Spring tables,  indoor gardens, centerpieces inspired by nature, one-of-a-kind, handmade porcelain dishes,  simple pleasures, and popping souffles!  Here’s some of our favorite spring inspiration for pretty tables and some of our favorite spring recipes.

Click on photographs to find links to recipes, inspiration & products from LoveFeast Shop! 

 Visit LoveFeast Shop for more inspiring finds!

Even with the promise of Spring down the road a bit, Winter is still just not giving up.  Many of us, especially those of us in the north are thinking about warm- weathered spring breaks.  But, in-between hopes of spring and vacations, we still have to… survive.

In Minnesota, there are many days where the light is bright but the sky is opaque.  Just now, out my window such an atmosphere is flittering snow that is dancing through the air and landing on frozen ground.  This is a day to keep Hygge in mind.

Hygge (prounounced “HUE-gah”)

A Danish word which means the feeling of cozy, enjoying life, family, friends and the deep satisfying experience of well being experienced from one’s environment, surroundings, food and company. 

So, the roads don’t feel as welcoming for a ride out for meetings and errands.  Stay home, plan a cozy time.  Enjoy a good Hygge.  Important in my mind on such a day is to keep the comforts of  home like cozy blankets and good reading nearby, and fireplaces and candles lit.  In other words, accentuate the positive of  staying in.  And, of course enjoy some good food to nibble on.

The idea of hygge is to create a sense of warmth and feeling of contentment and community.  To create a feeling of  hygge with food, create open platters of bites to nosh on loaded with cheese and crackers, fruit, and other small bites.  Warm soups and hot drinks also create a feeling of warmth and hygge.  A cookie and a hot drink by a fire is just the idea.

 Provence Platter from LoveFeast Shop 

 Almond Triangles ~ Cookie Recipe

 Masala Chai Recipe

A satisfying feeling from being surrounded by friends and savoring simple pleasures make the idea of creating hygge with food a great way to be mindful of the rituals of the simple and beautiful ways of living.  And don’t forget to light a candle!

What are your ideas for nourishment in creating a feeling Hygge?

All summer we’ve enjoyed a sparkling drink that is refreshing, light and lemony.  We enjoyed it first at a quaint Spanish restaurant in Brooklyn.  Our New York friends re-created it and now we’re  sharing it with you to enjoy ~ before the summer’s over!

 Quick summer tablescape tip ~ Lemons piled in an ironstone terrain scent a room with fresh goodness.

This Spanish soda, Kas is REALLY the best to use, but it is hard to find.  This one looks interesting HERE , but we’ve never tried it.  We’ve used San Pellegrino in a pinch.

Peel your lemon, add a splash of gin and the lemon soda to make a summer drink that is perfect for entertaining!

 We never get tired of lemons at our table.  The possibilities are endless.

You could have seen this recipe first by following us on Instagram!

Spanish Soda Splash Recipe

 

Save Print

Spanish Soda Splash ~ a refreshing summer lemon drink!

Author: LoveFeast Table

Ingredients

• Lemon Peel
• 2 oz. Gin
• Kas Lemon Soda - Spanish
• (San Pellegrino is a good substitute)

Instructions

1. Peel Lemon to flavor and garnish.
2. Add 2 oz of Gin.
3. Add Kas Lemon Soda to taste.

3.2.2708

In FEAST you will all things related to feasting.  You will find inspiration for parties, tablescaping, baking and creating a atmosphere for entertaining.

You can bet that we celebrated with food this year whether gathering friends on the deck for grilling, hosting a wedding party or a group of blogging friends.  Time around the table is one of our favorite things.

Winter Whiteout Cupcakes For  A Wedding

Farm Fresh Baby Radish Appetizer 

Hearty Guinness Beef Stew

Homemade Pasta Recipe

Moss Mojitos Recipe

Feast Best Of 2012

Join us on Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Twitter ~ Facebook or sign up for our Newsletter HERE!

In the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we are constantly looking for ways to add effortless sparkle to the table. Throughout the season, we want to have the freedom to invite a few neighbors or friends over on a whim and be ready to quickly throw out a few delicious nibbles and fun cocktails. We stock our refrigerators with special cheeses, our pantry with a variety of crackers and our bars with a couple of bottles of bubbly. Freixenet (“fresh-eh-net”) is a great, affordable holiday bubbly to keep around. Not only does the black bottle add a pop of elegance to any table, but once it’s opened and poured, your guests will immediately feel like you rolled out the red carpet for them.

Here are a few tips for adding a little extra bling to the festivity.

Enjoy the Cordon Negro Brut by itself with a delicious, apricot stilton cheese. It has slight hints of pear, apple and bright citrus flavors. Its clean, crisp finish balances nicely with the sharp stilton. If you want to prepare a little bit more for your guests, spicy lettuce wraps would be excellent as well.

If you want to turn this sparkling brut into a warm Holiday Toddy, boil a nub of fresh, crushed ginger with a stick of cinnamon for 10-20 minutes. Add 2 oz of Cordon Negro Brut, 2 oz of 100% cranberry juice, and 2 oz of the warm ginger mixture. Finish with a thin slice of apple and a cinnamon stick for a garnish.

The Cordon Negro Sweet Cuvee is just slightly sweet and honestly, with slight summer peach hints and is perfect with a slice of cheesecake. But, if you don’t happen to have a cheesecake laying around, is would be great with a bowl of fresh popped popcorn that is lightly salted and finished with cracked pepper.

If you happen to have an apple and an orange laying around, chop a few pieces up, add it to a glass, fill the glass half full with fresh cherry juice and top it off with Cordon Negro Sweet Cuvee for a last minute, Holiday Sangria.

If you take a little bit of time this week, to stock your pantry and your fridge with a few key items, the versatility is endless and it can help your holiday be fun and effortless.

Just for fun, Freixenet is traveling the country with a set of Mini Coopers. If you find a hidden bubble, enter the code HERE and you will be entered to win a sparkling Mini Cooper. Now that would be a great gift this holiday, wouldn’t it?

Who says the holidays are the only time for bubbles?  Make it your resolution to sparkle 365 days of the year with Freixenet cavas. Our sparkling wines come in a variety of different styles to suit any moment or mood. Cordon Negro Brut, our classic Black Bottle Bubbly, is great as an aperitif before a night out on the town or at home with takeout pizza. Our brand new Cordon Negro Sweet Cuvee is the perfect match for brunch favorites like pancakes and eggs benedict. Visit FreixenetUSA.com for more information about where to buy Freixenet sparkling wines and learn how you could win a 2-year lease on a new 2013 MINI Cooper.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Freixenet. The opinions and text are all mine.

I shared tips for making homemade pie crust the other day and wanted to show you how to make a lattice top for homemade fruit pies. It’s not hard and even more fun to do with one of your kids. My daughter, Teapot helped me out.

Using the pie crust recipe HERE, divide recipe in half, rolling half out for the bottom of the pie and the other half to create the lattice topping.

Roll the dough out into a round on a well floured surface. Cut dough into 1 inch strips.

Starting with the center strip (use the longer strips in the center of the pie and the shorter strips toward the edges), lay it in the middle of the pie.

Take the strip next to it and lay it across the first strip.

Then gently fold one over the other and add another strip.

Lay the strip back, then add another strip over, weaving the dough.

Keep doing this until the pie is covered.

Roll up the edges, pressing the crust against the rim of the pie plate.

Then crimp the edges.

Bake until warm and bubbly.

Do you have any pie crust making tips? We’d love to hear! 

We were given a couple of cases of blueberries. We decided to turn them into pie, a plethora of pies; Blueberry Pie with crumb topping, Blueberry Custard Pie and Blueberry Pie with a Lattice Crust. If you’re new to LoveFeast Table, then you may not know the love affair I have with homemade pie. I LOVE making pie. My family loves pie. We LOVE eating pie, and sharing pie. Even poets have recognized the power of pie.

“Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness.” ~Jane Austen

Making a flaky pie crust is a mixture technique, a good recipe, art and quality ingredients. I’ve written about making pie crust before, when I made Peach Raspberry Pie. I wanted to share a few more tips for making a flaky pie crust.

Like I said, use quality ingredients.  Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter is an excellent butter that brings just an extra hint of golden color and pure taste to the crust.

I’ve tried making crust in my Kitchen Aid mixer and by hand. But, I find the best crust comes from mixing the dough ingredients in a food processor.

Start by adding the dry ingredients, then adding the cold, chopped butter and cold shortening and pulsing just until it’s just cut in.

Then when adding the ice cold water, a Tablespoon at a time, I look for it to start to come together with chunks of dough big and small. It will look like this. You don’t want it to be powdery, or pull together too much. But, just right. When pinching the dough between your fingers it will hold together.

Then, if my kitchen is cold enough and the humidity is not too high, I roll out the dough right away on a well floured surface. If it is warm, I wrap the dough into discs and chill in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes. Don’t be afraid to use flour when rolling it out.

When I make my disc to roll out, I push the dough together and pat the edges so they are smooth.

My daughter wanted a lesson on rolling the crust out in a circle. I took Baking I in college and a fellow student rolled out the roundest pie crust I had ever seen. She shared her tips with me. Starting in the center of your flattened disc, roll with light pressure out to the edge. Think of the pie crust as a clock. Always starting at the center, roll at 12, 1 1/2, 3, 4 1/2, 6, 7 1/2, 9, 10 1/2 and 12. When rolling, don’t press when rolling the pin, let the natural roll do the work. After your dough is halfway rolled out, gently lift up and add more flour underneath to prevent sticking.

If your crust edges begin to split, gently fold broken seams over one another and gently roll together.

To transfer to your pie pan, fold dough in half.

Then fold in half again.

Place folded corner in the center of the pie pan and gently unfold.

You can see my edges are completely smooth and there is one break in the crust, but with the next step, much of this is forgiven. At this point some bakers like to trim their edges for uniformity all around. I am one of those, “The more it looks homemade the better it will taste” kinda pie bakers. I like it to be a bit rustic and unfinished.

Take your edges and roll them up towards the center of the pie and gently press onto the rim of the dish.

Then, taking the knuckle of your pointer finger on your left hand, press it into the dough while using your pointer finger and thumb of your right hand to wrap the crust around the knuckle. Gently pressing the dough onto the rim of the pie dish.

The above crust is for a one pie crust pie like pumpkin pie or blueberry custard pie with crumb topping.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Perfect Pie Crust

 

Save Print

Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

This is for a 2 crust recipe.

Author: Home Desserts by Richard Sax

Ingredients

• 1½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 11 tablespoons cold (unsalted) butter, cut into small pieces
• 2½ tabelspoons cold solid shortening
• 5 tablespoons cold waster, plus more as needed

Instructions

1. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, butter and shortening in the food processor. Pulse the machine on and off until the mixture is crumbly.
2. Add the water and pulse until the mixture begins to clump together. Gather it into a ball, flatten slightly into a disk and wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes before rolling out.

3.1.09

Every Christmas morning, before the kids are allowed to come out of their rooms, my husband and I heat up our Breville Espresso maker. (We kinda have a thing for the Breville…so much so we’ve been known to take it across the country.) He will make a double shot of espresso for himself and an Americano for me. Meanwhile, I pull the cinnamon rolls that have been proofing overnight, out of the fridge and put them on top of the stove to come to room temperature. This is one of our favorite Christmas morning rituals. We have a moment to sip a hot cup of coffee, secretly making the kids wait just a few more minutes, knowing the anticipation is pushing them to almost burst. A few sips in, we turn the camera on and shout out, “Ok! Time to open Christmas gifts!” They come bounding down the stairs and know to slightly hesitate for “the photo” before coming in to see the Christmas tree surrounded by all their packages.

After the stockings are empty and the piles of wrapping paper cleaned up, my husband and I move back into the kitchen to prepare for our annual Christmas morning breakfast.

For our children and my nieces and nephews, who join us, Christmas morning is not Christmas morning without homemade cinnamon rolls. They are the highlight of the meal. But, we can’t live on cinnamon buns alone, so we always make a breakfast buffet with delectable choices that appeal to mom-mom all the way down to the youngest.

Holiday breakfast buffets are a great way to celebrate with family while still lingering in fluffy robes and soft slippers.

Here are a few tips and tricks for making a holiday breakfast buffet special.

*Build your own oatmeal bar. We love steel cut oatmeal and it’s even better when there are lots of choices laid out to go with the oats. Fresh strawberries, pecans, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon apples, almond milk and raisins are a few great ideas.

*Special drinks for the kids. How about peppermint hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and a peppermint? Or orange juice with sparkling cider for a fizzy fun holiday drink.

*Homemade baked good centerpiece. Ours just happens to be homemade cinnamon rolls, but you could find your own special tradition. What about homemade scones served with clotted cream or fresh preserves? Or homemade,flaky Southern style buttermilk biscuits.

*Roast a meat. We always add in a roasted ham or lamb to our breakfast buffet. The beauty of this, it’s great to nosh on throughout the day. We will pull out rolls later in the afternoon and a few new side dishes to turn breakfast into lunch.

*Adult coffee bar. We have a thing for coffee. A really big thing. So the espresso machine is ready to pull cappuccinos throughout the morning, but we also put out a variety of “adult fixings”…Irish cream, Kahlua, chocolate liquor, whipped cream and cinnamon.

Breville has released new, time saving products such as the YouBrew, just in time for the holidays! Create your perfect cup or pot of coffee instantly and easily with the Breville YouBrew.  Check out their website for more information on this product and other great gift ideas.

And don’t forget to reply below for two chances to win your choice of amazing Breville products either for yourself or as a gift to a loved one: YouBrew, Tea Maker and Smart Oven products ($250 ARV)

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Breville. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules

My family has celebrated Thanksgiving twice this week.  We’ve shared a feast with friends and we’ve shared a feast with our family.  Traditionally both Kristin’s husband, Devon and my husband, Todd cook the turkey dinners in both of our homes.  Most Thanksgivings they consult eachother over the phone about what brine concoction to soak the turkey in or what type of booze they are adding to the gravy.  This year Kristin’s husband outdid himself with a beautiful bird.  In case you missed it, you can see the menu including their Roasted Turkey with Cherry Orange Glaze HERE.

My husband, Todd went full-out Minnesotan traditional – butter basted turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top,  corn custard, green beans sauteed with almonds, and in our family the famous three ingredient ,Yifta.

In our family, you Hafta’ Have Yifta, or no holiday meal would not be complete.  You can get the recipe for Yifta HERE – but make sure you read the comments for the corrections!)

We also had  pumpkin pie and pecan pie all from scratch.

Today after Kristin and I chatted over Skype we compared notes.  To break up the “Turkey Diet” both of our hubs had put Salmon on the menu.  And, one night our family did a easy favorite, pan-fried pork chops.  After days of turkey sandwiches, pork chops go great with many traditional Thanksgiving side dishes.

Lay the salt and peppered pork chops in the frying pan with a bit of butter and olive oil.  Fry over medium heat.

Begin to brown on both sides and add the secret ingredient, Sage.

When the pork chops are done, put aside and add some sliced Granny Smith apples to the juices with a little butter and saute.

Voila!  Pork chops, with leftover green beans and sweet potatoes.  Perfect change of pace and quick too!

Easy-peasy!  I recommend this meal for an easy and yummy diversion from the Turkey Day!

Do you have a recipe or meal that you make to stretch the holiday leftovers?  Share your ideas or links to a post in the comments!

Often I get asked the question, “How do you get your kids to eat so well?”  It could be that they’ve been raised with good food and a variety of foods since they were young.  They were exposed early on to different flavors.  At the age of two it was pretty normal for our kids to be eating avocados and hummus.  They would quickly move onto finger foods such as baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and red peppers.  I found that if it was colorful and small and came with a dip of some sort, it would get eaten!  Little ramekins are a mom’s best friend.  It makes the food more manageable and not so overwhelming as a plate piled with food.  I’d slice grilled chicken and offer it with a dip of yogurt.  Or, a favorite around here, is the “snackable lunch” which is a healthier version of a pre-packaged Snackable.  I pull out a large platter (I have five kids) and I slice up salami or some kind of hard smoked sausage.  I also slice up hard cheddar, put out a whole grain cracker, veggies and a choice of honey mustard or peanut butter.  I pile on some grapes and strawberries or apple slices.  They each get a small plate and spend time creating their own lunches.

Another thing that I think helps children eat healthy, is to give them choices.  They love to feel in control. Now, by choices I don’t mean you let them stand in front of the refrigerator at dinner and choose what you are going to make for them! I not a short order cook!  But, I do mean, when you set out a tray loaded with healthy choices, they feel in control and they don’t realize that any choice they make is a good one. Plus, they have fun eating!

I’m also a firm believer you shouldn’t set up “No Zones”.  Many moms I meet, who want their kids to eat healthy, remove every bit of sugar in the house.  They may think they’re controlling their kid’s culinary world.  It’s very possible they have compliant kids who, all through their lives will take thier word for it…never try the sugar and be amazingly, well balanced eaters.  Or they may have the kind of kids, that the moment they hit the school cafeteria, buddy up with the Tasty Cake, Ho Ho, Twinkie-packed-lunch-box-kid and enjoy some bad for your body stuff while you’re not looking.  Chances are if they have multiple kids, like I do, they’ll have a mix!  So, our solution is to offer up lots of choices in the way of candy, but in small portions.

I have come up with the candy drawer, healthy snack drawer solution in my house.  The healthy snack drawer is loaded with granola bars, dried fruits, nuts, multi grain cereal bars, etc…

The candy drawer looks like this.

The drawer is kept stocked with individual size pieces of candy.  Both drawers are easy to reach.  If they are hungry they know at any time they can get a piece of fruit or vegetable without asking.  But, if they want a “snack” they ask.  I say, ‘Yes, you can have something out of the healthy drawer.”  Or if it’s after lunch, I may surprise them and say, “You can pick two things out of the candy drawer.”  And, again, they have choices without realizing I have helped them to make good ones.

Link up your Parenting Posts! For more info on the Parent ‘Hood link ups, click HERE.