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!

Do you remember your Dad or Grandfather using a soap and brush to shave?  We do.  Our NEW Men’s Shaving Set gift is classic, useful, high-quality and priced as a set ready to send as a gift.  We’re excited to be adding the Men’s Shaving Gift and other Gifts for Him at LoveFeast Shop.

SIGN UP for our LOVEFEAST NEWSLETTER and receive 15% off on your next purchase!!

Men’s Shaving Set ~ LoveFeast Shop

We think the New Men’s Shaving Set would be a great men’s great for any brother, uncle, grandfather, or graduate!!

And of course for Father’s Day!

 Find the Men’s Shaving Set & other Gifts for Men at LoveFeast Shop.

Our STYLE category is a catch-all for inspiration that comes from fashion.  We’re going to share our favorite products, accessories, jewelry and anything that we give our LoveFeast STYLE stamp of approval to.

Nana’s Jewelry

London Shopping At Hoss Introppia

Dress For The Day ~ Color Story

 Glitterized Phone Charger DIY Project

Style Best of 2012

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

Our LIFE category is where we share a bit more of the behind the scenes of the LoveFeast lifestyle.  You will see a bit into our personal lives here as well as the beauty and inspiration we find along our journey.

This year we started the year going to NYC Gift Fair.  It was there we found these beautiful hand embellished dishes which have become a popular item in LoveFeast Shop.

 NY International Gift Fair

This past summer we packed in all the good things that make summer special.

LoveFeast Instagram Summer Memories

We love to see new things, and taste new foods and of course we love to travel.

 London Weekend ~ Places To See & Be

This is the third part of our Friendship Story. We have been friends for 18 years…there is so much to tell! Just to give you a glimpse, we lived in the same neighborhood while raising out first 7 (Kristin 4, Chris Ann 3) children. We sold both of our homes within a month of each other with Chris Ann’s family moving back to Minnesota and Kristin’sfamily traveling the world. We wanted a way to see each other, so 4 years ago, we started a business together.  

Our Friendship Story ~ Beads

You can read Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.  

Where We Gather

There’s other places to find what inspires us!  Here’s where we share behind the scenes ~ our life, our shop and the beauty & inspiration we find all around us on our journey!

Join us on Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Twitter ~ Facebook  

Don’t miss our 2014 Promotions & Features ~ SIGN UP for our NEWSLETTER

We’d love to know what were your favorite times of 2013 ~ leave a comment and let us know!

Welcome to our Third Annual LoveFeast Cookie Exchange! We have been so honored over the years to have so many talented bakers share recipes and stories from their tables on ours here at LoveFeast Table!

This year, besides having 12 awesome guest bloggers sharing a cookie recipe and a favorite holiday memory or story we are adding something special to the mix. Actually 12 something specials! Each of our guest bloggers will be giving away one of our new Recipe Journals from our LoveFeast Shop. Each of our Guests after sharing their recipe at our table will be sharing a giveaway at each of their blogs. That means you have a chance to win every day for 12 days straight!!!

Visit our Cookie Exchange page via the Chalkboard Cookie Exchange widget to the right of our blog or by clicking HERE to see who our next guest blogger is!  Or to add your cookie recipe to the exchange link up!

I’m going to start us off by sharing a story about my very first Christmas with my husband, Todd.

My husband and I spent our first Christmas alone. We lived in Maryland and our close family was states away in California, Illinois, Colorado and Minnesota. We had a small cinder block apartment above a school building on a prep-school campus where my husband was a middle school teacher. I remember that Christmas distinctly. I remember we ate on a vibrant tablecloth from Madrid that we had purchased at a boutique just a street or so away from Museo del Prado. I remember that I gathered and wrapped a cluster of white taper candles together with a ribbon that was an easy fire hazard, with the dripping wax and ribbon mingling and melting together. I also remember that we had decided to forgo wedding gifts that year, being we were newly married and were just 6 months off an extravagant month long honeymoon in Spain and Portugal. Or so I thought. After dinner of homemade Beef Wellington with bone marrow started from the gourmet restaurant that my husband waited tables at on the weekends and holidays, there appeared a stout and square package. Inside was a very traditional and beautiful white porcelain teapot.

During the cooler months I have used it almost everyday for the last 21 years. It is one of my favorite things. This Lime Wafer Cookie Recipe is one of my favorites to have with a bit of tea. I know it’s not a traditional Christmas Cookie. But, it is one that I tend to make this time of year, because it’s a bit of twist on the traditional Sugar Cookie. And, it goes perfect with a spot of tea.

Lime Wafer Recipe

 

Save Print

Author: LoveFeast Table

Recipe type: Cookie

Serves: 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Butter (2 sticks) softened
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon grated Lime Zest
• 3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed Lime Juice
• ¼ Teaspoon ground Ginger
• 5 Cups Flour, sifted

Instructions

1. Cream the butter for 2-3 minutes at medium speed until it is light.
2. Continue beating, gradually adding  the sugar, 22-3 minutes scraping the sizes often.  Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, lime zest, lime juice, salt and ginger.  Beat well.
4. Gradually beat on low and slowly add the flour.
5. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces, wrap in plastics and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
7. On a floured surface roll out chilled dough into ¼ inch thick.  (Keep remaining dough refrigerate until you are ready to use it.)
8. Cut wafers with a 2" round cookie cutter or upturned glass.  Using a floured spatula, lift the cookies onto buttered or parchment papered lined cookie sheets.
9. Bake the cookie for 10-12 minutes until the edges of the cookie are slightly browned.
10. Cool cookie sheets on wire racks.

3.1.09

 Have a great cookie recipe or story to share?  You’re invited to join in the fun – if you blog – link up your favorite holiday cookie recipe HERE as well!  Or, just enjoy and leave a comment if you’d like!

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!

Wondering what we’re up to?  Behind the scenes we’re working to get ready for all sorts of inspiration to share with you here at our blog.  See the vlog below to find out what’s ahead in the next couple of weeks at LoveFeast Table.

Black Friday Sale coming up this Friday November 23rd!

20% OFF EVERYTHING IN LOVEFEAST SHOP

1 day only ~ Promo Code:  FRIDAYLOVE12

http://youtu.be/Vst6Aytxf_o

The Driftwood Heart from our online boutique, LoveFeast Shop is a beautiful remembrance of the beach.  This large sculptural heart is sturdy and has a large sturdy hook to easily hang it up with.  Each heart shape is made of driftwood and designed in an artistic way to form a heart.

The Driftwood Heart is the perfect piece of decoration for the front porch, garden, beach house, retreat or home.

Right now mine is on my front porch bench, greeting the guests that come to my home.  The Driftwood Hearts from our LoveFeast Shop come in two sizes, the Large Driftwood Heart (24″ x 24″) and Small Driftwood Heart (16″ x 16″).

We loved the hearts at first sight because of their quality, artfulness and the fact that it reminds us of wonderful vacation memories at the beach.

We know you’ll love it for your own (or as a creative wedding gift!)

GIVEAWAY

And ~ here is a little bit of fun ~ follow this link HERE and like our Facebook page to be automatically entered to win the Small Driftwood Heart (16″x16″).

Looking for other unique gathering of home decor and gifts?  Check out our beautiful finds in our online boutique LoveFeast Shop!

What is your favorite meal memory? Everyone has one. Maybe it was a meal shared with a friend who lives far away, or maybe the food flavors all came together and everything on the table was delicious, maybe it was just a moment where the conversation was a turning point in your life or your family was all together on a holiday.

We love to hear the stories. Link up your story today for our Fancy Friday Link Up and you will be entered to win a set of Upcycled Skateboard Salad Servers. Each set is handmade by an artist in Philadelphia. She hand cuts and sands each handle from a used skateboard. We love that each set has it’s own story to tell. Retail $65

Take a moment to check out our other Upcycled Skateboard pieces over at LoveFeast Shop.

A Right Off The Boat Meal Memory…

I wish I had taken pictures of that day, because it’s one that will stand out in my memory as one amazing meal. The sun was shining that summer day. It wasn’t too hot and there was a slight breeze. Devon called to say that he and his friends had caught a large rockfish on the boat. They were bringing it home to clean and cook up. I called Chris Ann and her husband and said, “Come over and join us for dinner!.” Because they lived so close, they finished what they were doing and were over in a few minutes. (Those were the days…she was right down the street.) After the fish was scaled in my back yard, and Devon de-boned it, he seasoned it and set it aside while he prepped the rest of the food. As we were buzzing in the kitchen, the conversations were great and the moment relaxed. This spontaneous meal was turning out to be something special.

Devon whipped up fresh mango, coconut sticky rice and a mango, pineapple, mint salsa for the rockfish. When the meal came off the grill and was served on the plates, time stood still for me. Every flavor was fresh and poignant. I had never had fish right off the boat. The summer fruits were bright and colorful and the conversations lingered into the night. The tastes of the evening are forever fixed in my mind.

Dear Friends, We want to thank you for pulling up a chair to our table this year!  It was an exciting and busy year for us as we launched our new site, an online boutique and met so many wonderful people.  Thank you for joining us! We have been in great company. This is our latest, new addition, The LoveFeast Newsletter.  We will send this out once a month to give you a quick picture of what’s to come.  We will also share a tip from our kitchen and a featured item from LoveFeast Shop.  We recently launched The Traveling Cookbook Project.  Ree Drummond’s, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, is currently traveling from one blogger’s table to the next.  At each stop, the blogger is preparing 2-3 recipes from the cookbook and scrapbooking the pages of that recipe.  When The Traveling Cookbook is filled, we will be auctioning it off and all the proceeds will go to our $24,000 goal for Feed My Starving Children.  We made a pledge to raise $24,000 for a FMSC Mobile Pack Unit to prepare 100,000 meals for starving children. In January, we will be donating $3.00 from every LoveFeast Coffee Cake sold to our Feed My Starving Children Project.  We would love your help sharing this project with your friends and family.  To meet our financial goal as well as our desire to feed 100,000 children we will need the help of many!  Will you join us? We are so excited for 2012! We have a lot in store and can’t wait to share it all with you! Have a wonderful 2012!                                    We’re so glad you’ve joined us at the table, Join us at the LoveFeast Blog Stop by the LoveFeast Shop Connect with us on Facebook Join the conversation on Twitter

LoveFeast Shop We are thrilled to introduce you to the new LoveFeast Coffee Cake.  When we first tasted this cake, we just knew we had to share it with you!  Whether you order the Mixed Berry, Signature, Chocolate Chip or Pumpkin we know you will appreciate its high quality. Our coffee cakes are made with all natural ingredients and come packaged with a gold foil seal and finished with a gorgeous, hand tied ribbon.  These cakes are a perfect gift for hostesses, teachers, clients and friends. LoveFeast Shop will donate $3 for every cake sold in January to Feed My Starving Children and the LoveFeast Mobile Pack project.   Brittled Almonds by LoveFeast Chef ~ Devon Potler 1/4 stick of unsalted butter 1 tsp Cumin Seed 1 tsp Coriander Seed 2 Cups Whole Raw Almonds 1 Cup Brown Sugar Melt butter. Add cumin seed and coriander and toast for a few seconds then add brown sugar. Cook until it begins to carmelize.  Add almonds, stir to combine and turn off heat. Quote of the day: “Add butter – everything else is up to taste!”

Fancy Friday Fancy Friday is a weekly meme around things that are fancy to you.  If it is what motivates your day, leads your dream, whispers inspiration, catches your eye and puts a smile on your face ~ then it’s fanciful enough to share! Link up details are HERE and to give you an idea, here are some of our past examples.   Holiday Cookie Exchange We just wrapped up a virtual Holiday Cookie Exchange. Visit HERE to browse for delicious recipes!   The Traveling Cookbook …is well on it’s way! Click here to see where the cookbook has visited and where it’s headed. All proceeds from this project go to support Feed My Starving Children.

We are so glad to have you pull up a chair and join us here at our blog, LoveFeast Table.  To find out more about what we are up to, receive product highlights and discounts from our LoveFeast Shop and extra recipes and tidbits ~ Subscribe to our newsletter!