Wednesday 14 November 2012

The Vintage Tea Party Year by Angel Adoree [Book Review]

Angel Adoree must be the Ultimate Hostess. This glamorous, indulgent, yet surprisingly detailed and useful book is excellent for planning small parties (tea parties or alcohol-soaked ones - depending on your guests), be it a group of dapper gentlemen, a bunch of teenagers wanting to be grown-up, a mum-to-be for a baby shower, or just the two of you on a romantic evening. Ms Adoree gives us a personal insight in her seemingly fabulous lifestyle.


The Vintage Tea Party Year by Angel Adoree
 She speaks as though it's all very simple, elegant and effortless, but I imagine it would take a lot of planning and preparation. However, whether you stick diligently to the specified theme or dip between various ones, there are a multitude of ideas and recipes to inspire any party, retro or otherwise, all with an element of splendor and escapism, as if we all should be spending all our time twisting headscarves round our hair and making our own bucket bunting!


The decadence within spans a range of canapés with a twist such as Fois Gras ballettes, Asparagus Cigars made with pastry, traditional dishes like Stuffed Bird and British Sandwiches, and elaborate yet classic cocktails such as Chocolate-Covered Cherry Martini. And of course indulgent desserts like Banana-Eton Mess and Red Velvet Layer Cake. All the special and celebratory recipes are easy to follow and illustrated by beautifully styled photographs by Yuki Sugiura and David Edwards.



New Year's Eve Tea Party Cocktails

Fois Gras Ballettes

Asparagus Cigars
Lamb Kofta with Rose Jelly


Banana-Eton Mess
Red Velvet Layer Cake







The Cheesecake Hairstyle
Fluffy, glamorous, decadent, extravagant, bespoke, even just flicking through the book evokes a desire to host a Vintage Tea Party by providing the reader with ideas for invitations, menus, even how to style your hair in the fashion of the day! I have to say those hair-dos at the end of each section are something I could never attempt myself, but even so, the temptation is there to give it a try - have you ever heard of a 'cheesecake' hair style?








My photographs are blatantly taken straight from the book, but in no way do them the justice they deserve.
Thank you to Octopus Publishing for the opportunity to review The Vintage Tea Party Year by Angel Adoree.

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