Good morning, my friends!
I’m up at dawn doing the final party prep for my book launch party…but first, thinking of you. Wish you were here to sit with me among the clutter and the un-frosted cakes, the last-minute vacuuming and the table cards that say gluten-free and lamb and sage sausage rolls and carrot cake!
As the youngest of six, it always feels a little odd to be front and centre…but The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe deserves some celebrating. Wish me luck! It’s supposed to be 37C in Sydney today.
How do you love to celebrate?
The easiest way to have guest over, for me, is to put out a spread and let everyone self-serve. I like to set up a beautiful table with a table cloth and a bit of glitter (links to the sparkly table runner and YAY sign below!) and always a white tablecloth because food just looks better on white.
I also use the white IKEA side plates and boxes of champagne flutes, and all my white platters of various sizes. Savoury food always includes fresh sandwiches (I have boys, and they have friends…so something delicious and hearty to fill them up), along with some kind of quiche (today it’s carmelised onion and feta), special homemade sausage rolls, various wraps (easy to make and slice into pieces) and always a big platter of fruit.
Then I bake an assortment of cakes for a dessert table (Carrot Cake, my famous Dark Chocolate Cake — both of these recipes are in The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe), my white chocolate raspberry shortbread cookies (also in the book)…and off we go!
Today my oldest son, the cellist, and his friends will be playing music together…and we hope to do some singing, too. I’ve got a song sheet with a few favourite tunes, and my son’s picking up one of his friends who is interning at the hospital (how did high school Stephen become old enough to be a doctor???) — so he’s on deck for piano show tunes!
Wish you were here today to celebrate with me!
So much to do, and it’s just hit 7am for me…so off I go, into party-land!
Love Catherine x
P.S. The Fun Stuff!
The IKEA side plates - perfect for parties.
The boxes of champagne flutes.
Sparkly silver table runner — these are perfect. Buy two. Silver is prettier than the gold.
YAY light up sign — photo is horrible on their website but SO CUTE in real life. I love this! You can use it for any occasion.
Flowers are a gift from my publisher, and they are OUTSTANDING. From Lush Flower Co in Sydney. If you’re sending flowers, these ones are worth your spend.
And, of course, the hero today: The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe! Your support, reviews and love mean the world to me…and make it so I get to do this all over again. (Canada 🇨🇦 - my publisher doesn’t have distribution or pricing sorted out yet. Please hold on…news soon, I promise.)
Author-talk with the lovely, extremely talented and bestselling author, Monica McInerny…I was so lucky. Fan girl moment!! Watch here. We reveal a LOT of secrets. Monica’s many, many books are here.
