroque, decadent, and daintier than a french confection. A little pastel goes a long way. 

3. Stereotypes! When in doubt, bring out the wheel of brie and baguette. brie and baguettes are not only telegraphically french, they also make wonderful side savories that balance out all the sweetness of the tea and pastries. 

 4. French Music: Another must. Simply go pandora and type "La Vie En Rose" and let the digital DJ do the rest. :) 

See my previous post on How to throw a Proper English Tea Party.

1.) Quiche:
7 large eggs
bacon
1 cup of cheddar
1 cup of baby spinach
1 sauteed onion
1/3 cup of heavy cream
puff pastry crust (thawed)
-Cook the bacon.
-Dice and saute the onion(Set both aside in the refrigerator to cool for about 10 minutes)
-In a large bowl whisk 7 eggs, heavy cream (add shredded cheese, spinach, and the cooled bacon and onion)
-add freshly ground black pepper
-Use a roller to flatted the thawed puff pastry and use it to line the bottom of a round pan, fill the pan will the eggs (leave room for the eggs and pastry to expand)
-Bake 400 F for 15-20 minutes.

2.) Cherry Tart: Recipe for raspberry tart (JoyofBaking)
Cherry Tart: Add 4 teaspoons of confectioners sugar to this pate brisee dough
2 cups of fresh cherries (pitted)
1/3 cup of clarified ("browned") butter (place unsalted butter in a small pan on medium heat. Allow it the bubble and froth for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally) (This is the same butter used in the financiers)
-Follow the raspberry directions from Joy of baking, using the cherries instead. drizzle the cooked butter over the top of the cherries.

3.) Financiers (See Joy Of Baking Recipe) 

Jamaica Day 4: Back to Christiana

Summah Jam: New Jamaican Dancehall Music

Jamaica: Day 2. Christiana Street Style

Halfway Tree, Kingston: Crowd's Reaction to Bolt, Blake, and Wier sweeping the 200 meter race in London (Olympics)

Jamaica: Yam Country Day 1

It’s almost midnight here at what should be a quiet mountaintop in Wait-a-bit, Trelawney, known to the world as the yam growing hometown of Usain Bolt. But, as I lay here typing, the steady bass from a nearby dancehall invading my room is likely to last all night. Perhaps it’s the leftover nationalistic pride from Monday’s 50^th independence anniversary or the excitement from watching Shelly Ann grab her 2^nd medal in the 200 meter or maybe it’s just Wednesday.

Wait-a-bit, a town that should win a gold medal for its name alone, is a little farming community miles high up in the Jamaican mountains. Travelers are almost guaranteed to find religion before getting here; the 2 hour drive upwards along a winding, treacherously narrow road full of blind spots and cliff-edge turns without barricades will make an atheist find Jesus quick. Here in Wait-a-bit it’s harvesting season and the only thing anyone seems to have business with is the Olympics and yam. The world’s supply of Jamaican yam comes from right here, and since Usain credited it for his record breaking run in Beijing four years ago, it seems to be in high demand. Walk down the uneven winding roads and all you see is yam: donkeys carrying yam, people weighing yam, machetes chopping yam. And with all this yam you would think the town would be whipping around faster than NYC but no, things move maddeningly delightfully slow here.

Born and partially raised in Falmouth, Montego Bay, I can tell you that the mountains and the rest of Jamaica are as different as Manhattan is to Kentucky. The pace is slower here, we don’t eat the same foods; things like red beans and rice are rare thing to come by and you might be blessed to see rice on Sunday, the air is clean and cold here while the rest of Jamaica is muggy and hot and the patrois here is a mumble and a drawl opposed the quick sharp tongue of the city slickers down at sea level—but these are just my Americanized observations.

Two weeks in wine yam country visiting my grandma. What’s a buji Americanized girl to do? Eat and blog! I’ve decided to do what everyone else not occupied with yam is doing, drink my time away at a rum bar and keep up with the races. Jamaican rum bars are everywhere. You can’t throw a stone in Jamaica without hitting a little shack with a red stripe sign on the door. So today I decided to “go up a shop,” or walk to my uncles rum bar, to rub elbows with the locals, catch some Olympic events, and polish up my rusting patrois.

The rum bar campaign was a success. I quickly turned from patron to bartender, churning out the moonshine rum with a flourish and a smile, rum so strong it practically eats a hole through the counter when you spill it. It was easy to get into the rhythm of bartending; the patrons mainly asked for moonshine, a cigarette, or a phone card (probably to call a ‘wurl of girls’ as the billboard suggests). I may have gotten a little bit ahead of myself by asking for tips. The idea of tipping a bartender hasn’t reached Wait-a-bit  yet. But, after getting a few sharp (woman I’ll kill you) looks, a few of the patrons got into the spirit and I left with $200 Jamaican in tips tonight…too bad that can only buy me a red stripe and pack of gum, but hey, baby steps. Tomorrow I’ll make enough to call a "wurl of girls" for sure. ;) 

Alright sleep for me! The hamsters churning the internet wheel are getting tired and so am I.

I leave you with the best damn Jamaican commercial I’ve seen so far:

Enjoy

What Happened in Vegas

I wasn't planning on blogging about my adventures in Las Vegas. After all, there's a Vegas code... BUT, today I got an ego-boosting request for an update on my gloriously nonsensical life from a reader that made my day. So, without further ado I bring you: What Happend in Vegas.

Vegas was never on my bucket list of places to visit. I've never understood it's appeal. With it's bars, hotels, clubs and casinos, It's where people who haven't been to South Beach go to experience what my mum jokingly calls "dutty life". Not that I had any plans of living la vida "dutty". I was there on business to attend Cosmoprof and introduce a new product called INCEPTION, NOT gamble away my imaginary inheritance and indulge my hedonistic urges while a portrait of me rots in the attic.

Cosmoprof was a success. It was such a pleasure networking with the big wigs behind some of my favorite beauty brands and discovering some new and innovative products. My favorite meet-cute was meeting owner and creator behind Besame Cosmetics, the makeup behind movies and shows like The Artist and Mad Men, Gabrielle Hernandez, a woman who looks as if she just stepped out of a fabulous 1940's movie.

I have to take a moment thank the lovely models: Joyce Jones and Nataesha who, besides stopping traffic lanes of international business men in suits with their...ehem...charm, made working the convention so much fun.--And makeup artist/hair stylist Kaye Dash who transformed the girls into runway divas each morning (I definitely have to get her secret to getting those curls).

For a city named sin my trip was pretty tame. I spent the majority of it either working or having way too much fun riding the sideways-moving elevators in my pyramid hotel. But I did get to do some-sightseeing; the Venetian, Cosmopolitan and Caesar's Palace were okay but they had nothing on the blown glass ceilings, the whimsically themed gardens, and the dancing waterfall at Bellagio.

Being in Vegas was like being inside of an 80's arcade with no tokens left. I can't say it's on my the top of the list of places I've been; the novelty had definitely worn off by day 3, but it was a nice change and who can complain about staying in a pyramid (unless, of course, you're a mummy).  Model Joyce Jones put it all perspective with her insight: "If you don't sin a little, you'll explode!" to which I could only reply, "now that is what I call convention-al wisdom."

Models: Cool Blue Talent
Hotel: The Luxor
Hair by: Kaye Dash

Glorious Beauty Products: Premiere Orlando Freebie Overview