EPICUREAN DELIGHTS?

If your familiar with the Mistress and this here blog, you'll know and remember my blogger pal and friend Kailyn. We met through our blogs, stayed in touch, and have visited several times on both coasts.  She is after all my Edina to my Patsy. I can't even tell  you how much gin, rum, gin, wine, gin, liqueurs and gin we have sunk. I mean, when we did the Napa Valley, we drank, well, she drank the lovely county vineyards dry!!! Not to mention when she came to New Hope. The poor Raven is still trying to restock the distillery, and the bartends are still nursing their arms and hands from carpal tunnel from shaking cock-a-tails so fast. Anyway.... I was delighted when I heard she was coming east again...we would get caught up and visit my good friend and sister Mame, aka David Dust. But in my angst, I forgot it was Easter weekend and I'd be away out of town at the ancestral home. YOU'D think my Social Director would have caught that right? Well, Kailyn has been sending pictures of her current Life of Riley. She has been enjoying the treasures of the NYC, and being a foodie and a good cook herself, she was enjoying many earthly delights....

This was her room service one day. You know just another afternoon with champagne, caviar and foie gras.

 

But this was her piece de la resistance....

The one thing she kept telling me was,  she was going to Le Bernardin, New York's most celebrated seafood restaurant. If you've come to find out whether Le Bernardin is worth the trip and money, I assume by her enthusiastic picture taking the answer is absolutely YES! But I contained my excitement as I asked where the hell she was dining! Mars? This food may have been good, as I hear from sources she was seen licking the plates clean, but I wasn't feeling it, or didn't ever know what the sam hell she was dining on? But I reckon if she enjoyed it, it was all worth.

 

I mean look at that. And what's that gold thing? Did someone lose a gold filling?

Is it me or does that twig like object look like something from that movie The Thing? But worry not. In between eating she was drinking. The only problem was she couldn't get the stuff down her gullet quick enough....

 

 

In the lounge of the Kimberly Hotel where she had a suite, she was very surprised to see they had a drink called the Mistress.

 

There are drinks named for me all over, not to mention other parts of the hotels, where unmentionable things have gone on........ask anyone for a Bad Influence in New Hope, they will know who it's named after.

SEEN IN NEW HOPE

 

Well, well ,well,  everybody will be happy to know that Kailyn, my good friend and visiting house guest and the Mistress have survived the weekend of debauchery, and contrary to swirling rumors did not get found passed out under a chaise lounge at the Raven Resort, it was just Kailyn who was found, the Mistress's where a abouts are still unknown. A lovely time was enjoyed, althought new livers may be in need. Kailyn departs tomorrow morning bright and early! Our time was spent in New Hope for the weekend. And no glass was left sitting!!!!! This trip in New Hope was seen......

 

 I told you this was a very gay town.....

 

just down from Minnelli Circle, but up from Merman Blvd!!!!!

 

one of the many quaint houses in New Hope

 

some of the water fowl on the Delaware at the terrace...

 

first drink stop...Martine's....

 

at the lovely Hearts a Fire Shop..... love these garden stakes....

 

Loved the book and how can you not love the name Bunty Cutler?

 

                                       some nice smelling bath powders and salts

 

I especially loved the reasons, I have no self control, simon says, my regular lover is out of town, and practice makes perfect, some of my best excuses for my suitors.....

 

carriages rides in Lambertville......

 

Drink stop 2 The Boat House......

 

 

time for gin and tonics

 

the very quaint Hamilton Grill. What a gorgeous courtyard....

 

 

drink stop 3 The Lambertville Hotel......

 

 

with Cubans.......

 

I must get one of these for the Casa, seen at Loves Saves the Day.....

 

drink stop 4 Marsha Brown's, we were parched , but we did have dinner....

 

 

 Drinks flowed all day Sunday at the legendary Raven Resort for the Tea Dance, where Kailyn and the Mistress continued to be wooed by the mens.

 

 I believe Kailyn was ordering out a hit on Ms. Moorecock........

 

the Mistress's gams....

 

One of my favorite bartenders who just started at the Raven, Marcus, showing me his beautiful tattoo he has. Marcus is very easy on the eyes and has one of the most beautiful personalities to match.....

 

 

After the tea dance it was off to Karla's for some more drinks and dinner....

 

All in all it was a very lovely weekend.

KAILYNE ARIVES....SWEETIE DARLINGS

My good friend Kailyn will be arriving later tonight from San Francisco to the Casa Du Borghese for a four day stay. She hit Downtown Philadelphia yesterday, and I hear is already drinking the city dry, and met Buster Bolfig and the ex at the city house. I sure hope she doesn't corrupt the poor pooch. I actually met Kailyn through blogging, my good friend and sister, Mame, AKA, David Dust's blog to be exact, and then she started reading mine. We met up with her in NYC, and after supporting the arts for the go-go boys and a tanker of gin, and then some, it was inevitable we were to become good friends, and have been good friends ever since, five years ago now!!!! Needless to say I'll be showing her around, with lots of cock-a-tails things to do and see. This will pretty much sum it up........

 

Those that knows us will tell you we are most definitely Pasty and Edina. You may even recall my good friend Mame even gave a warning system to the Napa Valley when Kailyn and I went wine tasting for an afternoon at various wineries!!!!! I worry for this visit...if I have enough gin on hand, because Kailyn can't get the stuff down her gullet quick enough.  So....I'll return next week after the visit and all hang overs have subsided.

 

Tootles!!!!!

 

A ROYAL BAKER

 

Saturday was about baking. The Mistress was left to her own devices. Since I had sent everybody and the help away, I reserved the day to make a treat. My good friends and sister Mame, aka David Dust, and Kailyn will tell you, these treat are like crack!!!!! They both over dosed once!

 

 They are the Mistress 's Mother's famous Sand tarts!

 

 Sand tarts are a very thin sugar cookie that has been a tradition in our family since my great grandmother. When I was little, my mother and I spent the two weeks after Thanksgiving making JUST sand tarts. My mother still does. So far she has over 4,000 made to give away in addition to the other varieties she makes, and she even made some dough this year selling them. I usually make mine the week before Christmas for friends and work cronies at my abode. The recipe is very easy. It should be made the night before and kept in the refrig overnight. The recipe calls for:

Sand tarts
2 1/2 cups of sugar
2 cups of butter (1lb)
2 eggs
4 cups of flour

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and mix. Add flour working it in well. Mix thoroughly with no lumps. Chill overnight. Have some lovely G&T'S in the meantime!!! There always time for a cock-a-tail!  When you go to bake the cookies pull the dough out and let soften before you start to cut the dough into balls. After the dough is softened, I cut the dough off in pieces and into medium size balls, which I love to handle. Who doesn't like to handle balls!

Place wax paper over the dough ball and roll till very thin. This is my mother's trick to getting them soooo thin. Pull off the top layer of wax paper and use for the bottom piece on the next roll-out. Select your cookie cutter of choice. This year I used snowmen, bells ,trees ,and  a star. Every couple of cuts with the cookie cutter I'll dip it in flour so the cutter won't pull the dough up.

Once the dough is rolled out very flat and the design has been pressed ,you remove the extra dough from around the design and place back in the dough bowl for the next batch to be made. This is the time consuming part. The last thing to do is sugar the cookies with a dusting of the colored sugar before sending off to the oven. If you don't care for the sugar you can take a pastry brush and dip in egg white and brush the cookie with it and then garnish with crushed nuts, or a almond.

Once they are in the oven for anywhere for 6-8 minutes the little gems can come out. After 6 minutes I check on them .Everyone's oven is different, so when they look a little golden I take them out. Sometimes I 'll keep them in a little longer for a darker color. The crispy dark ones some people like too, so I will do light and dark ones, just like my men! Once they come out of the oven, they will look like this.

Then it is off to the cooling table. on cooling racks .On the wax paper. You can slide the whole sheet of wax paper off the sheet to the table. Once cooled ,you can pop them off and cool them awhile longer.The finished product......

 This tray was going to be for later after dinner, when we come back for a nightcap. When I have a party here, or at work,  I sometime garnish the platter with mixed nuts or sometimes frame the platter with pine boughs. If you have the time, these cookies really are a hit. But I warn you they are very time consuming to make ,so I hope you have at least a day set aside. Whew! After all the baking was done, the Mistress was bushed! Buster was just waiting all night for a cookie to drop..... he watched like a hawk the whole time....

 

 But in the end it was all worth it. 

Can I help you to a old fashioned of egg nog anyone????

 

 

 I had myself a nice strong glass of egg nog, when done, and then took a nice couple hours nap before going out to dinner. Tootles!