23 Feb 2020 ‘Check out’ this library party
by Julianne Milner
Those who know me well, know that I love to read. I keep a good book going at all times and can get lost in one for hours. When it came time to decide what entertaining idea I wanted to share for March, I decided it would be a wonderful month to host a LIBRARY PARTY!
I hand delivered invitations that were replicas of vintage library cards. You remember library cards with the rotary stamped date on the line and your name written beside the date. The invitation included a pair of cat eye glasses like librarians used to wear. If you didn’t want to send out invitations, you could just invite your friends in person. Just ‘whisper’ the invitation to them since it’s a library party! (I’m a stickler for carrying out a theme!)
After delivering the invitations it was time to think of the table and how it should set the scene. I created a table runner using pages from an old, worn out book that I upcycled. I started with a roll of easel paper cut to the desired length. Next, I removed the pages from the book, attached them to the easel paper in a random pattern using a small amount of clear dry glue on each page. This was a very simple project. How perfect would this be when you had your book club over?
The table centerpiece was created using an antique card catalog drawer with stacked books, fresh flowers and vases filled with old book pages rolled and tied with twine.
In keeping with the library theme the menu for this Library Party was:
- Hemingway Ham and Swiss Quiche
- Twain Southern Cheese Grits
- Faulkner Spring Salad
- Dickens Lemon Cake
The letter shapes and hearts decorating the tops of the quiche were cut from my pie crust and they let everyone know I LOVE TO READ! Hearts cut from old book pages were attached to pics and placed atop each piece of lemon cake. After dinner and dessert, my guests were quizzed with fun questions about libraries and books. When a guest answered a question correctly, they were handed a page from an old book. The guest with the most pages at the end of the questions won a cotton library book tote.
What a fun night we had! Good food, good friends and some great reviews on books each guest had recently read.
I couldn’t complete this article without leaving you with a short list of favorite books that I’ve read lately:
“Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer” by James L. Swanson
“The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd
“Ordinary Grace” by William Kent Krueger
“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens
“A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman
“A Gentleman In Moscow” by Amor Towles
“The Life We Bury” by Allen Eskens
Share your book list, make a quiche and have your friends over. It’s a wonderful way to spend an evening!
Ham and Swiss Quiche
4 tablespoons butter
1 bunch of green onions
Pie crust
3 large eggs
8 ounces sour cream
2 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash black pepper
1/4 cup half and half
5 slices of honey ham, chopped
Saute’ green onions in butter. Pour into the bottom of the pie crust and spread onions out evenly. Combine all other ingredients and pour into the pie crust. I sprinkle the top sparingly with nutmeg. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. Cool five minutes before slicing to serve.
For a variation, substitute 6 slices of fried bacon (crumbled) or 1 can of baby shrimp (drained and rinsed) in place of the ham.
