oft are we told not to serve a rabbit stew before we've caught the rabbit, but in the morning, our menu already written out in darryl's "rustic hand," we set out in perfect confidence, one to whole foods and the other to formaggio's, to shop for our party. as it turns out, darryl couldn't get the veal liver (but they had lots of veal liver on thursday! who could have bought them all?) and i couldn't get the cake and had to walk all the way to pemberton farm before i could find us a suitable fruit tart and some cheeses - formaggio's closes early on sundays! - at that point, i very nearly decided to go to evergood and get some yoghurt and go home to bake a cake.

so, in the end, not a rustic menu afterall:

1. mesclun and parsley salad (roasted walnuts, thinly-sliced ya pears, figs, vinaigrette)
2. pan-fried skate wings in butter caper sauce
3. assorted cheeses and fruits
4. raspberry almond tart
5. mint squares

as for flowers: i didn't have time to go to brattle street for flowers but i did forage at various roadside flower stands - it was possible, i decided, to put together white and pale blue lisianthus with limoniums for the desired effect, but it meant taking apart several bouquets just to pick out the flowers i wanted - so i got a small bundle of dark purple dutch irises instead, and cut them down very short and arranged them in a short, green glass cup.