A fairy tea

It has been a while - I may explain later but it is easier for me if I break my 'blog fast' by ploughing into to the mundane but cute.

The Pickle decided first thing that we should have a fairy tea party. A couple of her books had hidden recipes that were begging to be tested. Well, that was the day sorted: the Pickle was in control (I let that impression last).

For lunch we had to have fairy bacon sandwiches - obviously. Then it was full speed ahead for the banquette. First up were fairy cakes (some aspects had to be predictable). The Bean had his first taste of sugar when he dived at a spoon and wrestled it from my control, at six months he is already built like a rugby forward. Then while the cup cakes cooked we made chocolate leaves (rose leaves dipped in melted chocolate - she chose 70% cocoa solids proper stuff *faints with pride* - the leaves pealed off with he skill of a ninja to leave perfect glossy chocolate leaves).

The next hour was spent with the apprentice fairy singing and animating her cup cakes as she delicately decorated them with a tasteless confection of lurid pink icing and sprinkles. Meanwhile I started steaming the beetroot - the source of ll things pink - over a pan of stock before adding salmon fillets. When cooked I could add cous cous to the puce coloured stock and we were almost there. After battering a pomegranate mercilessly to extract the seeds we had the jewels to crown our meal.

If this was all too tasteful we had to make 'Primrose's secret recipe for dirt fizz'. I tried to find cherryade but it seems that Waitrose is too posh so we had to suffice with a bottle of French pomegranate soda, which was given a reality check with pineapple juice, glacé cherries and cocktail umbrellas.

The Pickle has standards to we raced to dress for dinner, the hubster put a tie over his oil stained t-shirt (MOT time next week), I found an old sequin jacket (as you do) and the pickle was resplendent as a rainbow fairy. The Bean managed to creep under the radar and just wore a clean bib. We then solemnly announced that the banquette would begin and so it did!

Verdict: it was PINK and the fairies can keep their fizz - we prefer water *mops brow with relief* but more than that we had a perfect day.