Wow, we have been really busy this month! Everything seems to gain momentum as the year hurtles towards Christmas. The garden is a wilderness and we are just going to have to embrace that fact. We would need an army to tackle it all before our first officially booked Tea Party. We have had our first teas for family, friends, and some guests who heard about us before we had our online bookings. Everyone has thoroughly enjoyed themselves whether it was a hot day under the shade in the courtyard or a cloudy morning in the comfort of the dining room.
We are now fully booked for December but still have places available from January 12th onwards into summer.
The Villa really is a work in progress and when you come to visit you will see a lot of 'potential'. I have big plans and a tiny budget but a lot of charm comes from recycling old things and hand crafting everything rather than just throwing a wad of cash at it.
I have finished the outside ‘water closet’ and the windows on the out buildings...
Mum and I both love the colour but Alex is not so sure about having his workshop door painted ‘pink’ !
We’ve also started 2 new flower beds and Alex has built a great big dresser in the Butlers Pantry out of recycled kitchen cabinets. The dresser is so big I had to photograph it from outside through the window and still couldn't fit it all in.
L'Orto is growing a bit wild now but we plan to plough the ground soon and lay new pathways. Hopefully we'll be able to look back on these as 'before' photos and see how far we've come!
A view from the air shows the 15 acres shared by the deer, horses, and sheep. Summers here are very dry but we are careful not to waste water. This does mean that our trees are slow growing and the planting not as lush but there is a certain Mediterranean look that comes with that.
Meanwhile back in the kitchen…
When I had the restaurant I made authentic tiramisu and it was a best selling dessert. I thought I might offer this as an option for the holiday season. Cherry and almond cakes, which are gluten free, are popular at the market and these were our second best selling dessert. The cheesecakes are popular too so you can now find all of these available to order on the website. villadelvento.co.nz/desserts
When I got married I wanted a super old fashioned traditional Edwardian royal iced cake(!) This requires a fruit cake as any other type would be very stale by the time all the decorating was done. I came up with my own recipe using only the stuff I like and nothing that I don’t. The recipe makes a nice Christmas cake so this is also available to order now with samples at the market. https://www.villadelvento.co.nz/christmas-cakes
Most of the market cakes will be decorated as Christmas cakes from now until December 20th so there will be plenty of inspiration for your own cake which can be ordered right up until the 20th.
A few cakes from this month...
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