How wonderful is it to have people over? I don’t know about
you, but I absolutely love hosting a get-together. I like a nice girls-only
party (we call it Liz Taylor Night in these parts) where you can watch Mean
Girls on loop and drink gin and gossip.
I also love a good mixed party, which as I’m typing is
reminding me of my very first mixed party. I was about 13, and it was sooo
exciting because obvs my crush was going to be at the party and I spent endless
hours daydreaming about the perfect moment where he would ask me to dance and I
would gaze into his big brown eyes and we would be 2gether4Ever. (I can’t even
hashtag that because in my day they didn’t have hashtags. You only had your
Hilroy notebook to doodle on and practice your signature with his last name.
Shit was real back then.)
What actually happened at the mixed party was the boys
breakdanced to Rapper’s
Delight, and us ladies ate ketchup chips and applied Bubblegum
Bonne Bell. My crush DID actually
speak to me at one point, to ask me if I had heard the new K-Ci & JoJo song and
when I said no, HE LET ME BORROW HIS CD. It was AMAZING y’all. I listened to
“All My Life” on permanent play for the weekend and at the next school dance he
asked me to dance to it and we were like, totally a thing, and it was beautiful
until he got a crush on my best friend and I got a crush on his best friend and
it all fell apart. One day he went to McDonald’s for lunch without inviting me
and We. Were. Over.
Ahh, youth.
Anyway. Having parties is fun. It’s mostly fun because as I
mentioned in our 5
à 7 post, it means you don’t have to leave your house. But other people
have to leave theirs and while some strange people on this earth enjoy doing
that, most people don’t. Especially in
Canada. Especially in the dead of winter. So, you should probably acknowledge
people did such a thing by giving them a little treat for coming.
This is an easy recipe for simple syrup, elevated with
aromatics like lavender and rosewater. It takes all of five minutes to make,
but it makes your guests feel special.
Start with 1 part of water to 2 parts of sugar in a pot.
Heat until the sugar dissolves and remove from heat (we aren’t making a caramel
here). Add a tablespoon of lavender and a teaspoon of rosewater to the syrup
and mix. Let the lavender “steep” for a few minutes before you pour (and strain
if you want the lavender bits gone) into individual jars (you can easily get
these at the Dollar Store) or you can pour larger amounts into mason jars.
Feel free to be creative with your aromatics! I also made
one with cinnamon, star anise, maple, and some juniper berries. You could try
something fresher with citrus and cloves, or get that traditional tonic flavour
with lemongrass.
Add a tablespoon of the syrup to a gin and soda, vodka soda,
or make your tee-totalling guests feel special with mocktails! With a pretty
ribbon and label on the jars, these little giveaways are just one more thing
that will set you apart as a super-star host. How-to video below!
Ed.’s Note: The
YouTube playlist in the creation of this blog was the best ever.
