underground dinner in feast magazine

It is nearly MAY. How does this happen? So much to tell you...let's see. Sorry to drop off the planet last week! It was a I-can-hardly-catch-my-breath-life-is-going-in-too-many-directions kind of week. The green smoothie challenge turned out fine, and it IS true. After the three days of misery it was a cake walk. Six full days of fresh veggies and fruits. NOW...

on to the post feature: an underground dinner experience in FEAST magazine.

Local winery. Local chef. Local magazine. Splendid evening.

Remember this catering display I worked on a while back? Well, I was able to attend an incredible event by the same caterers, entre, and even more exciting—the evening is the feature article in a local magazine, FEAST.

Quick details about the event. Entre Underground is a monthly event where the menu and location are kept secret until the day of. My husband and I wanted to participate and we decided to jump at the chance for the overnight experience (knowing it included a bed & breakfast). We were given directions to Hermannhof Vineyards and packed our bags!

To begin the evening we checked into our AMAZING hillside cottage overlooking the Missouri River. From there we headed to the newly remodeled vineyard grainery to munch on hors d'oeuvres and wine. Then made our way over the the 150-year-old, stone-carved caves of the winery cellar for a five-course candlelit dinner. Just remembering makes me feel so dreamy! The relaxing continued into the morning with breakfast, followed by a lazy drive back to St. Louis through many of the small winery towns on a drizzly Sunday.

Everything a getaway should be.

For the full article and menu visit here and to view more images of the event go here.

All photography by Jennifer Silverberg for FEAST magazine. (Center images of the magazine spread by me)

day three of misery {green smoothie week}

A little delayed on creative projects, so instead I give you my current misery: a week of green smoothies. By week I actually mean 5 full days and I'm not sure I'll make it. Hunger is SO debilitating for me! At this point (day 3—supposedly the worst day), I can't remember why I am doing this or for that matter why anyone does this. Morning aren't bad but afternoon and evenings I am a complete wreck.

A few resources I've found helpful:
5 Day Green Smoothie Challenge (for breakfast) by A Beautiful Mess
With Style & Grace (my favorite juicer/health nerd, including this pumpkin smoothie)

Any of you tried the craziness of quasi-fasting? Any other tips. Perhaps it's easier if you don't work from home—where the kitchen is taunting you 24/7?

a few easter goodies

Two projects from last year that may help with ideas for next week, the Easter Peeps download and an Easter Brunch Party. Anyone already planning out ideas for the holiday?

Happy Wednesday, folks!

pot o'gold rainbow cupcakes

Just a wee bit delayed on this weeks post! Gearing up for this weekends celebration with a pre-party last night, and wanted to go all out with these pretty cupcakes!

These were no small feat, even though I used a box mix. But every once in a while it's worth it to go all out, right? The buttercream frosting even has a layer of gold shimmer (sigh). Deep down I might believe these are too pretty to eat...

almost time for irish cream & cupcakes

And another week begins. It sure feels like the year is going fast, which bring us to...

These are two March favorites of mine. The Irish cream recipe can be found in this post, and I posted about the Guinness cupcakes here (from Big City, Little Kitchen).

Getting ready for the season full o'luck!

peanut butter banana muffins

Eating this for breakfast right now. YUM.

After researching a number of recipes I landed on this one by Annie's Eats. Perfect amount of banana and peanut butter taste. They were just sweet enough, even though I'd substituted whole wheat flour.

I highly recommend you also try these delicious muffins. You won't be disappointed.

attempting to make jam

Anything can be salvaged with a little garlic + herb goat cheese. This is not a total failure.

Yesterday I attempted white grape jam. It came out as syrup—a predictable rookie mistake. I still might re-attempt to set it this weekend, but till then I'm enjoying on toast with herbed goat cheese (an idea I thought of after seeing Kara's Pin).

Since I documented my experience I still want to share. These grapes were a steal at the farmers market and a good excuse to give canning a whirl. Sidenote: Does anyone else shop at their market to get home and find a sticker from Brazil? URGH. Anywho, I followed this recipe by The 350 Degree Kitchen. The only thing I should have done is doubled the pectin (what makes jelly into jelly). Next time, I'll merge the recipe with what the box of pectin recommends to add for the amount of fruit I'm using.

Washing.

Cooking.

Pouring.

How did that take four hours?! Ah, well. Add another notch to the life of a domestic housewife checklist.

I still argue this was not a failure, and if I can do it anyone can do it.

pumpkin spice latte cupcake, yes please!

I could not resist baking a batch of these cupcakes from Annie's Eats! And I could not resist showing them off in a most fitting cup (an idea from one of my facebook friends). These are the best tasting cupcakes I've ever made (thanks Annie!), although I did substitute coconut oil and then added vanilla (sorry Annie!).

Perfect fall fun!

dinner tonight ::: lemon millet pilaf

Has it been a crazy Monday for anyone else? My day honestly flew by faster than the wind in Wyoming. But before the days ends I'll share my dinner plan with you. I came across a Betty Crocker recipe that incorporates millet—an incredibly healthy grain, and jumped to buy all the ingredients and give it a whirl. Well then today I came across the beautiful ezine, Kinfolk, and saw their gorgeous styling. Then a light bulb went off—all my recipe ingredients would look amazing together (who does this?)! Below you will see the lovely ingredients to lemon millet pilaf followed by the recipe.

lemon millet pilaf

• 1 can chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 cup uncooked millet
• 1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn
• 1 tsp flax seed
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp grated lemon peel

Heat broth, water and onion powder to boiling. Stir in millet, rice and corn; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until millet and rice are tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in flax see, parsley and lemon peel. Serve immediately.

peach cake

Happy Monday! Hoping you had a lovely weekend. I am doing one more aniversary post for you today, highlighting our anniversary cake. Mini cakes are a trend started by the baking talent of Faux Martha. Because it's peach season and I desperately wanted to use peaches as a photo shoot prop, I foraged the interwebs for this beautiful cake recipe by Kiss The Groom. While it sure looked pretty, can't say I'm much of a baker for actual taste. It was amazing straight out of the oven, but after cooling it had compressed to be nothing like cake texture what-so-ever (as pictured above).

But fun and pretty are what's important, right? I'll leave baking edible food up to the pros.