food[ie] + friends

REwind : Sat-uh-daaaay

I had been planning the CO Blogger meet-up for awhile and today was the day!  I got everything done ahead of time planned too many things and found myself in a rush all day.  Per usual. 

Breakfast was FABulous.  Creamy pumpkin oats.  Can you see the graham bunnies popping out of the oats?  hehe There is also a hidden blob of pnut butter on that spoon [obviously], almonds + granola topping too!

Whipped with a small banana + pumpkin puree.  MMMM

Japanese Sencha.  A new addiction that I am happy to have.  [minus the cost of the stuff!! eek]

So why do I plan too much on day’s I’m hosting parties?  I really have no idea.  I need to work on slowing.down.  Did I really need to go to the farmer’s market?  No…but I got some awesome bread, so it was worth it.  Did I really need to walk three miles, when I was running my butt off anyway cleaning + cooking?  No…but I did anyways.  Did I need to make FOUR things for the party?  NO…but I am so glad that I did!!  

These Italian Soda’s from WF are DEElish.  They are about $2.69 and come in a multitude of flavors.  I wanted to make sure there were non-alcoholic options for the girls!

This was not a drink option..it was going in the quinoa!  Interested?  You should be!

What was on my menu?

• cold quinoa fruit salad with a lemon vinaigrette
• curry honey hummus with tons of veggies
• Angela’s Tall, Dark + Handsome Hawt Cocoa
• doughballs for the girls to take home with them

The bar was stocked.  Classy…who brought the boxed wine!?  ME..hehe Target happens to have awesome boxed wine, no joke.  It will impress you.  This was a Cab-Sav/Shiraz mix and was extremely tasty.  The box holds TWO full bottles and costs ~$11.  The Italian Soda’s went untouched, which is totally fine because I am ADDicted to making mocktails!!  [thanks Kath ]

Somehow, Emily smuggled 6 of her hubby’s homebrew beers away from him, hehe.  These were no joke, amazing.  I had the pecan nut brown ale and “mmmm’d” my way through it.  Nut browns are probably my favorite [like New Castle].  There was 1 blueberry left at the end of the night, which she let me keep [thanks!].  However, being the awesomatical wife that I am, I gave it to Chris.  He loved it!  I had a few sips of it too. YUM.

Food nerd alert.  Maybe I am the biggest nerd for taking photos of people taking photos.  Yes, I WIN the n.e.r.d. award. 

Heather – Kathleen – Beth – Emily – Katie

Oh.baby.  Curry honey hummus will rock your world.  I actually measured the ingredients this time [hehe] and wrote it all down to share.  I think it was even better than last time.  All recipes will be on my next post because this one is already way.too.long.

It was fluffy + creamy + I could eat it with a spoon.

Emily also brought a bulgur apricot dish that rocked.  Emily, can you leave the recipe in the comments!?  Thaaaanks!!

Beth made devilish deviled eggs.  They are devilish because I probably could have eaten TEN of them. 

I am honestly not the biggest lover of eggplant.  [it’s a texture thing]  However, Lauren made this amazing dish.  She got it from the New York Times – Recipes for Health, which I never knew existed.  Yay for that tip!  Here is the link: Eggplant, Tomato + Chickpea Casserole  She also brought along whole wheat naan to eat it with.  I could have eaten this for a whole dinner. 

Helloooooooo delicious.  Bread + Goat Cheese [with a hint of orange + rosemary] + Figs  THANK you Katie!!!  I have a plate of these babies in the fridge, hehe.

You really really want to make this.  Now.

Thank you Katie x2.  Homemade pesto + tomato + shaved parm.  L.O.V.E.

My quinoa fruit salad.  I made this up on a whim, and am going to be annoying and admit that is was better than good

Cold quinoa salads are where it’s at.

Laura’s fantabulous plate of fruit, bread, and veggie for her cheesy fondue.

THREE cheeses + wine + a few other things made this so so so good.  I love gruyere, anyone else?

Chris came home with [my favorite] gerbera daisies.  He said he thought I would like having them out for the partEE.  He was so right.  I was restraining from buying any when I was at the store.  Thank you huzband   Gerberas are just so big + bright…they just make me happppy!

Heather made bruschetta mix + toasted crostini.  Party planning tip:  Did you know you can toast baguette the day BEfore the party to save time?  Just keep it in a sealed, dry container, and it will be just as perfect and crunchy the next day!

Crunch.

Lauren + Laura – The Boulder girls.  I really had so so much fun talking and getting to know the girls.  There were a total of 7 that came and it was really the perfect amount.  I think I have everyone’s hometowns + professions mixed up…but whaddya gonna do!   

Plate #1 [just for a size reference this plate is a salad plate size..it’s always so hard to tell in photos!]

Plate #2 Food blogging parties are the best. 

Super fun ladies.

After the damage was done.  Still a lot left! 

Already wishing I had more of the Pecan Nut Brown Ale. 

Kathleen was headed out to see St. Vincent [loved their music! check them out on Grooveshark!!] after the party.  She lives close-by so I can’t wait to see her again. 

Prepare yourselves for the decadent treat photographed below.  I’m not even sure quite how to describe this…rich + creamy + decadent + chocolate heaven + coconut love. 

I’m going to name it Chocolatey Coconut Love [renamed + slightly altered from Angela’s recipe]

Bodum glasses…one of my FAV wedding gifts!!  The double wall feature is amazing.  No hot hands and I loooove seeing what I’m drinking thru the glass.  [nerd alert]

Don’t worry…they’re all-natural, vegetarian marshmallows of course [as if you were worried]  I haven’t had marshmallows in FORever.  Everyone needed a spoon to eat/drink this!  I poured everyone a 1/2 glass and no one could even finish it.  We were all pretty full from the food + few drinks though.  I think I want to try and make a lightened up version though.  This was EXcellent but I think I would prefer it a little less rich.

Bahahaah…maybe my favorite photo of the night!?  The dogs were really good and completely preoccupied with compressed raw hide that I bought them from Whole Foods [spoiled, no?]  Dakota munched on hers the WHOLE night while Kenna was done in 1.5hrs and then poking around and vibrating with excitement.  I had to put her in her cage for a while but don’t feel bad, she actually loves her cage!  She didn’t make a peep!

It looks like Dakota is smoking a cigar!

<3 <3

All of the super sweet, gorgeous and extremely talented women.  You should hear what all of their professions are.  Completely impressive!!  [Kathleen had to jet before we took this photo]

Heather, Laura, Lauren, Katie, Emily, Beth

Lauren was THE only actual native Coloridian.  Crazy!  She said she LOVES Colorado and moved to CA for just over a year…didn’t like it and moved right on back.  I’m hoping to get to snowboard with her before the season is over!

Helllllooooo terrible lighting.  Eeeek!

Ummmm…Heather made us JAM!!!  Can’t wait to try it [I have TWO jars…hehe].  I smell layered oats with strawberry jam in my near future.

purdy.

Leftover mess, thanks to Angela

Mess – Side #1

Mess – Side #2

Sink mess.  The girls all left just before midnight, which is when I realized I was EXhausted and fell asleep on the couch stayed up til 3am cleaning the kitchen + editing photos.  Today I vowed to sleep in until I couldn’t sleep any longer.  I got almost a full 8hrs.

I know I have mentioned this before, but this cookbook stand [from crate + barrel] is one of my favorite kitchen items.  It holds your page and keeps crap off your recipes, aaaaand it collapses to be about 1” thick.  I tried really hard to keep track of things I added + changed with my recipes.

Spic n’ Span

Dishwasher load #1 was going and all of these dishes were rinsed and waiting for load #2 in the AM.  I am able to go to sleep if there is a small kitchen mess, but not if there is one as pictured above.  I was SO happy waking up to just these dishes in the sink and was glad I pre-rinsed them so they were ready to go.

Have you guys ever met up with other bloggers in your area?  If not, I highly recommend it.  It’s really comforting to hang out with other avid health foodies.  We definitely did not talk about blogs or food the whole night but it was just nice having all of that in common.  A great starting point for lasting friendships!  A few of the girls pointed out that they liked not having to sneakily pull out their cameras to capture the food.  We’re all used to it  

One of my favorite stories of the night was from Lauren.  We were all asking about how we got into food or food blogs and her response was the best.  [she is one of the non-bloggers but a total food lover]  She said she stumbled onto a few food blogs and was like “OH my gosh!!! other people like to put PNUT BUTTER in their OATS too!???”  She couldn’t believe there was this whole online world of people that were into food as much as she was.  You are definitely not alone Lauren!!         

Long post, I know…but that’s just how I roll.  Expect it tomorrow too..with a Valentine’s Day crazy food recap post! 

~Ashley

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!   Go eat something DEElicious!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. Does anyone have problems viewing my blog?  Do you experience any problems with text + photos overlapping or anything strange?  I have had a few comments here + there and I know it definitely differs with every browser but I know that your screen resolution setup can also affect how pages are viewed.  I check my blog on Internet Explorer and Mozilla, frequently, to make sure it looks right.  I personally use Google Chrome [the best!!]  My screen resolution is set to the highest setting [1366 x 768 on my computer].  Let me know if you’re having problems! 

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