The Quest for the Perfect Pimm's Cup; A Memory of Summer Days...

Summer seems a long ways away now with swirling ice flakes and a grand high of 24 degrees here in Boston, but once upon a time we were making citrus-y cocktails and sitting on the balcony in the sun-dappled light.

Juuuuuuuuice

I didn't set out to buy a juicer this weekend. I had wanted a juicer for months - years, even - but they were always too expensive or the size of a small family car.

But then, Mom gave me several thousand coupons and this Cuisinart compact beauty revealed itself to me.

I may never eat solid foods again.

The adventure began with the utmost goal of recreating my favorite beverage from a local bookstore / cafe.

Apple Ginger Seltzer 

 And a 'Green Monster', modeled by my assistant

A bunch of green grapes
Handful or two spinach
2 apples

Then a little bevy I like to call 'cleaning out the fridge'

5 carrots
large chunk of ginger
7-8 green grapes 
1 apple

A little fresh juice makes justifying dessert that much easier...

An Ode to Jane and Lizzie and even the prat Mr. Darcy

In honor of the 200th anniversary of the publishing of Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice", the wife and I had a regency tea party. Mostly, this meant we ravaged the house for potentially authentic clothing and got to work. 

In charge of bevys...and dressed up as a man as usual

We quite often have tea (very often indeed for Americans)  at our place; our combo bridal shower was a huge tea party at my Mom's house. We have a steadily growing collection of tea pots, accessories,and a multitude of tea varieties alongside access to genuine clotted cream, so it's a serious business come tea time.

Roses!

The menu consisted of the more traditional, like goat cheese and tomato tea sandwiches, scones, and Earl Grey tea and the more unique, like edamame, cheesy bread bites, and apple slices. 

Clotted cream...mmm, English heart attack

We ate, we drank, we made gin fizzes (historical accuracy could only go so far) and gossiped about who we could marry off to local eligible bachelors in true Austonian character style. I think I a much better scone maker than matchmaker, truth be told...

My 12 dollar Goodwill find. Swiped it out of the window display