A couple of weekends ago in a magical place called The Flower House, as my home has become so affectionately named, a group of lovely, beautiful girls gathered for a magical botanical brunch experience. Upon arrival, cocktails were created and served and each guest was able to go out into the garden and select which fresh herbs they wanted for garnish in their “Aunt’s Garden” cocktail. What’s an Aunt’s Garden you may ask? It’s named after the many beautiful botanicals that reside in the garden of Aunt Jet and Aunt Francis in the novel/film Practical Magic. Here is the recipe:
Equal parts Grey Goose and St. Germain Elderflower Liquer (about one shot of each in each drink)
Essence of chamomile and honey from Meadowland Simple Syrup
Very fresh lemonade to the top
Glasses rimmed with lavender honey by The Honey Truck Co. and dipped in raw sugar
I used violets frozen in ice and many other fresh herbs for garnish, things like mint, lavender, strawberry leaves, and pineapple sage
Then we all came inside for brunch. At this brunch I served prosciutto goat cheese crostini, blackberry cucumber caprese skewers, a double English cream fruit tart, and a biscuit bar! I make it a point to keep lots of different jams and honeys on reserve for occasions just like this. A big favorite was the creamed lemon honey by Savannah Bee Co. All of these things are super easy to whip up and most can be prepped the night before.
A great recipe for home made biscuits can be found in the new cookbook called Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines. I LOVE Magnolia and if you aren’t familiar with what I’m talking about, definitely check them out here. Most of the decor on the table is Magnolia as well and can be purchased at your local Target. The cucumber blackberry caprese skewers are a super yummy and fun twist on your traditional caprese salad. I alternated cucumber, mozzarella balls, and blackberries and drizzled them with a balsamic glaze. Fresh basil also would be a lovely touch in there, but I’m not a big basil fan.
After Brunch I had something really special planned for my friends that unfortunately not a lot of photos were taken of. It is my dream to one day start my OWN flower truck, so I wanted to bring this (on a much smaller scale) to my friends at brunch. I clipped about fifty blooms and branches of greenery from my own garden and supplemented more blooms from Publix. I put them all in different pitchers and vases and jars and completely stuffed my parlor room with flowers so that it would feel like a florist’s shop. Each person selected their blooms and greens and I did a flower arranging demonstration to show them how to bring life and volume to their bouqs. Here are the results, and my happy customers!
After our very fun photo shoot, we had cake and earl grey lavender lattes for dessert!
There’s nothing yummier than a Chantilly cake from Publix! We had so many laughs and so many good eats, it was my best brunch yet, and definitely the happiest!
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As Told By Flowers 