Baby Shower for Jaime (and baby Breckin)

My daughter-in-law and her friends hosted a baby shower for their friend and co-worker, Jaime, last weekend and I provided some treats.

What a wonderful job they did... all the decorations were hand made by my daughter-in-law and her friends! So cute!

Treats provided by me, "English Rose Teas"... chocolate covered peanut butter balls, chocolate covered chocolate chip cookie dough balls (mmmm! thanks to my daughter-in-law for suggesting this one), mini cupcakes with vanilla and chocolate buttercream icing, millionaire bars, fondant covered cake-pop bonbons and lemon loaf cake.

 

Sangria to drink (not for the mommy to be though), lemonade and iced water with fresh fruit ice cubes made by the girls.

It all looks so lovely! I trust they had a great time. WELCOME to baby Breckin!!

Barbara's Birthday Tea

I was so happy to be asked by Heather to cater an afternoon tea at her home for Barbara's birthday a couple of weeks ago.  

Even though it kind of got off to a rocky start (car problems for me!), my son came to the rescue, picked me up with all my stuff, and got me to Heather's house, somewhat late, but thanks to all of  the "helpers" who came to the rescue and set everything up, eventually, everyone was able to have a scrumptious, calming, afternoon tea :)

Heather, you were a wonderful hostess to all the birthday guests, and so much help to me. I LOVED your kitchen (wish that I had it)... so much space to prepare the tea and set out all the goodies!

I hope that everyone had a good time and enjoyed all the treats. Heather, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the celebrations.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARBARA!

Jill's Bridal Shower - a Very Special Day!

Here are some pictures of a very special tea I did for my dear friend Flo for her daughter’s bridal shower. What a special day!

Flo and I have been friends for many, many years, we’ve been through thick and thin together as our children grew up and I’ve known her daughter, Jill, since junior high school!  It was truly such an honor for me to be asked to do this event.

The day before, as is typical, I worked into the night and early morning hours. My friend drove up from Del Mar early on the morning of the shower to pick me up. As I finished up last minute things she started to pack everything into our two cars and we then sped off to Long Beach to set up for the bridal shower “tea”.  We busily got everything set up, with the help of Jill’s future mother-in-law Chris, her sister-in-law, Jen and friend Caroline. Thanks to everyone for helping!

It was such a FUN day. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and Flo and I had a lot of laughs, along with Flo’s family and friends. It was so nice to meet everyone.   

Jill and Matt will be tying the knot next weekend at a beautiful winery in Temecula and I cannot wait for this wedding.  I know Jill is going to be a stunning bride and Matt a handsome bridegroom.  They are a great couple and it's going to be a beautiful affair. 

Thank you Flo, my dear friend, for giving me the pleasure of preparing this tea for everyone :) 

Mothers Day Tea

I just did a Mothers Day tea last weekend for some of my favorite young moms. I always LOVE to see and hear these moms having time together, being able to relax and just enjoy each others company and conversation with no interruptions!

Lovely day :)

Wedding Shower Treats

Some treats I did for a wedding shower last week.

Guilt Free Baking

I have been doing some challenging baking for my vegan son. These muffin recipes incredibly contain no eggs, dairy, fat or sugar!! Who would think it possible? And they are utterly delicious. They are obviously more rustic and hearty than a regular muffin, but are very moist and sweet. They are simply yummy for breakfast and you don't have to be vegan to enjoy them :)

I shared these recipes with my daughter-in-law and she added dried cranberries to the banana date muffins when she made them, scrumptious, I think I will do the same next time too!

Banana Date Muffins - no fat, no dairy, no eggs, no sugar and VERY TASTY - pretty incredible!

Bran Muffins - no fat (except for a sprinkling of chopped walnuts on top), no dairy, no eggs, no sugar - amazingly moist and delicious!

Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake - no fat, no dairy and no eggs! This cake does have a little sugar and it is VERY YUMMY!

This Chocolate Orange cake makes a delicious guilt free dessert :)

Little Princess Tea Party

My precious little granddaughter just turned 4! She's getting to be such a big girl. Taelor LOVES afternoon tea, just like Gamma :). She is such a little lady; she takes so much care with her little teacup and she loves all the special little cakes. So... we made a very special tea party for our little princess and all her friends. Taelor looked simply ADORABLE in her fluffy pink tulle dress. It was all very Pinkalicious!!

 

I did a tea for the little girls and also one for the mommy's. The moms had a good time relaxing and all the little girls were so sweet, eating so daintily and pouring out their tea with such care. That tea had to be so very sweet with the amount of sugar cubes they put into those tiny little teacups :)

Cute gift bags made by mommy!

I so enjoyed doing this special tea party that I have decided to add a little lady's tea to my repertoire!!

Happy Birthday sweet Taelor... I LOVE YOU SO MUCH my little Princess :)

Christmas

I just love Christmas! I love it even more now that I have my precious grandchildren. Watching their anticipation and wonder as the time gets closer is so amazing, and the excitement on Christmas Day as they receive all the gifts they have requested from Santa is such a joy!



And it goes without saying that we enjoy all the Christmas foods. Mine of course are pretty much traditionally English with desserts such as Christmas (plum) pudding, mince pies, Christmas cake and trifle... MMMMM! Even my daughter-in-law and granddaughter are converts and love them, my grandson (only 2 years old) is still deciding on some things, although he definitely did like the gingerbread cookies and he thinks he likes trifle but WITHOUT the cream :)

Gingerbread Cookies

December 23rd, baking day at Gamma's house! Taelor and Ethan came over to bake gingerbread cookies while mommy and daddy had some time to themselves to finish up last minute Christmas shopping and have a quiet lunch together. We had so much fun!

The finished product!

Taelor's cookies were so carefully baked, beautifully decorated and saved for mommy and daddy to taste. She's such a sweet girl, and always wants to share with mommy and daddy.

Ethan was definitely more into eating the cookies than decorating them! He did save at least one for mommy and daddy though. He's so cute :)

There was a lot of testing and tasting on the way :)

I made some English Wassail too and when mommy and daddy came to pick up the "little'ies" we all feasted on  gingerbread and wassail before they went home. Yummy!

I also made some fat free and dairy free cookies for my vegan son... bit more "cakey" than regular cookies but he said they were delicious and ate the whole plateful!

What a fun day :)