Channeling Ina

If you read this blog at all, you probably already know I love Ina Garten's recipes...and her life. Definitely wouldn't mind living in the Hamptons, cooking all the time and shopping at specialty stores for all of my food items. I digress.

I recently had some guests over and wanted to prepare a cheese and fruit plate. For this, I turned to Ina. Despite my disappointment in her snubbing Make-A-Wish (read here), I gotta hand it to her. The woman knows food.

So, I wanted to share. Ina would have been so proud!

I started with hydrangea leaves. Hydrangeas have gorgeous foliage and I wanted to use them as a centerpiece. So why not kill two birds with one stone? I was entertaining during a weekday, so time was unfortunately not on my side. Ina's theory is that no one ever had more fun at a party because you made everything. Here here. Ina also suggests grouping things together in large groups so a mixed plate doesn't look chaotic or messy. So I also followed that advice. I used three cheeses - an English Stilton, a mild St. Andre (one of mine and David's favorites) and then an oh-so-southern pimento cheese. France meets the South, if you will.

Here are the soft blue hydrangeas. I placed them in a antique milk bottle. Love.

For drinks, I served a fizzy blood orange soda and pink lemonade. Gotta have options, especially if they're two beautiful shades of pink. I'm obsessed with paper straws so I placed those in my gorgeous pink juice glasses from Anthropologie. Garnished, of course, by southern mint.