Browsing Category:

Gather

How to Create a Botanical Table Theme

Posted in Gather by
How to style a Botanical Table Theme

We are still feeling inspired by our current favourite interior design book Botanical Style by Selina Lake. So when it came to setting the table for an Italian dinner party we had we knew we wanted a botanical table theme. We host frequently so mixing up the styles is fun way of adding a new dimension to each event.

For our botanical table theme we started by heading to our local garden centre to by some gorgeous green houseplants. We picked up a sword fern, a couple of maidenhair ferns and a couple of mind-your-own-business.  You can read more about these plants here. We find that using plants can be a great alternative to cut flowers for creating the perfect table centre. More often than not it works out cheaper than buying cut flowers, and you get the added bonus of new plants to keep, or to give to your guests at the end of the eventing for presents.

We placed the plants a mixture of rustic containers that we had collected over the years and mixed these in with some green glass lantern and some vintage glass bottles.  We also made some tea light holders in some washed out glass yoghurt pots with a bit of garden twine tied around the rim, economical and very effective.

We’d managed to borrow some collapsible tables to create a big enough dinner table to confirmable sit eight people.  These tables are not the most attractive so to hide them we used a crisp white tablecloth. We broke this up with a natural coloured table runner and similar coloured napkins to keep the theme grounded.  To continue the green from the plants we uses some green water glasses (purchased from ikea for 50p each). And Rich designed the menus and place names using a green palm leave motif.

Botanical Table Theme was perfect for our evenings festivities. We had a wonderful time!

Botanical Table Theme Botanical Table ThemeBotanical Table Theme Botanical Table ThemeBotanical Table Theme

How to style a Botanical Table ThemeBotanical table theme with ferns
17th August 2016
/
Leave a comment

Cocktail of the Week | Negroni

Posted in Cocktail of the Week by
Negroni Cocktail

For this week’s cocktail of the week, we took inspiration from a recent Italian themed dinner party we had.  There are a plethora of Italian cocktails that we could have tried, but the Negroni was the one cocktail neither of us had sampled before and thought it would be giving it a try, especially as it used up some of the red Vermouth we have!

The Negroni has a link to Italian nobility through Count Camilo Negroni.  It was reportedly first mixed in Florence in 1919 where the Count asked his bartender to boost his favourite cocktail the Americano.  His bartender, Fosco Scarselli, replaced the soda water in the Americano with gin and gave it an orange garnish to distinguish it as a different drink.  Given that the family started producing a ready made version of the drink in 1919, it is possible that this story is a little bit of a corporate myth.  On the other hand, if it is true, it is a good start to how most cocktails are made, by experimentation.

For this week’s cocktail, you will need:

  • 1 measure of gin
  • 1 measure of sweet red vermouth
  • 1 measure of Campari
  • Ice
  • One orange for garnish

To make the cocktail, take a tumbler or old fashioned style glass and add the ice.  Pour in the gin, red vermouth and Campari over the ice.  Stir the mix and add the orange for the garnish and there you have the cocktail of the week, the Negroni.

The cocktail has a very dry, bitter taste and probably needed more ice than we added.  However, as Orsen Wells stated when he came across the drink “The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other”, we will take that as a sign that we made it correctly.

Negroni - 3 Negroni - 4Negroni Cocktail

Negroni Cocktail
11th August 2016
/
Leave a comment

Cocktail of the Week | Basil & Lime Cooler

Posted in Cocktail of the Week by
Basil & Lime Cooler

When we returned from France in June, we brought back a basil plant.  There is something different about the way it is grown in France that gives it a stronger flavour.  It has been sitting on the window sill since we returned getting used for the odd meal and we thought we should try to use it as the base flavour in our cocktails.  We came across a Basil & Lime cooler on The Italian Dish blog whilst doing some research for an Italian themed meal and thought would be great to use the basil and the Cointreau we picked up on holiday.

Our basil usually ends up in the ratatouille rather than a cocktail, but being the adventurous type we are, we were up for the experience.  As an ingredient, it has been around for 5,000 years and is known in some parts of the world as the ‘king of herbs’ or the ‘royal herb’.  The world basil comes from the Greek word basileus.  It has slightly odd cultural and fictional associations including being carried in passage to the after life or smelling too much can cause scorpions to breed in the brain and in some parts of Mexico, it is used to draw fortune.  For the record, we now have two basil plants!

For this weeks cocktail, you will need;

  • 10 small to medium basil leaves
  • 1 Lime
  • 2 measures of tequila
  • 1 measure of Cointreau
  • 1 tablespoon of simple syrup
  • 4 measures of club soda
  • Ice

To make the cocktail, slice the lime in half and take one half and slice it into quarters. Add the lime and the basil to a cocktail shaker, use a muddle to extract the juices.  Add some ice to the cocktail shaker, along with the remaining ingredients and give it a quick shake.  Too much and you will loose the bubbles from the club soda.  Stain the mix in to a glass filled with ice, garnish using the remaining lime and there you have this weeks cocktail, a Basil & Lime Cooler.

The cocktail is certainly one to keep in mind.  The flavour of the basil comes through well and compliments the other ingredients perfectly. We are now thinking what other cocktails can we create or improve with basil!

Basil & Lime CoolerBasil & Lime Cooler

Basil & Lime Cooler
4th August 2016
/
Leave a comment

How to Style an Al Fresco Bar

Posted in Gather by
How to Style an Al Fresco Bar

During the summer we love nothing more than hosting garden parties, and what do parties need? A bar of course! Last year we created a bar from pallets for our Tiki Bar, read more about out Tiki Party here. This year we are using an old potting beach to create a rustic bar for a series of summer parties we are having. Here our our key tips for an al fresco bar:

How to Style an Al Fresco Bar

Read more…

3rd August 2016
/
Leave a comment

The Cocktail of the Week | Watermelon Daiquiri

Posted in Cocktail of the Week by

As it is now officially summer, Calum has done his traditional thing and bought a watermelon!  As he grew up in Hong Kong, it is one of the things that reminds him about living there.  Due to their size, eating it all in one sitting was not an option so we needed to find something else to do with it!  Sliced and packed into the freezer we started our weekly mission to find a cocktail of the week.  Relatively quickly we decided on a Watermelon Daiquiri.

The history of the daiquiri is rather interesting!  The name ‘Daiquiri’ is a Taíno word that comes from the indigenous people of Cuba and is also the name of a local beach and iron mine.  Origins of a drink similar to the daiquiri can be traced back to the 1740s.  A drink call grog was made at the time that British Navy sailors would drink.  By the end of the century, the sailors had as part of their grog rations, the key ingredients to the drink now known as the daiquiri; rum, water, lemon or lime and sugar.  The drink became common across the Caribbean where it reappeared in Cuba in the late 1890’s.

It is likely that the drink was an established Cuban speciality when it was introduced to the Americans.  An American expat called Jennings Cox who ran out of gin whilst entertaining and created something similar to the drink.  It wasn’t until 1909 when a US Navy officer tried Cox’s drink and introduced it to the Army and Navy Club in Washington where its popularity grew.  It was also thought to be a favourite of Ernest Hemingway and JFK.  Variations of the drink have become popular over the last few years with frozen and fruit versions.

For this weeks cocktail you will need;

  • 1 cup of watermelon, sliced into inch cubes and frozen
  • 1 measure of rum
  • 2 teaspoon of sugar syrup
  • 1 teaspoons of lime juice
  • Zest of half a lime
  • 1 watermelon slice with the rind for garnish

To make the drink, place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until you have a smoothish liquid and pour into a glass.  Garnish with the watermelon slice and you have a Watermelon Daiquiri.

Its great to think that a drink started by the British Navy with the rum rations, popularised in the Caribbean and adopted by the American Navy and Army is still going today.  Sadly (or rather sensibly), as the rum rations were ended in 1970 on a day known as Black Tot Day, we probably won’t have the British and American Navy for another interesting cocktail.


28th July 2016
/
Leave a comment

Cocktail of the Week | Cucumber & Thyme Spritz

Posted in Cocktail of the Week by

As we have finally hit summer with the temperatures hitting 33 degrees, it was time to find a refreshing drink for this week’s cocktail of the week.  Once again taking inspiration from the garden, where our cucumber plant has just started to flower, and the spirits we have in the cupboard we stumbled on a Cucumber and Thyme spritz.

This is not your usual cocktail combination, but that is the joy of cocktails, a little bit of experimentation. It is also one of the things Calum enjoys about cooking.  Needless to say, experimentation does not always work, but it does give you some great and, sometimes, surprising results. The only thing to remember when you are experimenting is to write down what you do, if you don’t and it turns out great, you won’t be able to recreate it!  We found this drink on belvederevodka.com and thought it was a good use of the ingredients we are growing in the garden and an opportunity to use up some more of the vodka collection Calum has amassed over the years!

For this weeks cocktail, you will need:

  • One measure of dry vermouth
  • One measure of vodka (as we used a Belvedere recipe, we thought it right to use Belvedere)
  • Soda water
  • Tonic water
  • Three ribbons of cucumber
  • One sprig of thyme
  • Ice

To create the drink, place the tall glass you intend to use in the fridge to chill them.  Take the cucumber and peel across the length to create the ribbons. Take the glass from the fridge and place the cucumber and thyme in the glass followed by a handful of ice.  Pour in the measure of dry vermouth, the measure of vodka and use equal parts of tonic water and soda water to fill the glass. Once full, give the mix a little stir and there you have this weeks cocktail, a Cucumber and Thyme Spritz.

We found the cocktail to be a good savoury drink, if a little drier than we normally would like.  It is certainly a summer drink to enjoy on a hot afternoon to keep your sprits up when drinking cocktails!

Cucumber & Thyme Spritz

<Orchard Blog | Cucumber & Thyme Spritz/div>

21st July 2016
/
Leave a comment

Cocktail of the Week | Water Lily

Posted in Cocktail of the Week by

This week we decided to be a bit more adventurous with our cocktail of the week and decided to open the Crème de Violette we bought on our recent trip to France.  The issue with using the Crème de Violette was hunting down a suitable cocktail to use it in, this was no easy task! We finally came across a drink known as a ‘Water Lily’ on saveur.com and thought it was worth a try, mainly as it meant we could try the bottle of Cointreau we picked up in Angers!

Crème de Violette is a French liqueur traditionally made with natural violet flower flavouring and has a brandy or plain spirit base. It has a distinctive floral taste that can overpower most flavours. In researching ideas for the cocktail this week, it became apparent that it is also a difficult liqueur to obtain and it seems very few drinks use it as a key ingredient as a result. It also appears that its rarity was a plot point in a 1965 episode of the Avengers. The good thing about the research we do to bring you our Cocktail of the Week is that it throws up a large number of random, but mildly interesting facts.  On the plus side, we have also found other another cocktail to try!

For the Water lily cocktail you will need a;

  • Measure of triple sec (we used Cointreau)
  • Measure of Crème de Violette
  • Measure of fresh lemon juice
  • Measure of gin
  • Twist of orange, for the garnish

Using a cocktail shaker, pour the triple sec, crème de violette, lemon juice and gin into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake for a few minutes.   Strain the mix into a glass and garnish with the twist.

And that is this week’s cocktail! The distinctive floral taste certainly comes through strongly and tastes very much like the violet sweets that you used to get in a pick’n’mix bag thinking they were Refreshers, but were always left disappointed! As a cocktail, it makes up for those years of disappointment!

Water Lily

Orchard Blog | Water Lily
14th July 2016
/
1 Comment

Swedish Crayfish Party

Posted in Gather by

Last summer we turned our hand at hosting a Swedish Crayfish Party (Kräftskiva), a traditional party to celebrate the start of the crayfish season (find out more on the Swedish National Website).  Hosting a kräftskiva was a bit of a challenge seeing as neither of us have ever been to one, or had even eaten Crayfish, but we thought we’d give it a go anyway… if it all went wrong we’d just drink plenty of Akvavit.

Scandi culture is becoming ubiquitous nowadays, so with a between Ikea, Scandinavian Kitchen (we love this place!) and The Stockholm Deli we could find nearly everything we needed: Crayfish, Akvavit, crispbreads, cheeses, garlands & lanterns.  We decided against the funny hats, a decision we later regretted, as apparently this is all part of the tradition!  The only thing we couldn’t find is Dill Crowns which seem to be a key part, a bit of a shame but we survived without.

We started with Gravdlax on rye bread, not sure how traditional this is but it’s my favourite so we went with it! We then downed our first shot of ice cold Akvavit before getting onto the main event; plenty of crayfish accompanied with several salads, cheese pies, crispbreads and some herby mayonnaise.   Not being experience in eating crayfish, they took some getting used to, they are a bit fiddly but once you get in they are delicious.  But be warned they do make quite a mess, some sort of bib is a must!

To follow we had a Blackberry and Almond cake, we found the recipe in Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break, with Recipes for Pastries, Breads, and Other Treats.  A good book and a very simple and tasty cake! To finish off we found a selection of Swedish cheeses… and lastly for good measure we had some Daim bars!

We’d read that one of the keys to a successful kräftskiva are the drinking songs.  After a bit of research we found a simple enough tune for us to learn, Helan går, Luckily we also found the Phonetic transliteration, so fortified with some more Akvavit with gave it our best shot… not sure how successful this was (and apologies to our neighbours!)

 All in all it was a very fun evening, not entirely sure how authentic our Crayfish Party was, but we all had a great time!

 Take a look at some more images from the party below.

Crayfish Party 7Crayfish Party 9 Read more…

13th July 2016
/
Leave a comment

Cocktail of the Week | Firework

Posted in Cocktail of the Week by

Digging in the drinks cabinet we found more vodka! Calum seems to have been on a vodka shopping spree at some point. Thankfully, as it is versatile drink, it can be used in a large range of drinks. As it was 4th July weekend in America, it was a must to celebrate with an appropriate cocktail. Looking for a cocktail that was subtle in look to celebrate this weekend was not an easy task, but we did come across a cocktail known as a ‘firework’.

The 4th July, as we know, is the USA Independence Day and celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on the 4th July 1776. As a holiday it is really an excuse to spend time with family and friends. The times Calum has spent there on 4th July it has involved beaches, BBQs and fireworks. So what better way to try out this as the cocktail of the week.

For this week’s cocktail, you will need:

  • Ice
  • 1 measure Vodka
  • Handful of cherries (pitted)
  • ½ a lime
  • ½ Measure of sugar syrup

Start by putting the cherries, lime and sugar syrup into a cocktail mixer and muddle them together. If you don’t have a muddle, the back of a spoon will work. Once the fruit is mushed add the vodka and some ice, then the lid and shake. Once you have a cooled liquid, strain the mix in to two glasses getting as little of the fruit pulp in the glass.

This was a sweet cocktail that would have probably been better with pepper vodka to cut through the sweetness and give it some fire, but as a single glass to toast a day of celebration, it works as our cocktail of the week.

It only leaves us one thing to say! Happy 240th Birthday America!

Firework

Orchard Blog | Firework
7th July 2016
/
Leave a comment

Cocktail of the Week | Lingonberry Collins

Posted in Cocktail of the Week by

There is really only one thing to say about the 24th June 2016, MIDSOMMAR! If you needed an excuse to have a cocktail, this excuse goes without saying! The Swedes enjoy a drink and Midsommar is the start of making the most of the warmth and sun! To be fair, winter is as good a time to enjoy a drink as well!

One of the most prevalent and probably, easily recognisable Swedish fruits is the lingonberry. It is a key ingredient in many dishes. You are likely to have had a lingonberry jam at Ikea when you stop to have meatballs in the restaurant. We bought a bottle of lingonberry syrup  on a recent trip to Ikea and tried to think of a suitable cocktail to use it with. After some thinking, and a rummage in the drinks box, we decided the best drink to make the most of the flavour would be a Collins based drink. Digging out the Vodka Collins recipe from a few weeks ago, we adapted it slightly to work for the lingonberry. It was handy to learn that this cocktail is quite versatile.

For the cocktail of the week, you will need:

  • A tall Collins glass
  • 1 Measure of lingonberry syrup
  • 2 Measures of vodka
  • ½ measure of lemon juice
  • Soda water
  • Ice

Start by adding the ice to the glass and adding the measure of lingonberry, followed by the vodka and lemon juice. Stir to mix the drink before adding the soda water to fill the glass. We did not use sugar syrup for this drink, as the sugar in the lingonberry was sufficient to compensate for it. We used a jug to make this cocktail as a welcome drink for the Midsommar dinner party we had with our friends and multiplied the mix by four.

There you have a Lingonberry Collins, our fusion of a vodka Collins and a Swedish staple. It was certainly one way to start the summer off in style!

 

Lingonberry Collins

Orchard Blog | Lingonberry Collins
30th June 2016
/
Leave a comment