Proposing part five: 8 "made by milking"

I had a lot of trouble with "8 Maids -a- Milking". There's not a lot of ways to interpret that. And I was trying to keep the inspiration for the gifts a bit subtle - if he realizes it's based on the song, he knows exactly when the partridge is coming, and what it means. So the gifts up until this point were all loosely based.

Jess solved this one for me, and I'm not sure what I would have done without her idea! She said why not make it a pun - "made by milking". And honey, I can cook. So I planned an eight course meal based on coconut, almond, and soy milk.

I made:
- Coconut milk red curry, with kaffir leaves and lightly steamed broccoli. Served on a bed of coconut rice.
- a salad with spicy coconut dressing, mango, and lime
- cream of potato soup, with almond milk, onions caramelized in mirin, and garnished with diced almonds and green onion
- steamed chard with soy milk/soy mayo aoli
- coconut rice with a sweet coconut milk dressing, and fresh mango
- almond milk rosewater lassi
and for dessert...
- soy ice cream
- coffee with soy creamer

ok, so that last one was a bit of a stretch. But, that was a lot of cooking. And it turned out FANTASTIC. I wish I had written the recipes down while it was all fresh, but by then, it was on to the next gift!

The dinner was a special night. We ate together, and played board games over dessert. Very nice to spend special time together. But, as I stated before, I wanted him to have something tangible to keep from each day. So, I made him a napkin, embroidered with a branch of fresh almonds, three coconuts, and a small soy vine. If you count, the number of fruits/nuts, corresponds to the number of dishes based on each.



At dinner-

His coffee cup & napkin the next morning - I thought the lighting was nice

I've been cross stitching lately - using patterns out of books. He was really excited that I made up the pattern to this one myself. But he still didn't suspect anything :)