Early Evening Get-Together at Frog Hollow Farm

Last week I was so excited to have three very special friends over for an early evening visit.  This is a very special group of women that I have worked closely with as a team member and supervisor for the last five years - some of us have known each other for almost 20 years!  I've really missed our daily talks and needed to have them over so we could catch up on things - it's important for me to keep in touch and although life takes over so often I'm determined to make sure that we always make time for friends and family at Frog Hollow Farm.  The weather was so nice that we were able to sit on the backporch for a while with our wine, and then into the conservatory for some savory aperitivo and of course, more wine! 

My first spring project will be painting the floor of the conservatory with a wonderful lime green paint but for our get-together today the red painted floor worked out fine. 

I used one of my April Cornell tablecloths because it was bright and worked well with the various pottery pieces I planned on using. 

Here are two close ups of the tablecloth print....

My friends stopped by around 4:00 so it was too early for dinner and they were only able to stay for a few hours - so I decided beforehand to serve some of the aperitivo recipes I've been making along with a wonderful Italian red wine from Umbria, a blend of cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese and merlot and a wonderful French chardonnay from a vineyard in southern Burgundy’s Mâconnais region. 

Here's a photo of the table before everyone arrived....

Frog Hollow Farm Boy surprised me with these wonderful daffodils, so I used them as our very simple, Spring centerpiece...

Our menu was comprised of three savory indulgences, just enough to tempt the palate, placate those 4:00 hunger pangs, and keep the conversation going.  My choices for our get-together included the following recipes...

Mini Italian Club Sandwiches - Giada DeLaurentis

Bruschetta with White Beans & Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Basil - Michael Chiarello

Goat Cheese with Thinly Sliced Red Onions, Fresh Thyme and Red-Wine Viniagrette

The dishes and glasses are a mix of peices that I have and seem to often have the color green in them.  The small plates with the lemons are part of a pottery set that I purchased in Florence in September.  The green plates were purchased years ago in Home Goods - they seem to go with so many plates and dishes that I own.  The glasses are also from Home Goods.  I see that I hadn't put out the silverware when I took this photo - I used pieces with different colored handles (purchased in Bed, Bath and Beyond) that picked up the many colors in the tablecloth.  The napkin holders and small glass votive candles are from Williams-Sonoma.  Sorry for the off-centered dishes - I need to pay more attention to some details when setting the table - I was just so excited to begin taking the pictures as things were falling into place so well! 

For dessert I made a Banana Cake from the Slow Like Honey blog...

Banana Cake - Slow Like Honey

The plate stand is hard to see but is a blue delft pattern purchased for $2 from a consignment shop years ago. 

All good things must come to an end - we had a wonderful time catching up and just chatting and laughing - I really miss seeing these tremendous women every day.  The sun had set and our brief time togehter was over - we'll be sure to set another date soon.

I'm participating in Tablescape Thursday today.  Check out all of those beautiful tablesettings!  Just breathtaking!