Tea Party Tuesday * Audrey Hepburn - A Woman for All Seasons

Welcome to Tea Party Tuesday! 

Let me pour you a nice cup of Constant Comment - a tea appropriate for our chat today. Milk? Sugars?

A dear friend uploaded a quote from Audrey Hepburn on Pinterest the other day and it caught my attention. A visit to my friend's board revealed numerous quotes from the well loved actress, and no wonder!

Surviving the Nazi occupation in her home country of Belgium left her undernourished for the rest of her life. Ironic that many of her admirers longed to have a figure like hers.

Please have a finger sandwich - I made them fresh this morning.

Perhaps playing the iconic Anne Frank had an effect on Audrey Hepburn's outlook on life. If you look closely, her quotes are right up there with Shakespeare in popularity.

More tea?

Hepburn's life was by no means perfect. She married and divorced. Cancer eventually took her life at the early age of 64, the same age another well loved lady passed away - Jacqueline Kennedy  Onassis, ironically from cancer as well.

After a life of unforgettable performances in  films, in the end Audrey Hepburn gave an important final quote - "As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself, the other to help others." And she did serving children in need all over the world as the ambassador for UNICEF.

Like heroine Jillian Bradley, Audrey Hepburn also had a Yorkie she named Famous. He traveled with her everywhere, just like Jillian's dog Teddy, and like Jillian's companion, he was well loved. I try to emulate people like Audrey Hepburn in my books - well loved figures who unselfishly contribute to others.

For dessert we have and Macadamia Feast Cake squares. I wonder if Audrey Hepburn would have shared a morsel or two with Famous. Here's the recipe. 

Macadamia Feast Cake

1-1/3 cups Bisquick

3/4 c sugar

3 T soft butter or shortening

1 egg

3/4 c milk

1 t vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a square pan, 8 X 8 X 2 inches, or a round layer pan, 9 X 1-1/2 inches. Mix Bisquick and sugar. Add butter, egg and 1/4 cup of the milk. Beat 1 minute medium speed on mixer or vigorously bt hand. Gradually stir in remaining milk and the vanilla. Beat 1/2 minute longer. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 35-40 minutes. Serve with Broiled Macadamia Topping.

Broiled Macadamia Topping:

3 T soft butter

1/3 c brown sugar, packed

2 T light cream

1/2 c flaked coconut

1/2 c chopped macadamia nuts

Mix ingredients and spread on warm baked cake. Set oven control at broil/and or 550 degrees. Place cake 3 inches from source of heat. Broil until nicely browned, about 3 minutes.

Cheers!

~Nancy Jill