with Mary Anne Mohanraj
More party pics from Lori’s friend, John. Look, I actually sat down with friends for a minute! Booksellers (from Forest Park’s history and mystery bookstore, Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore) sold lots of copies of _Death at Greenway_, I think!
Isn’t that set of jars adorable? I’ll be using them for sambols and chutneys in the future, I’m sure. Link here.
The plan was to set up all the tea and food inside (it just seemed a lot easier, given all the fragile china, the need to boil water for tea, not needing to worry about keeping bugs away from the table full of food, etc.), ask people to wear masks when in the house getting their food and beverages, and then come out to the garden for the tea party, where they could be unmasked. Our town has pretty high vaccination rates, which helps with feeling like this was a reasonably safe activity to host.
It worked REALLY well, and made me feel like with a little forethought, I could’ve done a lot more entertaining this past year. We had gorgeous weather on Saturday, very lucky, and even though I now have a heater on my front deck, and a firepit in the backyard, there probably will soon be some limits on how much people are willing to hang out outside. We’ve had snow on Halloween some years!
But I’m hoping for another month of decent weather, so I can get in some good socializing before the snows descend and we hunker down for three months.
Maybe it’s time to host another soup exchange. 
Everyone brings soup to share, takes some away so they have a variety for the winter (ideally soups that freeze well), and we also have some hot here, with bread, for people to try while chatting outside. I think if people don’t mind using mugs as well as soup bowls, I probably have enough for thirty or so…
Pictured: egg salad sandwiches, curried mushroom sandwiches, my Star Trek captain’s tea set (a surprise Christmas present from Kevin a few years back, much loved), mimosas (your choice of mango, passionfruit, or mango-passionfruit, mixed with either prosecco or non-alcoholic ginger beer), someone’s utterly charming bicycle near my cemetery, and a nice big red pot full of tea that Lori brought all the way from Agatha Christie’s home of Greenway!
Kavi and her friends, Emma and Dani, hard at work. Apparently, they got into quite an argument later on, because Kavi likes Dean (Gilmore Girls), and Emma and Rose (not pictured) emphatically do not. They told Kavi she doesn’t get to have an opinion yet, as she’s only partway through season 2.
I admit, I am with Emma on Team Jess. I have a weakness for wicked smart & snarky slightly bad boys.
Kavi asked if she could invite friends to the tea party, and I told her to invite ALL the friends. She didn’t invite all her friends, which is probably just as well, as they would have eaten all the food, but three did come over and I think had a good time. Here you see Dani chipping in with Kavi and Lori’s friend Kim on the ribbon sandwich cutting.
People who were wondering what the spicy element is in the ribbon sandwiches — it’s green chili. Just a bit! I was pleased that Kim, who said she normally hates beets, liked these sandwiches, despite the beets. Or perhaps BECAUSE of the beets? Sri Lankan beets are best beets.
I *may* have taken Lori Rader-Day’s launch party for _Death at Greenway_ as an excuse to spruce up my tea and coffee station. New electric kettle, divided tea box, canisters for Keurig pods, PG Tips, Splenda, a beehive glass jar with dipper for honey…
Tomorrow we bake ALL the scones.
We stopped at Omnivore Books in San Francisco on our way up to Alex and Christa’s yesterday. It’s a fabulous cookbook store, and I was supposed to do an event here for Feast last year, but sadly had to cancel it (and the rest of the book tour) when COVID hit.
They still had some copies of Feast on hand, delightfully, which I signed, and said they’d be happy to have me come do an event anytime. I’m thinking in spring, when Vegan Serendib launches.
I managed to get out of the store after buying only three books, which was an act of great restraint on my part — I think I used up all my willpower for the week.
When you wake up groggy and a little cranky but then come downstairs and remember that you asked Kevin to make cheese scones yesterday and everything is better.
