Don’t let the unknown scare you!! Be inspired!! It’s Fancy Friday!! What inspires me is…
Squash medley that Devon made for dinner, at our house, two weeks ago.
NYC one month ago.
Apples dipped in caramel.
Tomatoes from the Union Square Market.
My fall porch in Minnesota.
Amazing dessert at Momofuku with fried tea leaves! Scrumptious!
My Mudd Lake lamp.
What dream are you running towards?
Share your dream or what inspires you, here at Fancy Friday at LoveFeast Table!!
A forlorn, middle aged mom walks out from stage left. Her eyes are cast down onto the floor. She slowly shuffles in wearing old sweats with paint on them, an oversized t-shirt and her hair just-right-messed up with bedhead product.
In the middle of the stage is a large box with velvet curtains drawn closed to conceal the little room. On stage right, just next to the room is a desk with a computer, candle and incense on it.
The mom walks slowly over to the desk and strikes a match to light the candle, then the incense. She pauses for a moment. She leans over and turns the computer on.
She slowly turns around and proceeds to draw the curtains back from the doorway. She enters into the small room and slumps into the computer chair that is inside.
Mom: “It’s been about a year since I’ve truly confessed.”
“You see, I’ve been too embarrassed to come here. I was afraid of what you’d think. I was afraid of your judgment. I mean, what mom does this to her kid? What mom puts her teenager at risk, night after night…offering him up as the bait?”
Mom lets out a little gasp and puts her head in her hands. She sits quietly crying. She slowly sits up and dabs her eyes with the edge of her t-shirt.
Mom: “All along, I was deceiving you! I’m so sorry! I painted you pretty pictures of happy people eating nice meals. I mean, they were nice, and the food was delish! I shared stories of NY escapades! I shared pieces of poetry about heaven. And parties about “Men Gone Wild”. I gave you glimpses of LoveFeast rehearsals and weddings and cute pictures of happy kids! But, meanwhile there was something more…something lurking in the shadows. I can barely whisper the name. I shutter to even think about it…about me, and what I did.”
The woman leans closer to the wall next to the computer.
Mom: (in a whisper) “Bed bugs.” (a little louder) “Bed bugs.” (louder still) “That’s right, I said it! Bed Bugs!!” We had them. Those nasty little creatures, that multiply faster then you can say Terminx! We didn’t notice them at first. Most people don’t. You can barely see them, I can tell you that…except in your nightmares! Our teenage son, Drama Boy, began to wake up in the morning with welts the size of half dollars all over his body. Sometimes they were on his face, or in a line down his arm. We thought at first it was an open window allowing mosquitoes in…that his blood was sweeter than our other kids. See, no one else had these welts. Just him. Let me paint a picture. Three of our boys share the upstairs “flat” in our house. Drama Boy has his own little room, really the size of this confessional. He has a bed in it, a small table with a lamp and stacks of books…oh, and since I’m confessing…dirty socks on the floor, scraps of paper and shoes heaped in piles. So, he was the only one coming downstairs with these disease looking bumps. My husband and I looked at each other after this went on for two weeks and said, ‘Bed Bugs?’. A phone call later, our suspicions had been confirmed.”
Mom starts crying again, this time a little louder.
Mom: (in between sobs) “It was the beginning of a four month saga from hell! That’s right! On the outside our life went on. We hosted, we cooked, we entertained. We drove kids to sporting events and school. We wore a great big smile on the outside, but were dieing on the inside! We had bed bugs! I can’t tell you how many times I stripped the whole upstairs of all fabric, pillows, bedding, curtains, sofa covers and rugs. I can’t tell you how many times I filled my suburban and lugged it all to the laundry mat, to wash and tumble it all on high heat! I also packed all of Drama’s boys things away and wrapped them in plastic bags! His room was sterile. No cobweb was left unturned. But, it’s worse!”
Mom stands up and begins to pace in the small room.
Mom: “We made him be the sacrificial lamb!! Our Drama Boy…we kept leading him straight to the slaughter. Yeah, we’d give him a break and let him sleep on the sofa downstairs, after he had stripped and changed his clothes before leaving his room! He’d have a break for a few days, after the exterminator had come. But, then, someone had to sleep up there to see if the bugs were gone! Someone had to do it! Each time the bug guy sprayed…and when I say spray, I mean spray!! (I asked him to do anything short of three mile island!) We’d think to ourselves, ‘This is it!’ Drama Boy would perk up, look hopeful and climb the stairs. Once or twice, he’d come down without any new bites. But, inevitably within two or three days, they’d return.”
Mom begins to pull her hair…but, kind-of in a “fix-the-bed-head-way“.
Mom: “We were losing our minds! The hope of ever ridding ourselves of these creatures was dwindling, knowing they can live up to a year and a half without a host! What is that?! I was frazzled. I put duck tape around every crack and crevice. The bug guy gave us our own bottles of spray (he was beginning to get too close to the situation.) I kept my facade up! My readers were never going to know, the pain and agony I was going through! I know, some of them are brave. Some are brave enough to confess right away and lighten their burden. But, not me! I’m super mom! Yeah, right! I began to fall apart…there was only one thing I had not done. I had all the boys in the house drag the bed frame outside. We sprayed and bleached it. We aired it out. We returned it. I put fresh sheets once again on the bed. I tucked Drama Boy in and said a prayer of protection. I left, feeling utterly defeated.”
Mom sits down again and leans her head back.
Mom: “The next morning he came down. There was no new evidence. The next day, the same thing. Still we held our breaths. I can say that it’s been 6 months since we’ve seen any bites or bugs. Drama Boy is back in his room amongst his piles and stacks. He has pillows on his bed again. Shew! What a load! I can’t believe I’ve carried that around for so long. It feels good to unpack it. Thanks for listening.”
Mom stands up, leaves the room and walks out stage right.
Fall is my favorite food time of year! Pumpkins, spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes, lamb, onions, turnips, beets, apples and cranberries! As soon as I see cranberries hit the shelf at the store, I scoop them up and add them to our daily diet!
This week I made yummy cranberry muffins! They were delicious and gobbled right up! Let me know what you think!
Cranberry Muffins:
2 C. all purpose flour
2 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. honey
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 C. yogurt
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. orange juice
1/4 C. vegetable oil
2 C. raw cranberries
1/2-3/4 C. sugar
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine flours, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
Combine eggs, yogurt, milk, oj and oil in medium bowl.
Combine cranberries and 1/2-3/4 C. sugar (depending on how sweet you want them!)
Add wet ingredients and stir, just to combine. Add the cranberries and stir to combine.
Pour into lined muffin tins. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until golden.
Yields: Approx. 2 dozen
This is really where we spent most of the weekend…in front of our computers, drawing, writing, planning, and noshing on bites our husbands brought to us. Kids came in and out, crawled on our laps, dogs muddled around our feet, the front door opened in and out with neighborhood kids, but we stayed focused only coming up for air to eat, and our night out at Heidi’s. You see we are working on a LoveFeast Table re-design.
For us, it doesn’t take long when we are together to get our creative juices flowing.
So, we decided on Friday’s we are going to begin sharing with you the things that inspire us.
Sometimes it may be a restaurant that inspires us.
Or, a midnight snack we shared together.
We might get inspired by the things we are trying to create.
All sort of things lead to inspiration.
And inspiration give us the power to keep creating.
We’re gonna call it Fancy Fridays….now, tell us this, what inspires you?
Something landed on our doorstep this weekend. Something very, very good.
And, we’ll give you a hint. You just might like it.
So, spread the word, and keep a look out! Something amazing might be given away in a blog you read!
Just sayin’.
Cause we kinda like our Brevs’, around here.
Check them out at Breville USA.
And, keep your eye’s peeled.
It could happen.
We want to thank you all for taking the time to vote for us for the Baltimore Sun’s Mobbie Award for best foodie blog in Baltimore! We landed at number 3 and at number 8 in best overall blog for Baltimore! We can’t begin to tell you how fun that week was for us!
Thank you for putting up with our campaigning antics!
We couldn’t have done it without you guys!
So, thank you!
Thank you for joining us at the table!
Chris Ann and Kristin
Drum roll please!
It’s official. The drawing was done scientifically (ie…mixing bowl and whisk). And the winner of our Sweet Goddess Chocolate trio is Jamie!
Jamie, your sauces are on the way! Make sure you come back and let us know if the Dark Chocolate Blackberry tasted good in your coffee! We’d love to hear from you!
Thank you everyone else for participating and making our first Gift-Away, a lot of fun! We have another Gift-Away up our sleeves! We promise you’ll want to pay attention! We promise you, the fun has just begun!!!
You just have no idea how incredible this drink was. It is the drink I’ve been obsessing about since last summer, when my husband Todd and I had a lovely pre-anniversary dinner date at Heidi’s, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Maybe I was tired, maybe I just needed to relax, or maybe I was thirsty. But whatever it was, this drink hit the spot. It could have been that our server muddled my second mojito table side, the smashed mint wafting in the air. Definitely, it has risen to the top of my drink experiences, right up there with drinks I’ve had at the Pegu Club and Death & Co. in New York City. This drink led me to a down right obsession in tracking down the sake this drink was made of. Sake, mint, sugar. Muddled-Happiness.
But, Heidi’s is more than just about great cocktails. Heidi’s is about the creative energy and talents of Chef Stewart Woodman, along with his wife, Heidi (thus the name of the restaurant), and partner and maitre d’, Frank Thorpe. Together they have created a charming near perfect experience nestled in a city neighborhood.
So when Devon and Kristin, our fellow LoveFeast Table partners-in-crime, flew in from Maryland this weekend, we knew exactly where we would take them for a flawless and friendly ride through amazing tastes guided by “spot-on” servers with attentive personalities.
At the beginning of our order our server, Megan, offered us a “surprise” starter. Let the fun begin! We went for the Shrimp Spring Roll with a zippy cilantro sauce that woke up our palates right off the bat!!
After that we received our first courses. We are best of friends here at LoveFeast Table so we all tasted and shared our plates so that we could all experience every little surprise of color, flavor, and texture. We’re not going to share about the Duck Confit because it was quickly overshadowed by all the other dishes we tasted-if you know what I mean. And, after the seared Scottish Salmon in wasabi and puffed rice appeared, all was forgiven.
We didn’t want a single flavor of the salmon to leave our mouths, we could have lingered with them all night. But, soon our stomach’s were warmed by the Lobster Bisque with Sweet Potato Wontons.
At, this point I mentioned to Megan, that I would love a reintroduction to the killer sake from the summer. Along came our second courses beginning with a side of Black Truffle Pappardelle. It was creamy truffled heaven.
The Arctic Char was a colorful dish in a savory bacon-beet-red wine sauce. The chive-dill gnocchi were perfect. The Char-crispy heaven.
The Lamb Shank, braised tender, fell off the bone, in a slightly pasty sauce. But the cabbage it rested on was delicious and the cellophane noodles added a nice and unique texture and crunch.
Now, does this dish say fall or what? Beautiful, comforting, tender and tasty Pork Loin and lentils.
This dish, the Australian Sea Bass, in a parsley puree, with parsnips, centered in a creamy mussel foam is the Heidi’s must-have dish. Megan, highly recommended it. Todd & I, had this dish this summer. I’m sure it’s still on the menu because it is simply amazing. Kristin’s favorite part was little surprises of parsnips tucked into the parsley puree.
Yes, we were full…but there’s always room for dessert, right? The Maple Glazed Pear with ginger ice cream was lovely with a sesame snap. And, elegant and beautiful as you can see.
Another, Megan recommendation, was the mint infused Tapioca, topped with pineapple and punctuated by cherries. This was the most unique dessert, kitschy, yummy, light and flavorful, just a perfect ending!
As you can see, dinner at Heidi’s is like visiting a fine art gallery.
We had a wonderful time and would definitely recommended sharing a table at Heidi’s. There are lots of reasons why it’s one of Travel & Leisure’s 50 Best New Restaurants, for 2009.
Heidi’s is a gem of a restaurant. So is this little bottle of sake.
Heidi’s, we fell in love with you.
“And that’s the way it is” -Walter Cronkite
This is a first here at LoveFeast Table! We are having our first “Gift-Away”! We are gifting-away a trio of Sweet Goddess Chocolate Sauces. The flavors are Caramel, Blackberry Hot Fudge (Dark Chocolate) and Lemon Lavender (White Chocolate). Chris Ann stumbled on Sweet Goddess Chocolates at the local Prior Lake Farmer’s Market.
Sweet Goddess, has a variety of high quality candy barks, toffees, and dessert sauces.
Sweet Goddess has a Sweet Story!
Last night we sampled the trio! We warmed the Lemon Lavender, we double dipped on the Blackberry Hot Fudge and we swooned over the Caramel.
You want to taste them now, don’t you? You can, if you’re the lucky winner…here’s how!
1. Leave a comment here at this post. (one post per person, please.) Telling us what food you would serve one of the sauces with and who you’d share it with.
2. You will get another chance to win if you twitter a link to our post and @lovefeast us.
3. You will get yet another chance to win if you leave a link on your facebook page and let us know.
We will choose a winner on Monday, October 19th at 9:00pm.
As I blog hop, there is a common theme this time of year. It usually comes in the form of pumpkins, apple picking and hay rides. I have to say, they all begin to look alike after a while. Cute kids. Crisp pink noses. Huge, orange pumpkins. Red apples…and lots of apple recipes. I’d like to tell you this post will be different. But, it won’t.
There are cute kids with pink noses.
Orange pumpkins.
Piles of apples in wagons.
And a Bonus!! The bonus is one of the most killer apple cake recipes I have ever come across. This recipe was given to me by my dear friend, Amanda. As I was concocting this post in my head last night, she came to mind. Her recipe, came to mind and I smiled. There is something really special about exchanging recipes with a friend. Usually, it comes with a story or a memory of sharing that special meal or dessert. I remember the first time I had this recipe… it was at Amanda’s old, old house! 
We were there with a bunch of friends, just hanging out, with all of our kids. I love those times! But, the moment she sliced that cake, time stood still. With one taste of that Caramel Apple Cake, suddenly the flavors embodied the moment. I’m sure you have recipes that have impacted your life! Those recipes, that when you make and eat them, you are taken back to a time or reminded of someone special.
This recipe is special to me. I want to share it with you…and thank Amanda, for sharing it with me. I miss you my friend!!
Caramel Apple Cake~shared by Amanda
Preheat oven to 350 F.
2 Cups sugar
1 1/2 Cups vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
3 Cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 medium granny smith apples, peeled, finely chopped
1 Cup nuts (I use pecan) chopped
Mix together sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla and eggs in an electric mixer. In a medium bow, mix together flour, salt and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and mix just until blended. Add the apples and nuts and mix just until blended.
Pour cake batter into a greased bundt pan.
Bake cake for 1-1 1/2 hour…until knife comes out clean.
While cake is baking put…
1/2 Cup butter
1/2 Cup brown sugar
2 tsp. milk
In a small saucepan and boil until it becomes a golden caramel.
Pour on warm cake.
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