A Party Fit for Marie Antoinette

The latest issue of Vogue has a review of a new "magical" restaurant in NYC called Sweetie Pie and the pictures have inspired us to host an over-the-top tea and sweets party for our best girlfriends.

On the menu:

The Drinks
Assorted teas from with delicate silk tea bags from Tea Forte. We'll serve the tea using my grandmother's silver tea service with a mix and match collection of English bone china. The tea packaging is so beautiful it can be incorporated right into our decor.

For those who feel like an afternoon cocktail we'll serve Kir Royales - an easy to make drink with one part creme de cassis and five parts champagne - just gently pour the champagne on top of the creme de cassis.

The Eats
Macarons from Paulette, their small round cakes are the next best thing to the original macaroons from La Duree in Paris.

A variety of tiny cakes, mini pastries, petit fours, and chocolate dipped strawberries from Gateaux Bakery in Denver, all served on a tea cart like Sweetie Pie.

And finally, we'll get some to-go orders of the to-die-for cinnamon and powdered sugar donuts from Beatrice & Woodsley on South Broadway and serve them with Marie Belle hot chocolate.

Yum! We can hardly wait for the weekend.

The Pumpkin

With fall drawing near, why not take advantage of the season's best gustatory delights? They don't have to be gluttonous either! Take for instance the pumpkin...

As a child I remember the family trip to the local pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin. Before we dove in to carve a ghoulish masterpiece, we first feasted on the delicious pumpkin seeds. Which brings me to a fabulously fun child-friendly- and adult-friendly for that matter- seasonal party idea. Invite your friends over for a carving party. But first, dish up some delicious bites including this recipe from Real Simple Magazine.


Seeds from 2 medium pumpkins
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Heat oven to 300° F. Remove the seeds from the pumpkins. Discard the pulp.

Spread the seeds (no need to rinse them) evenly on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until dried, about 1 hour.

Toss the seeds, olive oil, celery salt, and cumin in a large skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat, until the seeds are lightly toasted, about 3 minutes.


Yield: Makes 8 servings