Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Mother-naked goes to #lovelydinners

Two food, one fashion, one photography, one mixology and one lifestyle. All bloggers. And me, the mom blogger. One of these things is not like the other (or are we?).  Ragan Brooks (www.beautyinthebite.com) and Molly Schoneveld (www.thisyuppielife.com) invited me to their Lovely Dinner, a gathering of bloggers, to enjoy food, great company and talk blogs. I’m pretty sure my shirt had a hole in it, because I haven’t bought nice clothes for myself in a while. My photos on my blog are fuzzy and blurred because my kids won’t sit still. And these ladies’ blogs are absolutely full of beauty! How do I fit in?? But I’m getting ahead of myself.

And as much as I just painted myself as the odd one out, I wasn’t at all. Over amazing cocktails by Jordan and Jocelyn (www.thisgirlwalksintoabar.com), we talked about the most rewarding things about having a blog and the biggest challenges. It was interesting to see how similar our insecurities were.




I left my belly full of amazing food and drink and inspiration brimming over. I vow to dress better now that I obsessively read Veronica's blog (www.thelookbyv.com). I love photography, I want more of it in my blog. And the food…. Can I eat like that every day? Thank you Ragan! What an awesome group of women. Their blogs are full of beauty, but so is mine. I know I can string words together pretty damn well. 

Photography by Christine Chang




                                                              decor by Molly Schoneveld

                                                              Me (and my hole in my shirt) 
We all left with some yummy granola made by Pamela Salzman! Perfect for breakfast.


I made dessert!
                             Balsamic Black Pepper Strawberry Shortcakes

Biscuits
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
5 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup chilled heavy whipping crew
1 large egg, beaten 
Balsamic strawberries (recipe below)
whipped cream: 1 cup of heavy whipping creamed beaten until stiff peaks with 2 tbsp of sugar

Position rack in center of the oven and preheat to 425
line baking sheet with parchment paper

place flour, 4 tbsp of sugar, baking powder and salt in food processor. Using on.off turns, pulse to blend

Add butter and pulse until butter resembles large peas, about 5 1-second intervals. Add cream and pulse another five 1-second intervals until moist clumps form. The dough will not completely stick together.

Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Gather dough into a ball. Do not overwork it. Using as few strokes at possible ,roll ito a  8 X 4 inch rectangle about 1 1/4 inch thick. Cut length wise in half the crosswise into four equal strips. forming 8 square/rectangle biscuits. Transfer biscuits to prepared baking sheet and chill for 20 minutes.

Brush top of biscuits with egg glaze and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake until biscuits are golden brown and tester comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.

Serve with strawberries and whipped cream!

Balsamic strawberries
2 pounds of fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered.
5 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 large pinch of fresh ground black pepper

Mix strawberries, sugar, balsamic vinegar and black pepper in a medium blow. Let macerate for 30 minutes and stir occasionally.



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