LoveFeast Table

While Kristin was in town for our Minnesota BlogLove event we decided to take a trip to the Southdale Mall to visit and thank Rachael & Patty at Aveda for bringing wonderful hand massages to our BlogLove event.  Aveda added some gifts to our BlogLove swag bags that included a Caribbean Therapy body creme and an empty pure-fume bottle to bring in to be filled at the Aveda store at Southdale.  So, of course we brought our empty bottles with us!!

We had to choose from a tray of different scents to custom blend our perfume.  And, think about this.

We went on a “sensory journey” and smelled all sorts of little bottles with different scents.  Kristin and I both landed on #4.  #4 is a floral scents with jasmine and rose.  It’s not a big shock that we picked the same signature scent.  We’ve been known to pick the same style and color of laundry hamper from half the United States away.  We kinda get along like that.

So, while you’re playing perfume-ologist someone at Aveda will ask you if you’d like a sip of this…

It’s the lovely tea from Aveda that is a caffeine and sugar free, licorice and peppermint blend.  It’s part of what’s called a “Moment of Wellness”-which also includes this…

Now, there is something you should know about the “Moment of Wellness”.   Any guest can have one.  Even if you are not carrying an empty perfume bottle from a BlogLove swag bag!!  You can take your worn-out, shopped-out, kidd-ed out stressed-out self and have a “moment”.  For free.  For reals.

Isn’t that awesome?  We think so.

If you’re not near an Aveda store for a “Moment of Wellness”…where do you find your break in the day?

There’s nothing more fun then sharing your shopping with your peeps!  So, if anyone is curious as to what we bought with our Houndstooth credit from BlogLove….Kristin got this amazing sweater…

and I got this relaxed and cozy shirt.

We also spent some time chatting with Amber, the owner of Houndstooth, about fall fashion.

And, got a sneak peak at her new website!

Houndstooth Boutique is a chic little shop in Savage, Minnesota.

BlogLove Minnesota attendees received a Houndstooth gift to spend in the store in their BlogLove swag bag.  You can see what’s fabulous for fall fashion and our interview with Amber, here.

Houndstooth Boutique in Savage, Minnesota was one of the businesses that put a little swag in our bags at BlogLove!!  During the week while Kristin was visiting we ran down to Houndstooth and interviewed Amber, the owner to see what is going to be in fashion for this fall!  Amber is really knowledgeable and will know just the right look for you!!  So peek through your BlogLove swag bag and find her business card and visit Houndstooth to use your store credit special for BlogLove Minnesota attendees!

And, here’s a look at this fall’s fabulous fashion:

What trends do you like this fall?

Truly, fancy is in the eye of the beholder!!  Here at LoveFeast Table’s Fancy Friday we gather around our table to share the creativity, color, inspiration, and art that we find!!  We invite other bloggers to share their inspiration too, in a Fancy Friday Blog Party so that we all can click through, visit other blogs, so we all get to share what inspires us and makes us happy!!

This Fancy Friday was inspired by this lady.

She was waiting at the train station in Baltimore.  She was a vision of years gone by, where ladies would “dress” for their travel.  She was accompanied by a fancy gentleman as well.

Chris Ann and I began to think about what was most fancy about her, we agreed it was her hat…her hair covering.  Over the week we found a few other hair coverings we thought were pretty fancy.  We hope you enjoy our visual art gallery!

There is no right or wrong way to participate in Fancy Friday…we will post a theme…we will try and do it early in the week.  We want to see your spin on that theme!  We want to see what pictures,  poems,  song lyrics or a combo of all the above that reflects that theme!  Don’t be afraid to participate!  ‘Cause we know, there’s a little fancy in everyone of us!!

There was more than enough action packed into this week!  Kristin’s tribe drove across the states from Maryland like they did a couple of summers ago to join our gang for a week of eating, playing and a LoveFeast Table hosted a bloggers’ networking event called BlogLove.

While the event took a bit of our time and attention.  We still made a way to enjoy our growing families.  We managed to have family time around our event that included time at the skate park and a visit to a bakery.  We trooped our troops to play laser tag at Triple Play and to visit Cascade Bay, Valley Fair and the Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America.

They’ve grown a lot in the last couple of years.

But, it took no time at all for our kids to fall into rank.

Our favorite time is still in the kitchen and around the table!

Our boys get along just great!

However, it still takes some management to get cooperation for a picture.

The youngest ones still make the drama….

And make us laugh…

You could say our gang knows how to roll!!

How to be ourselves together.

We hang out comfortably.

And, we know that is a gift.  A part of our experience.  A part of our story.  A part of our memories.  And, that made for a very good week.

Many of you have asked (and twittered) for Devon’s homemade chicken Caesar salad recipe. If you didn’t attend BlogLove European Marketplace Event, this chicken Caesar salad recipe will give you a taster of what we served! This recipe goes back to our coffee shop days. It is a favorite at our Table and we make it often when we want to give our guests a fresh twist on a traditional Caesar salad. We call it a Spanish Caesar, because we make it with Manchego cheese instead of Parmesan. It does not call for raw egg, but Greek yogurt (Chobani is one of our favs!) as it’s base.

Devon didn’t want to share it…it’s kind of a “Chef’s Secret” thang, a “for THE Cookbook” kinda thing….but, with a little coaxing, an ice cold beer and space to play x-box with Chris Ann’s husband, Todd, for a few hours, I got it out of him!  So, please treasure it. Please make it and share it and send the love back Devon’s way. This is a gift from our Table to yours!

LoveFeast’s Spanish Caesar Salad Recipe

Dressing:
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 Tbls. whole grain Dijon mustard
1 tsp. anchovy paste
3 limes, juice of
1/2 C. Greek plain yogurt
1 Tbls. Italian seasoning
3 C. extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbls. shredded Manchego cheese

Salad:
3 heads of chopped romaine
1 C. sun-dried tomatoes (re-hydrated, meaning…pour hot water over tomatoes to cover and let sit for at least 15 min. to soften.)
1 C. cashew halves
1 C. pumpernickel croutons…or any homemade croutons
1/2 C shredded Manchego cheese

Chicken:
4 boneless chicken breast
1-2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. cracked pepper
1 Tbls. Italian seasoning
3 Tbls. white wine vinegar

(Fire up your grill!)
1. Put the garlic in a Kitchen Aid food processor and pulse.
2. Add Dijon and anchovy paste and pulse until combined.
3. Add in juice of three limes and pulse again to combine.
4. Add yogurt and herbs and pulse.
5. Turn food processor on and ever so gently, stream in olive oil, starting off with a very thin stream. Once ingredients begin to emulsify, you can increase the flow. (This part is a bit tricky and may take time to perfect. You want all the ingredients to come together without breaking. There is a way to fix it, should it happen. If so, feel free to tweet us @LoveFeast for a quick walk through!)
6. Add cheese in and pulse to combine.

7. Grill chicken breasts until no longer pink in center. (The trick to tender chicken, is not to over cook it!)
8. Let cool so you can cut the breasts. Slice the chicken into thin strips.
9. Toss chicken with salt, pepper, herbs and vinegar. Place to the side while you toss rest of the salad.

7. Toss chopped romaine, sun-dried tomatoes, cashews, croutons and cheese together. Add dressing to coat (but not soak) salad.
8. Either toss chicken into salad or serve on top of individual salads.

Serves 4-6 people

Fancy Friday is here!!  And, this Friday we are feeling very fancy about all the bloggers that showed up to the first Minnesota BlogLove™ event!!  BlogLove events are meant to be inspiring and experiential networking events.  In June, LoveFeast hosted a BlogLove in Kristin’s stomping ground at Zeke’s Coffee Shop in Baltimore, Maryland.  We had a coffee tasting and learned about roasting beans and picked our LoveFeast Brew.  Here in Minnesota the theme was European Market Place and was held at Camille en Rouge in Prior Lake.

Janelle, created a beautifully designed apron for a giveaway.

Kelli, custom designed BlogLove swag bags.  They were reversible and each on was unique!

Rachael and Patty from the Aveda, Southdale Mall in Edina, MN came out and treated us all to hand massages!  Word at the party was that our husbands were tucked under a tent receiving hand massages!!  We think it was on the down low cause we don’t have any pictures to prove it!!  If anyone does…please share the love!!

Why were our husbands at BlogLove?  They are not bloggers!  They were there cleaning up dishes, swapping out platters, and serving food!!  They put the love in the feast!!

Edelweiss Bakery in Prior Lake provided French croissants that went with the amazing Spanish Caesar Salad made by Devon, Kristin’s husband.   Many of you have asked for the recipe and with a little cajoling Devon’s agreed to share it!  It is one for the LoveFeast Cookbook though!!

Camille, of Camille en Rouge shared her store and her passion for picking out beautiful treasures with us all.  She said, “If you love it buy it!”  She also shared…”You can never have too much passion!”

That is something we believe in too!!  So, thank you to all those who showed up for BlogLove Minnesota & to Amanda who made us these signature cookies!!  We heart you!!

We had an amazing time this past Tuesday night!  We were so excited to meet so many local bloggers we had never met before!  We are working on a recap post for tomorrow, but for now, we wanted to share a list of all of those that attended!  So, for those of you who attended, get your posts ready to link up here tomorrow for FancyFriday BlogLove and for those of you who weren’t able to attend, we hope you enjoy reading all about it!  We hope you are inspired just by the stories!

At the Table,

Chris Ann and Kristin

Erin Purland www.foodalyst.com
Cat Usher www.zipbagofbones.com
Kristina Stiffler www.ktinajoy.blogspot.com
Amanda Rettke www.iammommy.net www.iambaker.net
Carrie Pauly www.Thisfamilyof4.blogspot.com
Janelle Miller www.queenofthehouseofboys.blogspot.com/ jandjinspirations.com
Sallisha Armour www.sallishamarie@gmail.com
Kara Zitnick www.JensenhausDesigns.com
Dawn Thibodeaux thibco@yahoo.com
Anna Bererd @motherlylaw motherlylaw@yahoo.com
Jen Olson www.coconutbelly.blogspot.com/ coconutbelly@live.com
Crystal Grobe www.cafecyan.com
Micaela Preston www.mindfulmomma.com
Anna Rendell girlwithblog.blogspot.com
Susie Shubert @findingborneo
Kelly Abrahamian www.Ihadadelicioustime.com
Shaina Olmanson @foodformyfamily
Moriah Sunde www.JosiahsNest.com
Allison Olfelt www.omyfamilyblog.com
Molly Snyder www.thesnyder5.com
Trish VanPilsum www.offcamerwithtrish.com
Maggie Whitley (Gussy) www.maggiewhitley.com
Erin Olson www.houseofturquoise.com
Jen Westpfahl www.growwithgraces.com
Kellyn Fritz www.fritzfacts.wordpress.com
Kelli Liesener kellileadesigns.com
Johanna Price www.theseprices.net
Suzanne Thompson www.suzannejean.blogspot.com
Mela Kamin www.melaKamin.com
Tracy Morrison www.sellabitmum.com
Kristi Pohl www.ohfercute.blogspot.com/ maybabykp.etsy.com
Jennifer Samuel www.unplannedcooking.com
Rob Barrett PR@cookingfordads.net
Kristen Thompson www.highheelsandahammer.com
Heather King www.extraordinary-ordinary.com

One of our favorite parts of throwing a party, is creating atmosphere.  We love to brainstorm a theme, create decor that reflects that theme, develop a menu and of course, come up with inspiring gifts for our guests!  BlogLove Minnesota™ is tonight and this party is no different than any other!!!  When Camille en Rouge offered up her antique store and we knew that delicious croissants were just around the corner at Edelweiss Bakery, a European Marketplace theme was the perfect title for our event!

We told Devon the theme and he brainstormed a menu.  He will be serving one of our favorite salads that he created.  The dressing is made with Greek yogurt and lime…we’d tell you more, but that will ruin the surprise.  We then thought about tablescaping.  And quickly decided that an antique store was tablescape enough!

Maybe we’ll bring in a few cut flowers from Chris Ann’s garden and some tea lights, but in some situations, less is more!  We will have sparkling water and French wine.  Because we like our BlogLove events to be experiential, we have Aveda coming and doing hand massages for all of our guests!  Don’t all European women have soft hands when shopping at the market?  We have a few stories lined up so our guests will get to know each other and then there’s the swag….bags…

For this event, we kind of went a little crazy!  It started with a custom designed bag.  We had an idea and our friend Kelli at Kelli Lea Designs took the idea and ran with it!  Kelli just started a seamstress business and was exploding with creativity!

Then, Chris Ann got on a roll with a few boutiques she loves and it didn’t take long for her infectious excitement to wear off on the shop owners!  Kristin brought pounds of our new LoveFeast Brew, so everyone will have a sample of what good juice is to come!  And The Vintage Pearl, made BlogLove necklaces for each of our guests!

We are so excited!  But, we must run because we still have dessert to make, bags to stuff and a tent to set up!!!

We can’t wait to meet each and everyone of you who are coming!!   And, we are already planning the next BlogLove event for those of you who couldn’t make it!  See you tonight!  Chris Ann & Kristin

Wow!!  We have had an unbelievable response to our BlogLove™ event in Minnesota!!  We are so excited to meet those of you that are coming!  Many of you have called and tweeted your bloggy friends and now we have new faces joining us as well!  While we hate to turn anyone away…our event is filled to capacity!!

We are also very excited to thank our BlogLove partners!

Aveda Store, Southdale Mall, Edina, MN

Camille en Rouge Prior Lake, MN

Kelli Lea ~Sewing ~Prior Lake, MN

The Vintage Pearl

I Am Baker

Suzanne Jean Photography

Houndstooth, Savage, MN

J & J Inspirations

Edelweiss Bakery, Prior Lake, MN

Sweet Goddess Chocolates, Savage, MN

We are looking forward to seeing you all this Tuesday, August 17th at 7pm!!

At Camille en Rouge, 16220 Main Ave. SE, Prior Lake, MN  55372