Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Books: A Recipe for Hospitality!

Yesterday, we invited 5 families (moms and their kids - a total of over 20 guests) to our house for a tea of gratitude for all their many gifts of friendship to us.

But what to serve? We pulled out Alice Cantrell's book, Tea and Cake with the Saints, sat down on Sunday and planned the whole menu (after reading about the importance of hospitality, making your home beautiful and being good hosts -- all covered very nicely in Alice's book).
We chose and made many recipes from the book for a variety of taste sensations. From Alice's book we made:
  1. Cheddar Muffins
  2. Sparkling Berry Punch
  3. Cucumber Sandwiches
  4. Flavored Cream Cheese (raspberry and herbed)

We also made a few other favorites from our recipe-books -- fresh artisan bread, cranberry soda bread, chocolate brownies, butterscotch/coconut brownies, sweet and unsweet iced teas (after all, it was in the 70s here yesterday!) -- as well as the ubiquitous chips and carrots and celery.

The food and drinks were all well-liked, if empty plates and empty pitchers were any indication [;)] !

The boys and Maggie really took the hospitality aspect of hosting a party to heart -- they pitched in to make the house look nice, to ensure the food was out and appetizing, and to ensure that all the little guests had a great time while the moms chatted!

If you haven't gotten Alice's book yet, please look into it as it really is a great one for helping the kids (BOYS and girls) understand the importance of making a house a home! The book is spiral bound for laying flat, well-written with wonderful overviews of why we do the things that make a home welcoming.

Good job, Alice!

1 comment:

Carmen said...

I ate my leftover cheddar muffin on the plane to Boston. Yum!