The Mission
An intimate tea party for my mom and mother-in-law, preferably with slight variances on traditional favorites. This will be a test for my baking, planning, and hosting skills. The success of this party will determine the viability of future tea parties and the likelihood of expanding the invitation list.
The AI Component
Gemini made excellent suggestions, and once again reminded me that prompts should be extremely detailed and clear. I gave Gemini my pitch, and asked it what I was missing. Open invitation to a detailed list of what you might be missing.
Likes and dislikes:
Thank you, Captain Obvious, I wanted to say when Gemini told me I had forgotten about tea for my party. Hardly. But when you’re speaking to a human, they would assume you are going to serve tea at a tea party. They would probably ask you what tea you plan to serve. Lesson learned.
The upside to the thoroughness of AI is that it even gave me direction on the decor, which I had not really explored yet. It kept my desire for a non-traditional event into consideration and steered me away from pastels and frills to deeper, jewel tones that set my table apart.
Gemini was very adept at taking my ideas and working with me to create a palatable menu. It’s a genius brainstorming tool. Without Gemini, I would not have had enough refreshing items on the menu. I didn’t necessarily love each and every idea it had, but it’s ideas kickstarted my imagination to find the perfect dishes or drinks.
Arguably the biggest reason for turning to AI in the first place was to find a refreshing twist on the crustless cucumber sandwich. Gemini delivered here and this sandwich is going in my arsenal. Click here for the Tangy Chèvre Tea Bites recipe.
Menu creation and active tweaking is also a lovely feature of Gemini. It’s quite something to see the list of dishes so well organized and helps to visualize the experience whilst planning. I also loved that Gemini gave me a shopping list and a detailed timeline. I was able to request updates with each change we made. I do hate that I didn’t actually study the timeline more thoroughly and ended up getting a little flustered with last minute things. Next time I will heed the timeline and make changes so that it perfectly fits me. You have to make this tool work for you.
Another exciting feature of using AI for menu creation is that you can come with a half-baked notion and it will help you turn it into something impressive. Enter Bobotie Samosas. Bobotie is a South African classic curry casserole. It came to South Africa by Dutch traders in the 17th century from their travels in Indonesia. The flavor profile is savory and sweet with warm spices and topped with a thin egg custard layer. My idea was to substitute the sausage rolls with a bobotie pie of some sort.
Gemini and I set to work. It agreed with me to make the bobotie mince ahead of time so the flavors could settle and intensify – as any curry lover will know. Initially, I planned to only add the mince to some pastry, but the spicy profile of the mince encouraged me to rethink my strategy.
Gemini talked me through the process, and together we came up with a foolproof recipe for bobotie samosas that highlighted the spice profile but was counterbalanced with egg custard, Mrs. Balls Chutney (the best of the best), and apricot jam. Gemini was also gave me detailed instructions for making the samosas – and they were a resounding success!
Let’s get to AI failure. My husband saw my napkin envelopes and suggested making menus to insert. This is the type of thing that illustrates the need for the human component in conjunction with AI. Gemini didn’t think about menus at all. He decided to prompt AI for a menu, and it made a gorgeous design. Until I read the menu. It was a lot of lorem Epsom type of mumbo jumbo. No amount of cajoling could get the menu content right. So, I went on Canva and designed this:
Results:
I can’t wait to plan another tea party. In fact, I plan on doing this every other month with the moms and I want to pick a different theme each time. Best part, I have a party planner at the ready to help me plan it.
The whipped cream on the scones took me right back home, the cake was decadent in all accounts. The suggestion Gemini made to add a chocolate covered espresso bean was the perfect finish on an already perfect mini cake.
The milk tartlets recipe produced the lightest, subtle and creamy tiny tart. Thankfully, Gemini suggested topping the tartlets with glazed berries and gave me the recipe for the apricot and boiling water glaze.
Speaking of that, I told Gemini that I wanted to have a Chai bar with milk steamed with brown sugar. I have made this numerous times and it’s perfect. And still, Gemini suggested and provided the recipe for a brown sugar simple syrup. Level up. And now I use the leftover simple syrup in my Old Fashioneds.
I’m off to make one now, and plan my next party. Enjoy some more photos below.
Cookery by Crookery 