Welcome to the May edition of The Lancaster Company newsletter. In this edition we look ahead to His Majesty The King and The Queen Consort’s Coronation and the components of a great street party, including a delicious and very easy recipe for homemade lemonade. What’s more, with May being a popular month for weddings and christenings, we also suggest a couple of gift ideas from our website. Read on!

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The Coronation - 6th May

As we look ahead to The Coronation, we thought it would be a good opportunity to ask ourselves – what makes a great traditional street party? Think white tablecloths, an endless supply of homemade lemonade and cucumber sandwiches, whilst Grandma’s famous Victoria sponge cake steals the show. Considering this, we have various items on our website that we thought would be the perfect addition to a street party table. We also thought it appropriate to keep with the red and blue theme of His Majesty’s emblem which, “pays tribute to The King’s love of the natural world, unifying the flora of the four nations of the United Kingdom; the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales and the shamrock of Northern Ireland. Together, the flowers create the shape of St Edward’s Crown”, with which His Majesty will be crowned on 6^th May.

This lovely set of six hand-blown blue glasses are perfect for holding water, wine, champagne, or whatever your drink of choice might be. The glasses are unusually made in one piece, so the wine will fill the stem and foot. Another of our picks is this sturdy Royal Scot Cranberry Glass Jug which is perfect for holding water or homemade lemonade (easy to make and better than buying from the shop!) See our recipe below:

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Homemade Lemonade (roughly 10 servings):

Ingredients:

• 10 unwaxed lemons
• 130g caster sugar
• Still or sparkling water (to taste)

Method:

• Roughly chop the lemons and put them into a food processor (no need to remove their skin), along with the sugar and pulse until combined.
• Stir in the still or sparkling water adjusting to you preferred taste. You can add more sugar if needed.
• Pour the entire mixture through a sieve into a jug and chill before serving.
• Enjoy with ice, slices of lemon or fresh mint as a garnish.

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If you are baking a cake for The Coronation, this very pretty sugar sifter  is not only perfect for holding icing sugar and very handy when you need it, it will also make a lovely edition to your table and is sure to get you a few compliments from your guests!

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Gift ideas for Weddings & Christenings

May is a very popular month for celebrations such as weddings and christenings. With this in mind, we’ve picked out a few of our favourite gift ideas from our website. For weddings, we believe the perfect gift is something special that is timeless and can last a lifetime, but perhaps not something to be used every day. Below we have this beautiful set of eight old-fashion tumblers  in a Wellington pattern by Thomas Webb, perfect for a whiskey or a G&T!

Again,  a gift’s durability is an important factor for christenings – something that can last a lifetime (and that can be used rather than stored in a box never to see the light of day again!) Considering this, these whimsical and sturdy brass duck bookends  would look fabulous on a bookshelf or chest of drawers in a child’s bedroom.