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Food

PRESERVING PLACE | BISCUITS + JAM

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Preserving Place is a natural light filled storefront with an interactive kitchen and dining area.  It’s located in Westside Provisions shopping district, one of my favorite areas in Atlanta. Recently my gal pal Sarah Dodge took over the classroom, photography and social media role.  She’s helping spread the word of what they offer and that anyone of any cooking (or non-cooking) background can join in and have some fun while learning skills and recipes.

When the Spring class schedule came out I was drawn to several classes.  As a birthday gift to myself, I attended the Biscuits + Jam class on March 24th with my girl friend Natasha.  When I got there I was pleasantly surprised to see many familiar faces as well as meeting some new ones like Blayne of This Photographer’s Life -who is so funny and great with a camera.

The class was a hit, take a look–

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The table was beautifully set while we cooked. I couldn’t keep my eyes off that delicious looking bacon! In between mixing and learning we sipped on wine they provided, keeping things silly and light-hearted!

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We were put in teams of two and went down the recipe step by step with instructor Sarah leading the way. Our class had some jokesters, myself and Natasha included, along with Conner who’s a local stand up comedian who was challenging the class and cracking us up!  We had fun with it and didn’t take things too seriously which is what I’ve realized I love with the people I know and Atlanta as a whole.

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Sarah shared many tips with us, which I won’t give away because you should just join in on the fun! We filled our bellies with biscuits, bacon, wine, fruit preserves and filled our minds with memories of a JAM’n good time!

WEDDING THOUGHTS- THE CAKE

Lately my mind has been clouded with thoughts of all things wedding related. Which is a good thing because I had that initial rush of “oh my gosh I’m getting married and must plan away” and naturally, the planning and pinning slowed down with the holidays and just enjoying being engaged.  Now that it’s only nine months out it’s time to get things really going! So I’ve been working on the save-the-dates and fine tuning our to-do list. This past Sunday, Mom and I went to a bridal show but unfortunately didn’t accomplish much (besides having fun in photobooths and trying samples) until after we left and went to and upscale bridal boutqiue called Kelly’s Closet in Candler Park.  It was there we discovered and fell in love with the designer Jenny Packham. The beautifully beaded gowns immediately caught our eye!  I tried on 6 or 7 and when we thought we found the one we left to think on it. Later we decided it may not have been THE ONE but the designer was definitely who we wanted to go with. After lots of searching and inquiries we found a sample at a boutique in CT and it’s currently ON IT’S WAY!!! We are super super thrilled and I cannot wait to get it altered and fitted. So now that the dress is picked out it’s time to get other areas covered like catering and the cake. I still haven’t decided on a caterer so if you’re in or around Atlanta and have someone you like-holler at me!

As for the cake, not much is decided except for the fact it’s going to be naked, meaning no outside icing. I’m not a big fan of tons of icing so this trend is perfect for me.  Dustin on the other hand likes frosting-says it’s his favorite part-so we’ll be getting him a grooms cake to his liking.  Here are some photos I’ve pulled as inspiration for when I find a baker around town we like, currently thinking of Highland Bakery, but again if you have a suggestion let me know!

brides23758fad42c3c428adb7c098629a4782fbenandcolleenbrides3local milkbrides1photo credits 1/2/4/7 via Brides, 3 via Ben and Colleen, 5 via Adventures in Cooking, 6 via Local Milk.

RECIPE | QUICK PIZZA

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I’ve always loved to cook and make up my own recipes but you wouldn’t know it reading my blog since I haven’t shared much.  This is mostly due to terrible lighting in the kitchen of my last place but since moving into a large well-lit kitchen, I’d like to post more about food. Meals consume a lot of our daily life and since my blog has turned into more lifestyle, I’d like to start sharing our tasty-and usually pretty easy-meals!

This weekend while we painted the hallway and conquered little projects around the house, I took a break to cook us a late lunch and snap some photos.   One of my favorite foods is pizza and a lot of times, the quicker the better. Using flat bread takes a lot of hassle out of the process and is pretty light and airy.  All ingredients were purchased at Kroger. Here’s what you’ll need:

INGREDIENTS
Flat bread
Meat, I used pork
Italian cheese blend
Marinara sauce
Red onion
EVOO
Seasoning

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First you’ll want to brown the meat. I added a bourbon pork seasoning and onions until all was cooked thoroughly. Spread some evoo on the flat breads, then add sauce, then cheese and top with meat and a little more cheese. There was no way I could have fit all the meat on these so I saved the leftovers and made spaghetti the next day.  We love recycling food! I cooked these babies at 350 for around 10-12 minutes. Then we chowed down while watching the last episode of season 2 of The Americans.
16139394128_0698b936ee_kAnd of course we added Sriracha and Tony Chachere’s as we both put them on everything! Very yummy, sorta lean (?) and filling! It got two thumbs up from Dustin as well which always makes me happy, not that he’s picky what so ever but it’s still rewarding.

The possibilities with these are endless. We’ve made bbq chicken, alfredo chicken and mushrooms and vege flat bread pizzas. Try your favorite combo and let me know how you like it!

Though it’s nearly dark when I get home from work, I’m going to try and do more food posts on the weekend. Next up on the blog: recapping a yoga session at the Free People of Avalon .Stay tuned!

TUMBLR

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I started a Tumblr! I’ve been making an effort to have it be somewhat different than my Pinterest, well, the same vibes but more refined if that makes sense. With an upcoming move it’s also become a place where I can get and store more inspiration for housewares and simple living.  It’s been fun experimenting with a new site layout, to check out my Tumblr visit www.ladyflashbackblog.tumblr tumblr_nf1mwjum8v1u3b0c9o1_1280 tumblr_nbfmu2Fh0d1t1cy7no1_1280 tumblr_mxr6qbjfBG1sbn7soo1_1280 tumblr_nb8204hQPQ1tt7478o1_1280 tumblr_neu1xwe2eY1spaimdo1_1280 tumblr_n97wlvpfTq1qcksazo1_1280 tumblr_nf1mwjum8v1u3b0c9o1_1280 tumblr_neu1xwe2eY1spaimdo1_1280

For the photo sources, visit my Tumblr.

SLOW FOOD ATLANTA

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On Wednesday Slow Food Atlanta hosted a series called “The Drunken Snail” and partnered with chef Jennifer Booker, Concrete Jungle and Mercier Orchards for a night at Little Vinyl Lounge sipping and snacking on an apple-themed menu.  My good pal Katherine helps run Concrete Jungle so I went to support her efforts as well as get a taste of Fall and find out more about Slow Food. Here’s what I learned, Slow Foods USA is a non-profit organization that believes in slowing down, enjoying good HEALTHY food and taking time to learn about where your food comes from-among many other food related things! It’s national, member supported and has events everywhere. They aim to get you to reconsider the fast, most likely unhealthy, options and consider how that food will affect you and the environment. Like I said, they believe and care a lot about all things food- from growing to educating to eating. Read more here.
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What I wore: Vintage top, Target button down, Citizen for Humanity jeans, Yellow Box moccasins, Madewell tote, TOMS shades and locally made necklace by Ali Sage.
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Little Vinyl Lounge is under Star Bar. In case you’re wondering it’s always been there but has now become a separate venue rather than just being the place you retreated from the loud and smokey upstairs.  It’s been revamped and is smoke-free! They have a huge jukebox that’s filled with 7″ vinyl records from local bands. The owner, Susan, was telling us that at the end of each month they tally up which record got played the most and that band is rewarded a $100 bar tab!
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The featured drink of the night was cider from Mercier Orchards  of Blue Ridge mixed with bourbon and some Autumn spices-so yummy!
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Apples were the theme so even the meat was paired with apples. Chef Jennifer made her own bourbon bbq sauce and made these apple and chicken skewers-very tasty. Not pictured were the zucchini and apple fritters and apple pancakes. All of it was delicious and paired very well with the featured cocktail.
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This photo screams Fall-love it!  That little fruit is called a flying dragon fruit and was picked by Katherine. The bar juiced 4 pounds of these little guys and used them in a spritzer. It’s taste is citrus with piney, earthy notes.  She gave us one to take home, the cats have been sniffing and curious about this fuzzy little fruit!

Speaking of all things Fall, we are going to the Blue Ridge mountains this evening until Sunday. We plan on having lots of fires and making smores, going hiking, cooking a little bit and maybe going to the Mercier on Sunday if there’s time. Have a good weekend!