Posts filed in Gather

Gather

How To: Easy Crowd Pleaser Meals That are Ready in a Snap

Nothing is better than gathering together with the people who make our lives rich and meaningful. 

In the end, we’ll find that the friends and family who’ve made up the fabric of our lives were more precious than money or any worldly success.

As Clarence the Angel says to George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, “Remember-No man is a failure who has friends.”

Yes, friends are wonderful. But what do you feed them all?

When I need to fill up a lot of people fast, I find pasta is always a popular choice or my rustic chicken recipe.

My go-to is to put out a platter loaded with mounds of grapes and any other fresh fruit I can find that looks particularly delectable, an array of interesting cheeses, and then I serve a large pasta bake that can be assembled ahead of time. 

The bake I used to rely on was inspired by Saveur magazine. It called for ground veal, but I substituted ground chicken because, well, baby cows. 

Photo by Tina Rupp

However, this recipe based on  Food and Wine Magazine is made for the host in a hurry. It uses pre-made flatbread instead of noodles, so you can assemble the meal quickly and get it into the oven.

Flatbread Lasagna

Ingredients

  • 1 pound hot spicy chicken sausage, casings removed 
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups ricotta
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 3 cups jarred marinara sauce (Ina Garten uses Rao’s in her home)
  • 4 pocketless pita or naan (why not pick them up from your favorite Indian restaurant to make the dish truly divine?)
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella (12 ounces)

Directions

  • Step 1
    Preheat the oven to 350°. In a skillet, cook the sausages in the oil over moderately high heat, breaking up the meat, until browned. Season the ricotta with salt and pepper. Spread 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce in a deep-dish pie plate. Top with 1 flatbread, one-third of the sausage and 1/2 cup each of the ricotta and mozzarella. Repeat the layering twice more. Add 1/2 cup of sauce and the last flatbread. Top with the remaining 1 cup of sauce and 1/2 cup of mozzarella.
  • Step 2
    Cover the lasagna with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 minutes longer. Let cool for 20 minutes and serve. Serves 6-8. Make two when you have a huge crowd. More is always better.

Suggested Pairing

Chianti.

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Gather

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dreams

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This smoothie is a dream in a glass.  It tastes like dessert but is made from healthy ingredients so it is 100% guilt free.  Peanut butter and chocolate are one of my favorite combinations of all time.  I always have the basic ingredients in the pantry so that I can make this smoothie for breakfast, lunch or a snack any day.

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The banana can be fresh or frozen.  If fresh, I add more ice.  If frozen, I use less.  I always have bananas on the counter and a bag of peeled frozen bananas in the freezer.  Dates are a must have as well.  Get the fresh Medjool dates and remember to remove the pits.

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For the protein powder, I use the chocolate flavored Complete by Juice Plus, but you can use whatever protein powder you have on hand.  The cacao nibs are for sprinkling on top or for adding an extra spoonful to the glass for a little crunch.

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Ingredients:

1 ripe banana (fresh or frozen)
2-3 dates (pits removed)
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I use Complete by Juice Plus)
2 tablespoons cacao powder
2 tablespoons peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
2 tablespoons oats (uncooked oatmeal)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon maple syrup
8 oz oat milk (or other milk of your choice)
2 cups ice cubes

Cacao nibs for topping

Put all of the ingredients in a high speed blender (I use a vitamix) and blend until the smoothie is a rich and thick consistency, ensuring the dates and oats are fully blended.  Pour into a tall glass and enjoy with cacao nibs sprinkled on top.

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Enjoy!

Stay safe and be well.

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Carrie Allen created this site as a way for people to share stories about things they love.  She loves chasing quiet, authentic moments and sharing them with her family and friends.  Read more about her inspiration here. 

 

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Gather

Thanksgiving is not a day, it’s a way of life

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Thanksgiving is fast approaching us and many people have started to plan the details: the guests, the menu, the sides, the desserts, the decorations for the table and so on.  It’s a day that, hopefully, brings families and friends together, is rooted in tradition, and is primarily focused on gathering folks around the table for a meal, all the while expressing our utmost thanks for all that we have.

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Photo by Our Food Stories

The Thanksgiving meal holds a special place in my heart because it brings people together at the table, which is a passion of mine and the inspiration behind August Table.

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Connecting with loved ones at the table is so important.  Thanksgiving can be many things and any way you do it is just perfect.

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Photo by Our Food Stories

I love the big and boisterous meals, which tend to happen when you bring my family together; as well as the meals shared with friends when we bring our families together and each contribute various traditional and nontraditional favorites for the meal, like we are doing this year; and the quieter ones too that buck the traditional fare altogether, like last Thanksgiving when Krister and I rented a little cottage on Cape Cod (since our four children were all off doing different things) and we ate oysters and fish and other yummy fresh things coupled with delicious cocktails made from Rye, spiced honey syrup, lime and ginger, and after took a very cold walk on the beach with our dog.

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While I love Thanksgiving I would challenge everyone of us to try to bring the goodness of giving thanks into our lives every day by practicing gratitude.  With gratitude people acknowledge the goodness in their lives.

Science says that people who regularly practice gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness.  You need this and so does the world.

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Photo by Our Food Stories

Happiness comes from a place of feeling good.  You can tell yourself short, good feeling stories multiple times throughout your day.  Reframe a negative thought to view it in a more positive context.  If you are not feeling joy, pause and focus on something small – maybe you like the way the clouds look, or the way the wind feels on your cheek, or the way a cup of coffee tastes, or the way the sunset is bursting with color.

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Focus on how they make you feel and then feel gratitude that you can experience them.  Then notice another and another.  Until suddenly you start feeling really good.  This helps you be your best self, every day and at the table with those you love.

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Carrie Allen created this site as a way for people to share stories about things they love.  She loves chasing quiet, authentic moments and sharing them with her family and friends.  Read more about her inspiration here. 

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Gather

Gather – Flowers for your table

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Wildflowers collected from our fields in White Stone, VA

I firmly believe that when you gather friends and family at the table you should always have fresh flowers there too.  They elevate the experience and can be done simply and inexpensively from gathering wildflowers in various shapes and sizes to pulling together one flower, in one color, to make a statement.

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Wildflower arrangement by Jamie Campbell for Decoratop

You can pick one vase to fill for a center arrangement or find various jars, cups and vases in varying sizes to place organically around the table and house.

When I have a special event, dinner or meal and want that extra help I love collaborating with a florist in order to get more unique flowers than are readily available in the yard or at the local market.

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Photo by Will Hawkins / Flowers by The Wild Bunch

It’s also fun to add in fruit and vegetables as part of the table decor.

Photo by Jen Huang
Deer Pearl Flowers
Floret Flowers

Think about what season you are in and pull from what is growing at that time.  Lilacs are my favorite flowers and I love to fill vases of them in the spring all over the house for their soft color and lush scent.

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Mason Jar Vase and Lilacs by Country Living 

If you have a large group, it’s fun to have flowers run down the entire table so that everyone gets to enjoy them like I did last summer for a large family gathering in the photo below.  I worked with Cindy at The Wild Bunch in Kilmarnock, VA.  She does amazing work.

If you do not have a garden or yard to pull from, visit your local market or grocery store.  When in Boston, I love what Trader Joe’s keeps in store year round and look for groupings of one type of flower to mix and match colors as opposed to the prearranged bouquets.  Another favorite – peonies…

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Peonies / Photo by Amber Lilyestrom

When creating your own arrangements, you must strip the stems of all leaves for the part that will be below the water line.  This slows up any bacteria growth and keeps the water clean longer.  I like the flowers to be cut shorter in the vase, so that the flowers are poised just above the top of the vase and often tie the vase or jar with twine or a ribbon.  Cut each flower individually to fit your vase in order to have various heights and place them loosely for the look you want.

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Flowers by The Wild Bunch

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Carrie Allen created this site as a way for people to share stories about things they love.  She loves chasing quiet, authentic moments and sharing them with her family and friends.  Read more about her inspiration here. 

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Gather

Erika Riddington – Stone Cold December

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“Each year as December approaches,
And Earth turns gray, stone cold,
Summer green lush is faded
And russet–brown overtakes gold,
I’m not perplexed or longing
for that chroma, or sweet fruit that has been,
But I do still revel in the fresh and beauteous.
I do not wish to give up
the lavish gathering in.”
-Anonymous

I live for a good walk.
As stone cold December approaches,
Thanksgiving weekend with family is particularly special.

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I go with delight at being together with the beloved people I rarely see.
I go to thoroughly enjoy simply breathing the fresh air and moving through space.

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Farm in Amherst, MA.

 
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I also go with a an eye for treasures to bring the freshness of outside in for the winter.

Gems stand out…
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The treasures found? An abandoned wasp’s nest for the classroom, some bright winterberry from the marshy farm’s edge, emerald moss for an advent garden, fragrant boughs of balsam for the holiday house, a bird’s feather for no purpose at all.

These artifacts find a place in our home and become part of our celebrations.

Through our sometimes too hurried and harried daily existence, the fresh pieces from the natural world are reminders of a flow beyond and help keep us connected to the larger Life.

Erika Riddington is a relatively new middle school science teacher, (former landscape architect), currently raising a family with her husband in Arlington, Massachusetts.

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