Violet is not a person but a bakery/restaurant in London. This sign directed Anne R. and me to a wonderful tea party near Pt. Reyes Station this weekend to celebrate the publication of The Violet Bakery Cookbook by Claire Ptak, a West Marin native and daughter of my good friend Elisabeth.
Still setting up
Beautiful tablecloths:
What vehicle gave up its seats?
We finally staked out a table:
Because coral. And the crocheted doily.
Then we went out on the deck, where there was bubbly and a friendly crowd to talk to.
When we returned to our table, this had been centered on the doily:
A selection of pastries from the cookbook
A tier-by-tier description:
Savory scones with leeks, ham, and Parmesan
Cupcakes with quince (pink), salted caramel (beige) and chocolate (self-explanatory) frosting.
Scones and Violet Butterscotch Blondies. The latter are indescribably, wickedly,
delicious and you must have one before you check out of this world, I
don't care how many calories they are.
Our teapot
Us. (Yes, pearls. It was a tea party.)
This woman happened to be one of our table mates. She was also a career counselor on the Berkeley campus who directed me to the part-time job in Entomology in 1974. The rest is history. (What are the chances?)
Claire was interviewed before this hometown crowd, people who'd grown up with her or watched her grow up. She started working at the Bovine Bakery in Pt. Reyes Station when she was 15, and after college and a stint as pastry chef at Chez Panisse ended up in London because she married an Englishman. Now she owns the Violet Bakery in East London and is a food star herself. Soon she'll be writing a Saturday column in The Guardian.
Local girl makes (ultra) good
Explaining that the rush for sweets and caffeine is from 3-5 pm in England, rather than in the morning, which is when Americans most need reviving.
The book itself: Reader, I bought it a few weeks ago and read it cover-to-cover. I may never bake anything in it--although the banana bread is extremely tempting--but I can attest to its merits as an engaging, well-written account of how she became the baker she is, including the tricks she's learned and shares with an open hand. Lots of information. (Barbara Pym talks about women keeping devotional and cookery books next to the bed in case insomnia strikes. Which it did, and this book was the perfect entertaining and relaxing antidote. Please take that as a high compliment, Claire.)
After the talk, people bought books madly:
Yes, Alice Waters wrote the foreword
I spent a certain amount of time wondering if the baby girl Claire's expecting in January would a) have her mother's dimples, and b) prove to be another wonderfully artistic baker/stylist, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother.
At a baby shower the next day
