While Kristin was visiting a couple of weekends ago we hosted a dinner party with our husbands.  The night before we had been playing poker. (Surprised? It’s actually one of our traditions when we are together!  We usually play for big stakes too — like which family has to move to the other’s state!)  After a memorable dinner served with wine we were a bit too lazy and comfortable to make a proper dessert so we pulled out the “finer” chocolate stash that I had been building from early Christmas gifts.

As the cards were dealt the chocolate stash was rifled through to taste between sips of vino and the sorting of cards, Kristin pulled out 6 chocolate truffles.  They would be perfect for a hot lava cake dessert.

The next evening we baked the individual cakes and plopped the truffles into the center of each one.

We baked them as dishes were cleared at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, quick and easy.

We sprinkled each individual cake with some flaky salt ~

And served them hot out of the oven into a decoratively folded red napkin.

We wish we could share the finished presentation but, with Hot Molten Lava Cake waiting to be scooped into we forgot completely to take the last photograph and instead chose to savor the moment with our guests.  But trust us ~ it was beautiful placed into the cozy folded cloth napkin (a safe and special way to serve a hot dessert).

Hot Molten Lava Cakes

4 oz. Dark Chocolate

8 oz Butter

2 Eggs

1/2 C. Sugar

1/2 C. Flour

8 Chocolate Truffles

Pinch of Flake Salt

l.  Melt dark chocolate and butter together.

2.  Mix eggs and sugar for 3 minutes.

3. Stir in the melted chocolate into mixture into the egg mixture.

4.  Add the flour.

5.  Fill ramekins, sprayed and floured, half way.

6.  Add chocolate truffle to the center

7.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

8.  Serve hot out of the oven.

We love this Hot Molten Lava Cake recipe ~ it’s quick and easy and delish!  Do you have a favorite hot dessert?

I have two amazing sister-n-laws that I have made many wonderful memories with.  My Colorado sister-n-law has taken me down treacherous 4-wheeling mountain trails in the pelting rain convincing me I could survive the elements and trail.  My Chicago sister-n-law Kim, I had a chance to make different type of memory several years ago ~ a little less life threatening.  This past Thanksgiving we were remembering one of our favorite Holiday memories together.

Our Holiday Sangria Memory ~

A few years ago when Kim’s family was visiting our home for Christmas, we had run out to pick up a few more gifts at the Mall of America, here in Minnesota.  Like many Moms this time of year we were tired, a little stressed with the holiday “to-do” list lurking in our minds. Running at the last minute to the MOA is not the fastest trip you’ll ever take shopping. Soon we found our feet dragging and our stomachs rumbling. We were going to have to stop and get a bit to eat. We found a restaurant with “faux outdoor dining” overlooking the indoor amusement park. The shoppers, the squeals, the echo, and the piped music dulled to a quiet roar as we found our seats. Ahhhh! A bit of rest in the whirr of it all.

The waiter came to the side of our table and greeted us,”Can I interest you in a holiday cocktail?” Not quite what we were thinking in the midst of our midday.  I glanced at Kim and saw that she had raised her eyebrow and given me the eye.  Well, one glass into our Holiday Sangria we had made friends with our waiter and secured the recipe.  You can find the recipe and original story here.

The best of this memory ~ we remember it every holiday we are together and try to make sure that we have a batch of Sangria waiting each other. While arrangements are made via phone call before my arrival this past Thanksgiving Kim assured me, “Don’t worry the I’m thinking of you sister, your glass of sangria will be awaiting you!”

We laugh, we remember, and we treasure a memory that renews itself every year.

We happened that year upon a chance to remember what this season is really about.

Savoring all the gifts we have been given ~ treasures of spending time, savoring a moment and making memories!

More holiday inspiration at our table ~

Milk Punch Recipe ~ Holiday Cookie Exchange ~ Gifts ~ Velvet Pumpkins

*****

Kristin’s family treasures a Homemade Cinnamon Bun Tradition every year.

Do you have a holiday memory that you continue to savor?  Leave a comment ~ we’d love to hear you story!

Savoring time at the table is one of the founding missions here at our virtual table, LoveFeast Table.  We believe time, conversation and friendships are enjoyed sharing a wonderful meal or morsel gathered around the table.  We have had our eyes open looking for high quality gourmet “food finds” to share with you in our LoveFeast Shop.  When this coffee cake found it’s way to our tables…we knew we had found “the one” to share with you!

Each cake arrives beautifully packaged and ready to gift in a hand tied chocolate brown box.   The LoveFeast Coffee Cake is a great gift idea ~ for hostess gifts, teachers, neighbors, friends, babysitters and family.

We chose this coffee cake to represent our LoveFeast experience because it is high quality, all natural with no artificial colors or preservatives, freezes well and contains no nuts.

Each cake is carefully wrapped with instructions inside the box on how to warm the cake to open the butter for a “fresh from the oven experience”.

Currently our feature flavors are the Signature ~

Pumpkin, Chocolate Chip, and Triple Berry ~

We can assure you these Coffee Cakes are the kind of yumminess that does not last long on our tables.   Our friends and family have been caught gobbling up the last bit of crumbs!

We’re happy to share this delicious LoveFeast Coffee Cake ~ from our table to yours!

Found in our LoveFeast Shop ~  $29.95 ~ giftboxed and ready to give!

Be on the look out for “Fierce Bunnies”.  You never know where they might be lurking.  Every year we host a pre-trick-or-treating Halloween party.  There will be some critters and fierce bunnies lurking around our Teen Halloween Party – again this year again.

My plan for this party every year, is to make it easy, relaxed, and flexible enough to add more guests as extra people stop in.  I have to have free enough time to be able to add the last bit of costume tweaking.  I do the same meal every year.  Walkin’ Tacos – or in other words a taco dish that you can walk around with.  I like to think it’s better than something you would get at King Burger.

Here are my Halloween Party Tips that I use every year~

Food:

1.  Walkin’ Tacos:  Prep taco meat in crockpot so it stays warm.  Salad cheese and taco fixins’ in bowls and gathered on platters with a few random eye balls thrown in.  Serve buffet style.

2.  Hot cider on the stove for when trick-or-treaters return.  Makes a lovely welcoming smell and warms up everyone.

3.  Decorate with festive candy and take home favors such as finger pops in a jar or caramel apples.

Decor:

1. Use festive disposable plates, napkins, and forks.  Every year I get paper shallow bowl plates at the party store (you can see in pictures above.)  They keep spills and sliding plates and a minimum and clean up quick.

2.  Drinks go in a tin barrel with some ice and plastic animal critters from the toy bin.

3.  Gather up all plastic spiders, toy snakes or any other creepy critters and stick them all about your buffet.

An easy party with more treats than tricks ~

will make you and your teen guests ~ Gaga ~ over it all!

Got a great Halloween tip, treat or trick your dieing to share?  We’d love to hear the story of your Fall Fest, Halloween party or Harvest Celebration!

Graduation is coming just around the corner.  For many it is a time of planning, preparation and party throwing.  Last year I seem to remember both Sandy ~ The Reluctant Entertainer and Kristen ~ High Heels And A Hammer were hosting graduation celebrations.  Kristin and I have a year or two before we throw graduation party celebrations.  Just last summer we hosted a party for 16 year old boys.  But, we are happy to gather any tips and ideas for those that have gone before us.

Last May, Kristen ~ High Heels And A Hammer asked me to help decorate for her daughters graduation party.  I was thrilled to help!  And, thrilled my garden was in full spring bloom!

Now, what you may not know, is that Kristen and I have been friends for years.  Our husbands were high school and college friends and Kristin and I were college roommates.  We were both in each others’ weddings and have seen our families grow from babyhood and now the beginning of adulthood.  I’m not going to do the math for you, because I don’t want to blow our cover!  See look!

Mom and daughter on the celebration day~ beautiful!

For the graduation centerpiece we wanted to keep a couple of things in mind ~ beauty, simplicity, sturdiness in the wind (since this was going to be an outdoor event) price and school colors.

So, instead of buying or renting small vases.  I realized I had these inexpensive wine glass tumblers.  Several years ago I purchased  about 20 of these tumblers for a couple of bucks a piece at Pier One.  They have come in handy for so many events and have been used for desserts, drink and now vases.

Then, I added blue polished glass from my local craft store.  This was to both weight down the tumblers and add a little bit of color.  I added water of course to keep the flowers from wilting.

The school colors were blue and gold.  I cut wired ribbon to hang off the side of each vase.  I folded the cut ribbon and then bent it over the edge.  I didn’t use any adhesive because I didn’t want any tape or glue to show and it stayed just fine.  The ribbon over the edge was a little extra touch that gave a finished effect.

Then, I added only yellow flowers of different shapes and sizes to the vase for a monochromatic arrangement.

The finished centerpiece was simple, sturdy and beautiful and let the most important thing at the table hold the attention ~ friends and family who came to spend time together and celebrate!

Tips for graduation party centerpieces:

1.  Ask a friend with a blooming garden to help.

2.  Choose simple weighted low vases or glasses.

3.  Use garden flowers for a personal touch and to keep expenses low.

4.  Choose a monochromatic colors that highlight school colors or theme.

5.  Add ribbon or simple detail for a finished effect.

Do you have any tips and stories to share for graduation celebrations?  We’d love to have you link up your ideas or share it as a comment with us at our table!

Easter is a wonderful celebration.  We always look forward to a relaxed day of gathering for a lovely meal around the table, Easter egg hunts and family time.  This year, I feel ahead of the game.  My Easter table has been set for a couple of days.  Once I set it to prepare for this post, I thought, why not leave it up?

Spring has not completely sprung here in Minnesota, in fact, we had snow just earlier in the week.  I didn’t want my table to be overly flowery or springy.  It wouldn’t fit in with the not yet green grass.  But, I want my table to be pretty and hopeful for the change of season to come and for the celebration of this time.  I also wanted my table to be special but not too formal.  My inspiration for my table this year came from a couple of places:  the restaurant ABC Kitchen in NYC, natural colors of wood, metal and burlap, vintage plates, my spring Canning Jar Garden project and flowers.

Last August when we attended BlogHer, we had a wonderful time at the table at the London with Laura and Linda and at ABC Kitchen for lunch.  We were all inspired by the blend of modern and vintage place-settings.  I knew I would be saving that vibe for the perfect time.  So, I’ve been on the outlook for the right vintage plates.  I have Kristin’s china of course, but, it’s boxed up ready for her to take back.  Then, I found these.

My Spring Canning Jar Garden project was a perfect natural centerpiece.  I placed them in an old sterling dish I have.  I used natural color burlap fabric for a table runner.

Flowers, some wooden eggs, candles and glasses add to the mix.

How to tips for setting a vintage inspired Easter Table.

l.  Layer a mix of textures, shiny, tarnished, burlap, wood, linen, china, glass all mixed together.

2.  Add low fresh plants, flowers or wheat grass.

3.  Candles, less for an afternoon meal.

4.  Use real napkins, why not?  Your family is worth it.

5.  Layer the plates and mix the styles.  I mixed white modern-shaped plates with the vintage ones.

6.  Add some whimsical, but not silly, tablescaping items for a festive and sophisticated table.  This year I added an cement antique garden bunny and some wooden eggs from the local craft store.

7.  Set your table early so you can enjoy the creative process.

8.  Savor you day and the memories you make around your beautiful table.

What’s inspiring you around your Easter Table?  We’d love it if you’d link up you favorite recipes, stories, tablescaping and Easter celebration ideas at our table!

Last fall we took a him in.  He’s a good kid who had too many curve balls thrown his way.  He needed a break.  We hoped our home would be the break he needed.  Our kids quickly opened up their hearts and rooms to him and let him in.  Little Man calls him his brother.  Drama Boy calls him, “His brother from another mother.”

Recently he turned 18.  We helped throw a party for him.  Wanting to honor his passions without belittling him with youthful decorations, I came up with this.

Throughout last year, when we LoveBombed him and his friends at the skatepark, I collected the broken decks.  I have stacks of them under my porch.  We turned some into tables.  But, I have many more ideas in mind…now all I need is a little time.

For his party, I put a piece of chalkboard painted plywood on the center of my table.  In graffiti style, I wrote Happy 18th Birthday.  I just layered broken skateboard decks and put purple votives on top and around them.

Keeping with an urban theme, I pulled out bottle caps we had and put them around a candle.

Sometimes with tablescaping, less is more.  I wanted to show him we cared about what he cared about, without going overboard and trying too hard.  I wanted the evening to be edited and yet thoughtful.

He requested steak and shrimp.  So, we fired up the grill…

sauteed shrimp with beer and Old Bay…and enjoyed the evening with his family and friends.

Who would’ve thought we’d still be LoveBomb-ing these boys in our own home…welcoming them completely into our lives.  Happy Birthday Brother.

Happy first day of Spring!!  Minnesota has kept its tradition of being snowy and frozen again this year.  And, I am writing this post now from 35,000 feet in the air on my way to Cancun.  After a long day of flight delays and potential missed connections somehow we are on our way!  Somehow our 6 coach tickets were magically upgraded to 6 tickets in 1st class on a direct flight instead of a lay over in Detroit.  So, as far as I’m concerned Spring is starting out on the right foot!

Last week while there were still sufficiently sturdy snowbanks in my yard, I decided to start gardening…gardening in a jar!  Canning Jar Gardens for spring are an inspiring idea for tablescaping, spring decoration and reminding you that the real gardening season is on its way!

Initially the inspiration for this DIY project came from Anthropologie.  They always have uniquely crafted displays.  Just one trip there and my mind is was transported from the gray tundra to the possibility of color and in this case, spring.

Another trip to a local Twin Cities gardening center, Bachmans’ helped me collect all the pieces I knew I needed, vintage canning jars, potting soil and the plant called Angel Tears.

Angel Tears plants love light and humidity so a canning jar is actually a great place to transplant them.  I also gathered up some wire from a local craft store for some canning jar accessorizing.

For four canning jars I bought just 2 small plants, filled the jars with potting soil and stuck the divided plants on top.

They are a fun alternative to wheat grass planting popular for this time of year.

The copper wire I twisted into a shape of a flower and wound it around the jar.

While flowers in my yard are a tad far off…copper wire flowers on my table make me hopeful spring has come!

This DIY project was inexpensive and quick and is a great way to tablescape for spring!

Hope you are inspired to plant your own canning jar garden.  If you try it, send us a email or post a link to our facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/lovefeasttable ~Join us her for more conversation around our table!

Dear Friend,

Here’s a little Irish Blessing for you today!  *raises glass*

May the rains sweep gentle across your fields,
May the sun warm the land,
May every good seed you have planted bear fruit,
And late summer find you standing in fields of plenty.

Go n-eírí an bóthar leat.

Kristin & Chris Ann

Today we are celebrating all things green, edible, beautiful, fancy, lucky and Irish.  We’d love to hear your story and share our inspiration.  If you are a blogger and have a post related to all things St. Patrick, please pull up a chair and join us by linking up at the bottom of this post.

Here’s a little of our inspiration for St. Patrick’s Day.

Kristin’s visit to Ireland ~

and her wee little leprechaun.

Beautiful green avocados~

Avocado Pound Cake~

Irish Soda Bread~

Pull up a chair and join us!!  What are you feeling fancy about?  How do you celebrate, what story can you share, what do you have that’s green, or delicious or beautiful…or Irish?