Kim, and her husband, Matt, recently returned from an amazing vacation in Paris, Reunion Island, in the Indian Ocean, and Mauritius. Inspired by her travels, Kim hosted a Parisian tea.
The table was set with great care, with a pink, black and white theme - loved the Eiffel
tower napkins! We began by sipping French Rose Wine & Peach French Champagne as well as ice water with lemon as it was a sunny, hot day.
This picture does not do it justice, but Kim's brand new dining room table is gorgeous!
Le Menu
Chilled beet & goat cheese salad on spring greens with herbs, garlic and optional bacon with balsamic vinaigrette - light and refreshing. The goat cheese had a mild, sweet flavor.
Mini croissants backed fresh from Pardon My French - buttery, flaky, and warm!
Soup du Jour: Homemade vegan carrot soup from the French Farmhouse cookbook - warm, earthy and sweet contrasted with the crunchy, peppery croutons.
Kim brought home a rare treat - specialty Marie Antoinette Tea from Nina's of Paris, with real dried apples from The King's Kitchen Garden of Versailles - wow!
We also enjoyed Mauritius
vanilla bean tea.
Time for dessert and fun plates to match!
Macarons from Sweets Bakeshop of St. Paul. Voted "Best French Macarons in the Twin Cities" by Minnesota Monthly magazine for the second year in a row and they did not disappoint! The subtle almond cookies melted on your tongue and the creamy fillings popped. Flavors included:
- lemon with lemon ganache
- vanilla with vanilla bean ganache
- salted caramel with caramel cream and sea salt (this Tiffany blue treat was the favorite)
- strawberry with strawberry white chocolate ganache
But wait! There's more!
"La Trilogy" - layers of white, milk and dark chocolate mousse covered by a dark chocolate shell from Pardon My French. Heavenly! Decadent! Too die for!
Andrea and Jackie enjoying dessert
We surprised Kim with presents as her birthday is next weekend. Happy Birthday Kimmy!
She sent us home with Parisian gift bags! We each took home tea straight from Paris as well as Eiffel tower treats and heavenly macarons!
All of this yummy French food makes me want to try out my macaron cookbook!
