LoveFeast Table

This coming weekend, July 24 and 25, there is a fabulous festival coming to Annapolis!  The Great Grapes Wine, Arts and Food Festival is an event that encourages families to come out and enjoy a day of tasting organic food straight from the farm, sipping wine and beer and listening to local musicians like The Kelly Bell Band and Junkyard Saints.   There will be over 300 international wines to sample and for the beer lovers, over 40 international brews to taste.

If you bring your kids, there will be a playground where your kids can run while you sip and there will be a market with crafts and culinary gift items to purchase.

For the foodies, there will be a Tasting Theater set up where you can learn from Lauren DeSantis how to make a summer picnic and pair the food with wine.  Wine Coach, Laurie Forster will also guide you through tasting wines and help you understand what you are looking for!

If you’re a blogger or a blogger in the making, I will be there along with an incredible panel of other food bloggers!  I was invited by my friend Dara Bunjon, Food Examiner, to sit on the panel and answer questions about food, blogging, restaurants and other fun facts!  This is a first for us here at LoveFeast Table!  We’d love it if you’d come out and support us!

We are so excited about this weekend, we have two tickets to give away!  The tickets are good for either Saturday or Sunday.  Please leave a comment, that asks a question, you’d like to hear answered at the Blogger’s Panel.  If you want a second chance to win, twitter this post and come back and  let us know you did!

The event is from 12-6 on Saturday, July 24 and Sunday July 25 at the Anne Arundel Fairgrounds in Annapolis.  Kristin will be representing LoveFeast Table at the Blogger’s Panel on Sunday from 1-2.  Make sure you stop by and introduce yourself!!

The contest ends Tuesday, July 20 at 5 p.m. Winner will be announced by Wednesday morning!

The Aunt Else’s Aebleskiver Starter Kit went to Robin of the lovely blog A Chow Life!!!  What’s an Aebleskiver you ask?  Aebleskiver’s are a tasty treat introduced to us by Kim of Mom Impact and Hormone Colored Days at the Minnesota Blog Pantry gathering at Local D’Lish in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  You can read about how to make aebleskivers here.

The Party Peacock wants to celebrate!!  Woot! Woot!  Congrats Robin!!  We know you will enjoy it!!

**Curious about what the heck the Party Peacock is doing here!!?  It’s tradition!!  The Party Peacock always announces our GiftAway winners!  Someday….the Party Peacock will tell it’s story…’cause there is always a story!!

Anybody else out there have a party mascot?

What are they?  They’re Aebleskivers.  And, they want to be served at your next gathering!

This is my Aebleskiver.  It’s not as perfect as the winning Aebleskiver.  But let me tell you it was a tummy full of “pop-cake” love!!  You see a Aebleskiver is a cross between a popover and and a pancake!  Traditionally, this Danish treat is filled with an apple slice.  We made both savory and sweet versions at the Minnesota Blog Pantry Blogging Event I attended at Local D’Lish.

The Mac Daddy of Aebleskivers, Chad Gillard aka Aebleskiver Daddy, taught a group of us bloggers how to make the Aebleskiver.  He’s a happy guy…probably because he’s eaten lots of Aebleskivers.

Here is the winning Aebleskiver, made by Crystal, of Cafe Cyan.  It wins in beauty as well as taste I’m sure…although I didn’t get to try hers.  You see with Aebleskivers, as far as I can tell, there is little to no sharing…

This is why the 9-Holed Cast Iron Aebleskiver Pan was invented.

Here’s what Chad taught us.  You start with filling oil in this pan.

And, you fill them with the Aebleskiver dough.  You can buy the pan, the mix, the squirt bottles, and the stainless chopstick tool all online at Aunt Else’s Aebleskiver.  How smart is that?  Mix, tools, and containers on one site, “All Things Aebleskiver”!

Aebleskiver dough is poured into the pan with the oil, and then the toppings are added.

Local D’Lish put out a beautiful spread of fresh ingredients for us to choose from some savory and some sweet.  That is what is great about Aebleskivers…they could be a snack, a breakfast, hors d’oeuvres or dessert!

This is what I put in my savory Aebleskiver:  apple, bacon, scallions and chives, and rosemary.

When the Aebleskivers start to bubble and cook you continue to turn them carefully with the Stainless Steel Chopstick.

You would think that it would defy gravity and collapse but as the dough heats it expands and with a little faith you just keep flipping.  Until you get this:  a perfectly round Aebleskiver.

That’s what Chad says anyway and he’s the Aebleskiver Daddy.  He should know.

We don’t want you to miss this experience for yourself!!  So sign up to win an Aebleskiver Starter Kit by commenting here on our blog!!  There is one day left!!  Feel the Aelbeskiver love!!

We think it would make a great Father’s Day gift too!

LoveFeast Table Aebelskiver GiftAway:  Three chances to enter!

*Leave a comment answering the question: Have you ever heard of an Aebleskiver before and what would you put inside yours?

*Twitter this post and let us know in the comment section below.

*Link this GiftAway in a post and let us know in the comment section below.

GiftAway will end on Wednesday at 12 midnight central time (That’s today!!).  GiftAway winner must live in the US due to shipping!!

What a great night out with the Minnesota Blog Pantry gals!!  What could be better than a blogging evening with friends and aebleskivers? The event was organized by Kim Moldofsky, of Hormone Color Days and MomImpact at Local D’Lish in Minneapolis.  The evening was a great blend of socializing, making aebleskivers as well as a donation of money and diapers to Help A Mother Out.

Meeting new bloggy friends such as Molly from The Snyder 5 and Jilene, from Be Put Together, as well as catching up with Elissa, from Little Bean Photography , Kristin from High Heels And A Hammer and Liz, from the Kitchen Pantry Scientist is always fun! (Kristin & Liz pictured below)

But there is no party like one that starts out with something yummy like an aebleskiver!!  During the first part of the night Chad Gillard of Aunt Else’s Aebleskiver taught us all how to make aebleskivers.

Meet some aebelskivers.

Aebleskivers are Danish round delicacies that are a sort of crossover between a pancake and a popover.  They are made in an Aebleskiver pan over the stove and are traditionally filled with an apple slice.  They can be savory and sweet and often topped with a jelly or sauce.

After making and eating aebleskivers we were treated to an informal chat about blogging and marketing led by Kim.  It was great to learn from her experience and expertise.  She also handed out some fun gifts.

Anna from Motherly Law was excited to receive Minnesota Twins baseball tickets.

Jennifer, got herself a Chork..handy and what she might need for any Unplanned Cooking she might get herself into!

Farm to Fork by Emeril was perfect for me!!  Especially after learning so much about it at the movie viewing of FRESH and the gathering I attended at Lucia’s.

Crystal of Cafe Cyan got a cook book as well.

Crystal was also the proud winner of the night’s aebleskiver making contest.

She received her very own uniquely created 9-Hole Aebleskiver pan from Aunt Else’s Aebleskiver!

Now don’t feel left out of all the goodies!  Chad was kind enough to share some of the fun with the readers of LoveFeast Table!!  One of you can win an Aebleskiver Starter Kit.  The kit includes an Aunt Else 9-Hole Cast Iron Aebleskiver Pan, mix, handle hot pad, and stainless steel chopstick for turning the aebleskivers as they bake!!

LoveFeast Table Aebelskiver GiftAway:  Three chances to enter!

*Leave a comment answering the question: Have you ever heard of an Aebleskiver before and what would you put inside yours?

*Twitter this post and let us know in the comment section below.

*Link this GiftAway in a post and let us know in the comment section below.

GiftAway will end on Wednesday at 12 midnight central time.  GiftAway winner must live in the US due to shipping!!

Our Baltimore Urban Party Peacock is here to announce the winner of our 2nd Ace of Cakes book GiftAway!

The winner is Cyndy N!!  Congratulations Cyndy!

The drawing was held by Random.org and our book was provided by the publisher!!  OK, hon?

This morning, I was reading some posts from some of the gals that came to Baltimore for Bloggy Boot Camp.  The conference was a blast, but I know for those of you who came from out of town, you didn’t get a chance to see much of our city!  So, I thought it would be fun to have another Ace of Cakes GiftAway!  We want to GiftAway the book, Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes!  Duff Goldman and his crew, call Baltimore home!

Baltimore is the perfect city for Ace of Cakes!  It’s quirky, full of personality and surprises and home to the Hon Festival!

We love the Ace of Cake’s book because it represents something that we are passionate about here at LoveFeast Table!  We believe you should pursue your passion…plunge into the things that make you happy, and they will pave a path for your life!  Duff’s mom supported his art passion, even when it was a bit unconventional and look where it landed him!  He is making cakes for a living, on TV with his best buds and obviously having a blast doing it!

Ok, off my soapbox…

Here’s the deal, we will GiftAway the Ace of Cakes book to one person (in the USA-sorry, our last Ace of Cakes book found it’s way to England and shipping costs totally surprised us!)  All you have to do is leave a comment below, telling us what you love about Baltimore, or wish you had seen while you were here!  (No, you don’t have to be a Boot Camp gal to enter…this is an open contest!) Contest will end at 9pm eastern (that’s Bawlmore time!) Friday, March 12, 2010. ***NEWS FLASH***We extended the time for this GiftAway until 12 midnight…And, thanks to the publisher for providing this book!

As we say here in Bawlmore hon, “Thanks for comin’!  Next time, youse guys are here as torsts, youlls have to go downey ayshin, eat some crabs and have a boh, hon!”

Um…ya’…..we’re still here….here in blog land.  We’ve taken a little hiatus (to lounge) (I wish) to tear down the tree and wrap up the ribbons and bows (and eat all the leftover cookies)…….and then that led to other things (like sofa plopping) (only from sheer exhaustion)…..like a mean streak of spring cleaning in this frigid winter!!  Even Kristin and I hadn’t chirped a snip to each other (really) until today via text.

(Slightly modified…unlike MckMama who is all about honesty in 2010…I edited for a slightly less authentic take on our texting….lol….and that’s honest!)

Kristin:  “We were invited to go to club tonite….Wish u were here.”

(I know…even some moms go clubbin’)

Me:  “Fun….am hiding out, cleaning, purging, organizing, etc….now running errands.”

(um, this is like what I do every day)

Kristin: “M going through piles of paper work, packing away decor, purging, emailing, laundry…”

(this is why we started blogging!—escape!)

Me:  “M doing all the same..am even throwing old sheets..”

(it doesn’t get any more mad housewife than this!)

Me: “We crack us up”

(Total narcissistic humor…we’re funny to us!)

Kristin:  “Totally dreamin’ bout post w/ before new years clean up pics and aftr clean up pics.  Calgon!”

(wishful thinking)

Me:  “Also, am going to go thru the china via camera with you”

(so totally housecleaning 2010)

Kristin:  “Virtual china piking, nice. ….We should make a goal of web caming this year both our computers…”

(we can do this!)

Ahhhh….and what woke me momentarily out of this blogging slumber?  It was our friend Kate over at, Kate in the Kitchen, who kindly linked our Cranberry Orange & White Chocolate Scones recipe…..which than reminded us that we were suppose to run a little GiftAway of the Godiva Dark Hot Chocolate!!!  We’re so sorry we were pokey!!  That was sooooo 2009 of us!!!  Anyway…the winner we are happy to announce is Cara….who has a lovely little blog about motherhood and her little bean….called Land of Bean.  We are sending her out a box with some Godiva Dark Chocolate mix asap!

(Hey, this is Kristin butting in….) I see you’re finally writing a post…you beat me to it!  But, great minds think alike! ha ha…going narcissistic again….we’ve been left alone with ourselves too long!  Anyway, congrats Cara!!! (I met Cara at a playground once.  She’s a momma who deserves a moment sipping hot chocolate!)  And (excuse me for one more second) Chris Ann, you wanted a picture our our party peacock, in the snow,  to announce the winner…I think you forget, we’re not in the Minnesota tundra here in Baltimore, so here is a picture of the peacock in “snow”!

Last weekend Suburbia Man and I were at the Mall of America doing some Christmas shopping.  MOA had slightly died down from the masses of people herded up at the Pioneer Woman book signing.  We had been lapping the mall and our blood sugar was dipping when we happened to pass by the Godiva store with a sign out front that said 20 percent off-it caught my eye, I love a deal….even a mini-deal! But, then the cheerful gals behind the counter beckoned me in with an offer of a cup of hot chocolate!   Let me tell you, that was one great pit stop….first of all they offered me a free cup of hot chocolate, dark hot chocolate…it was amazing.  And then, free chocolate dipped strawberries!  I’m serious!  I was like, this is the best pit stop ever!!  How does this relate to the scone picture?  Well, I think this scone recipe would be the bomb with this hot chocolate!  What?  You say your snowed in like me and can’t get yourself to the nearest Godiva store?  Well then you’re in luck, because I bought one for me, and one for one of you!  Dark chocolate.  Smooth. Creamy.  Delicious.  And, I got the tip of the day from the Godiva Girls.  Blenders.  Make the hot chocolate and then whip it around in the blender.  It goes to new heights of smoothy-ness!!  That’s a fact.

Which leads me to the scones.  Last summer my friend Kelli had me over for coffee and baking and she made these scones substituting in plump summer cherries and almonds.  This is her recipe using cranberries.

Cranberry, Orange & White Chocolate Scones

1/3 Cup dried Cranberries

3/4 Cup Buttermilk

2 Cups Flour

2 Tbsp. Sugar

2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 Tsp. Salt

1 Tbsp. grated Orange Rind

1/3 Cup cold Butter

1/2 Cup White Chocolate Chips

Milk (to brush tops of scones)

Sugar (to sprinkle at the end)

(Another option is to substitute 1/2 Cup pitted and halved fresh cherries for the cranberries and to add 1/2 sliced almonds.)

Combine cranberries & buttermilk in a small bowl.  Set  aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and orange rind.

As you cut butter into small shaving, let it drop into flour mixture.

Use a pastry blender to work it through the dry ingredients.

Add white chocolate chips, cranberries, and buttermilk.

Turn dough out onto floured surface.

Knead & pat into a circle with 3/4 inch thickness.

Using a large knife, cut it like a pie-into 6 or 8 pie wedges.

Place onto a stone or lightly greased baking sheet.

Brush scones with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes or until lightly golden.

These are Kelli’s secrets for flaky scones:

*Work quickly.

*The colder the butter the better

*Cut it in & get them into the oven fast.

(Or….try Kristin’s Cranberry Muffins!  One reader I recently bumped into tried them and loved them!)

OK, so here is the deal because I share and I’m snowed in… one of you gets to win the Godiva Dark Hot Chocolate!  Just leave a comment here with your best cabin-fever tips or what you like to add to spruce up your hot chocolate!!  This LoveFeast Table GiftAway will end Thursday at 10pm and the winner will be announced over the weekend!

Our Italian Party Peacock announces our Breville GiftAway Winner!!  Javier Mendoza!!

Here is the brand spankin’ new Breville Baby!  It is flying via stork or UPS to Javier, who is not only going to be a proud Breville Papa, but soon to be a proud Papa in general.  Congratulations Javier, this Breville couldn’t have gone to anyone needier than the parent of a newborn!  We know….we’ve been there, 9 times total!

The drawing was completed on Thursday, 3 December 2009 at 20:43:50 UTC.
http://www.random.org/draws/details/?draw=1137

Also, for the record.  We must disclose that we received this espresso machine from an awesome company that makes awesome products, Breville USA.  This is how the whole thing went down!  More than a year and a half ago, Kristin & Devon and their gang of kids took a road trip from Baltimore to Minneapolis via the Dakotas to visit us.  If you’re tracking that road map, they passed us to the Dakotas and then did a loop back.

Kristin and Devon are coffee lovers to say the least.  Some years back they owned their own coffee shop on Historic Ellicott City’s cobbled streets.  (If you look closely at the previous link, their place was the 3 storied building with the green shutters next to the lit up building.)   A few years ago, after wearing out their old machine they replaced it with a Breville.  So, when they had to hit the road, knowing how many stops they would have to make to deliver the amount of caffeine needed to drive half way across the United States, they decided to pack their Brev’.

Somewhere along the way, they discovered outlets….outlets in vacant lots, outlets in rest stops, outlets in hotel room and outlets near McDonald’s.  Their road trip begin to take on a new meaning….the Breville took on a sort of gnome-like, personality.  Kristin and Devon and their 5 kids arrived a few days later at our home, in Minnesota, fully charged.  A year or so later a post was born and life went on ….. and blogging went on.  And, then one day, more than a year later,  I noticed that Breville USA had just started tweeting.  I tweeted a link to our “RoadTrip +Breville (espresso machine, that is)” and they responded back.  Turns out they kinda’ liked our little road-trip!  A friendship or should I say twitter-ship began between us and the next thing we know, one Fancy Friday while we were working the doorbell rang and some Breville boxes arrived on the porch.  The Breville-s had landed.

So, for full disclosure, yes Breville gave Kristin and I some Breville espresso machines…one is parked in Kristin’s kitchen, one in mine, and one quite shortly in Javier’s.  And, ya, in the interest of Breville and our little growing blog (141 comments whohoo!!!)  we tweeted and Facebook-ed it up!!  That’s called endorsement.  But, for the record we traveled with our Brev’ long before this fun began!  So that’s just how it all started…..we like coffee, we like Breville, we like travel, Breville liked our post, Breville-s landed.  But, the real question is, where will the Breville-s go next?  You’ll have to stay tuned for that, we have our thinking hats on….I’m sure we’ll come up with some sort of idea, cause we like to cruise around, we like to travel and we like our shots of espresso straight from our Brev’s.  ‘Cause that’s how we roll!

Now I wonder what we’d do with juicers? hmmmmm

So, thanks friends for all your great comments!!  Your travel ideas were thoughtful and funny!!  We hope you take your travel ideas and follow your dreams!  And, Javier, we wish you nights full of sleep and mornings full of espresso!!  And, many joys with your future baby!!  Maybe we’ll give her a nickname around here like little cuppa’ cuteness!!  So, in honor of your future package and your future arrival we would like to offer our comments up for new born baby advice, best wishes and congratulations!