A BabyMac Spring Garden Party

Having people over for a meal prepared my me, myself and I is one of my very favourite things to do. Thinking about the people coming over, a menu, the wine and setting are just the added extras, but taking the time to make something that I know people will enjoy just fills me up.

Today was a Spring Garden Party. Sure, it’s the middle of Winter, but DEAR GOD I was going to herald in the Spring. If it was the last thing I ever did.

Some Spring (Winter) Lamb.

Some Spring (Winter) pesto.

No blossoms in the trees? Never mind that. I’ll whack some in there myself thankyouverymuch.

Spring sports you say? Badminton. Snap! Can somebody tell me if there is some way to make your children stop growing? It’s INAPPROPRIATE.

Why not make a boring Sunday lunch something special? I had some leftover ribbon from Birthday presents…whacked that around a napkin with a wee flower. BAM! Spring MOFO’s!

The Daphne was there for the scent. Sweet Baby Cheeses my Daphne…

Kids were relegated to a picnic rug. You know what? I bloody well made that quilt. Back when I was depressed in 1999. It’s an ode to my depression!

Is that Spring or is THAT Spring? It’s SPRING! In Winter!

Kids were happy.

Men were…men.

Neighbour knocked back Champagne like it was nobodies business. Good girl Pookie!

Spring (Winter) lamb was served!

And then it turned arctic while we ate. See? Spring! OK. Winter. It was fucking freezing.

So we lit the fire pit. And then the sun came out again. For 2.4 minutes.

Look at my vintage embroidered cloth that got a run. I know!

Other Neighbours made a Margaret Fulton Chocolate Cake that was SO good I wanted to punch it in the face.

We ate. We pretended it was Spring. We enjoyed. A triumph!

Comments

  1. Looks lovely…Spring is very worth celebrating when you live in a cold climate! By the way, have you tried your slow roasted lamb shoulder with a chilli/sage/garlic/anchovy marinade with a few grapes thrown into the roasting dish – yum!

  2. Looks fantastic and makes me even more depressed about the day I spent trying to get baby goats to feed from their mum. You would think Mother Nature would help out with that shit….but no. Very envious! Sue

  3. Love it Beth! Also loving the soft drink crate come table – very cool.

  4. I love the blossoms in the trees. Loved them. I enjoyed all your pictures and words but the yellow blossoms sitting in little bottles hanging from the tree were my absolute favourite. You should show Martha now she’s seen your face in the front row x

  5. A triumph indeed. Great job. Love it. Love it all.
    x

  6. Beautiful, Beth. We’ve had rain, rain and more rain down in Melbourne, so I cannot wait for Spring! x

  7. Omg amazing . Do you ever get tired babymac?

  8. What! No way! Look at those blossoms in the trees! Get out of town, just beautiful!

  9. V nice, esp the daffs in bottles hanging and choc cake and berries

  10. How lovely! Definately a pininterest day!

  11. A wonderful ode to Spring (Winter!).

    The flowers are especially sweet.

  12. Love a garden party. Can you do a pesto recipe please Bev?

  13. Love it – i’m so inspired to get back in the kitchen AND to get my camera out again. I’ve 3 kids, 3 and under so it may be a slowly slowly approach but after reading your blog i’m starting to feel it all again – thank you x

  14. You make me laugh Beth! Looks like a gorgous day. And don’t worry it’ll be spring real soon xx

  15. The lunch looks gorgeous, who wouldn’t want to be there freezing or no. But your expressions crack me up today… Our baby was baby cheeses in utero for a while before she was known as elvis.

  16. Oh please can I come to your next one! It looks gorgeous and now I’m hungry looking at all that delicious food. Since it’s 10pm on a school night I better go to bed instead of raiding the cupboard…..

  17. those bottles hanging in the trees with the daffodils make me want to punch you in the face. You slay me with the deets evey.single.time. I mean, I’m not even wearing PANTS as I type this and you had bottles! Hanging in trees! Filled with flowers! I love you so hard.

  18. Haha! Love it! I am obsessed with putting little flowers in tiny bottles like that now thanks to you. Come on Spring! We had a few days of it and now it is freezing again.

  19. Beth, you are Australia’s Martha Stewart. So cannot wait to come and gatecrash a BabyMac afternoon one day x

  20. Thank you for making me smile. I really really want Spring too.

  21. gee u make me smile. Lovely photos, looks like great food, thanks for brightening up my day !

  22. Lovely. Just lovely.

    That’s talent right there. In the prep, the care, the consideration and then the sharing (via blog).

    Onya Sonya.

    Live,
    Gabs

  23. It is actually spring here in Brisbane…it has been beautiful…so feel free to come up to my place and throw a spring party here!
    Seriously though, your party looks…as always…lovely. Perfect almost spring garden party!

  24. Absolutely beautiful. Giving me hope for my ambitious Southern Highlands wedding in JUNE next year!

  25. You crack me up with that dry wit of yours!!! Come on spring – there is definately a hint of it in the air here in Canberra too, even if it does only last for 2.4 minutes! x

  26. simply MUST get myself on the invite list!

  27. What a stunning day!! Well done!! That’s entertaining in style!! Your styling is lovely. I’m going to take a leaf out of your book. Can you please tell us where you got your little vases from that you hung in the trees and dotted around the table?
    Also…one more question…is your Daphne growing in a pot? I desperately want a Daphne or two..one for each paternal Grandmother…both hubby and I. Jx

    • I sure can Jess! I got the bottles from this place for Harper’s birthday last year: http://www.tlbc.com.au/ they shipped them here no worries. I have THREE, yes three, Daphne bushes growing in the garden – am sure they would work in a pot though. They can be a bit finicky last year they looked MUCH better and I’ve done NOTHING different. Good luck – they are a joy and remind me of my own Grandma – Ms Dorothy May x

    • Thanks very much Beth. Appreciate it. I should have said originally that both our paternal Grandmothers were Daphne and our Fathers have the same name too!! Bit strange..but nice!! Makes it easy for middle names for children… hopefully one day we have a girl!! We don’t have either of our Daphne’s anymore sadly…I hope you are lucky enough to still have your beautiful Dorothy May.
      I’m excited to get our Daphne’s…thanks for the encouragement. Jx

  28. Yummo! I’m particularly loving the look of the kiddies’ picnic … sausage rolls and is that a bit of hummus with some carrot sticks .. Delish.

  29. I love your table setting.

    I always shove faux flowers in the garden to cope with the huge gaps brought on by my Dad’s chainsaw massacre pruning style, bush turkeys, drought and other Old Testament Weather Problems.

    No quince tree I see.

    Disappointed.

    Your photos are so professional.

  30. That looks like pure (spring) delight!! Just gorgeous. I hope you had a stunning day beautiful! xx

  31. I LOVE Daphne! There used to be a Daphne bush at my Mum’s place, and whenever I came home to visit in Winter, I’d walk into my room,and there would be a little vase with Daphne in it, the gorgeous scent wafting around. My mother passed away 11 years ago, but we now have our OWN Daphne plants growing in our garden…a constant reminder of a wonderful mother and her unconditional love.

    Love your style of writing, what a gorgeous Spring Garden party, and yeah, I would have punched that cake too…it looks DIVINE!!

  32. Wow Beth!

    How do we end up on this guest list?

    Job well done! x

  33. I’m with Em. I want to come to your house too. Everything always looks so, awesome. xx

  34. OMGosh. Your spring garden party looks so delightful! Every single little touch is divine. Your guests are so lucky.
    btw – I have a Bert’s soft drinks crate as well…love it!

  35. Oh Beth when are you getting your own show? You know like those lifestyle cooking shows on SBS or ABC. Relaxed, friendly, creative, simple yet so bloody fantastic. x

  36. Jane Frosh Stylist says

    beautiful, Bethie,..beautiful XX

  37. Holy moses, lady! I thought the hen’s weekend for your little sis was the most special thing I’d ever seen, now this!? Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful. I so love how you told the story and illustrated accordingly. Clever clever lady and bloody funny too xoxo

  38. Just gorgeous! Every detail is perfect. Good job!

  39. Yes how DO we get an invitation?! Perfect. You do entertaining so so well.
    What are the round green flowers in the jars? xx

    • Amelia, I have NO idea! I have received them in bunches of flowers both sent to me before (I think they are just a filler flower) but don’t know the name…sorry!

  40. I don’t care how cold it was, I just want to throw myself into those photos (and this is from someone who despises Winter!) Can you pleeease post that lamb recipe? It looks amazing! xx

  41. Looks fantastic! I do that type of thing all the time in Sweden. Ignore that it’s cold and just pretend…

  42. Steph @MamaMarmalade says

    You crack me up. Start out all Martha and Nigella and then say fuck. MY TYPE OF GIRL! Brilliant. You need to publish a book of your gorgeous photos x

  43. Carla Moulds says

    All looks wonderful, is that a chocolate cake? Have you posted the recipe?

  44. Carla Moulds says

    Is that a chocolate cake? Ma y I have the recipe.

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE

      (Margaret Fulton’s)

      250g butter
      250g dark chocolate, broken up
      1/3 firmly packed cup brown sugar
      ¾ cup caster sugar
      6 eggs, separated
      3 tbsp plain flour
      3 tbsp ground almonds
      ½ tsp cream of tartar

      Preheat oven to 180 C and prepare 25cm tin.

      Melt butter with chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly, until just melted and smooth. Set aside.

      Beat sugars into eggs yolks, until just mixed.

      Whisk chocolate into egg yolk mixture, then stir in flour and almonds.

      Add cream of tartar to eggwhites and beat til they form soft, rounded peaks.

      Gently fold 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate mixture and mix gently but well, then fold in rest of whites without deflating them.

      Pour mixture into tin and smooth top.

      Bake 35-45 min, or until the cake is iset around sides but has a soft, creamy circle, about 12cm diameter, in the centre. The cake should slightly tremble in the centre when you shake tine gently.

      Cool thoroughly in the tin.

  45. michelle barrington says

    It all looked divine, the perfect garden party badminton and all!

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