Old Fashioned Croquet Party Décor

Full disclosure, the Old Fashioned Croquet Party started with my desire to shoot a garden party in my parent’s garden. It’s incredibly beautiful and I knew that late June would be a wonderful time in terms of the garden being in full bloom. Next came assembling my friends. It’s important to have a game or activity to keep people happy when you’re going to be making them take photos and stand around, especially if lots of your guests a tiny humans. Croquet seemed perfect to me, and came with the added bonus of providing a natural menu theme and dress code. Croquet is traditionally played in all white, and there’s nothing like monochromatic coordination to make your friends and family look fancy and formal. It doesn’t hurt that all the white really stood out against the dramatic green of the lawn and surrounding garden. And since Croquet originated in France, a slightly French menu felt natural. Finally, it was time to style the table and the food. Fortunately, we were staying with my parents and they’re both natural collectors of beautiful things (have you wondered where I inherited a pathological send of needing many sets of wine glasses?), so I had … Continue reading

Crustless Quiche & Sundried Tomatoes

It’s true; I should probably just call this Crustless Quiche & Sundried Tomatoes a frittata. But that’s the Italian version. And my croquet party was a French, Old Fashioned Croquet Party. So Crustless Quiche & Sundried Tomatoes it is. After all, sticking with the theme is what counts, right? I mean, I got the guests to the garden, all in white, I had the croquet set up, I made french salads with french herbs and had a lovely lavender lemonade. We’re sticking to the theme on the quiche! In all seriousness, regardless of your theme, or what you call it, the Crustless Quiche & Sundried Tomatoes is a great make ahead dish for a party any time of day for a variety of reasons. One great feature of this dish is that it’s composed of all ingredients you can buy ahead of time, from the French onion dip, to the sundried tomatoes. Furthermore, it’s a breeze to make, you can serve it warm, cold, or room temperature, like I did, and if you cut in on the bias, the diamond shaped pieces look really fancy. This is definitely a repertoire sort of dish to know because you can whip it up for … Continue reading