Make Reasons to Celebrate!

My daughter, Roxy, and I had afternoon tea at the Beehive Tea Room today. Talk about fun! The decor was eclectic, the food was amazing, and the ambiance was dreamy. I had a bowl of vegetarian split pea soup and the house specialty cocoa. Roxy had spinach quiche, a salad, and also the cocoa. (I know, not exactly TEA; next time.)

As we chatted, Roxy was telling me about her frustration at the lack of dating going on in her life and amongst her circle of girlfriends.
Being the proactive gal that she is, she's decided she's going to hold monthly "soirees," and the qualification for anyone invited (males that is), is to BRING A DATE! (In case you don't know--I didn't--a soiree is a party where guests are carefully chosen. The name is what makes the whole thing so hoity toity.) Very cool idea, huh?


I think this plan has all sorts of possibilities and we talked about a couple--one being a Soiree How-To book with recipes included. So with my interest piqued, I went online to look for soiree-appropriate recipes, because I think it would be really fun to hold a family soiree from time to time. All invited guests would be asked to contribute something to the refreshments table.

Here are a few ideas I found that were reported to be very popular (not just because they are tasty, but they are also easy to prepare):

• For warm weather soirees, fresh raspberry lemonade with ice cubes made with pureed raspberries.
• Mango, strawberry, grape, kiwi fruit cups.
• Following the latest trend in treats, CUPCAKES of all sorts and sizes--the more decorated and gooey, the better.
• And in keeping with the sophisticated name of the event--soiree--all sorts of exotic cheeses and crackers.

These are just a few ideas to get us started. But the one thing I know, if we serve things the family doesn't typically see at our table, the more of a WOWEE! impact we'll have and the more memorable the evening could be. Do you have special party recipes or ideas? If so, let us know--we're all in this together, so let's share. There could be dozens of reasons to celebrate, and we could start with the arrival of Spring. A soiree could be just the way to do it! So until next time, here's to one awesome soiree, and of course, here's to happy cook'n!