Happy Monday lovelies!
Gosh, I am totally blown away by the excitement coming from you guys over yesterday’s panCOOKIES! Can’t wait to get in the kitchen this week and see what I can whip up for next Sunday!
I hope you all had a MARVELOUS weekend!
Of course, I just HAVE to link up to Katie’s MIMM because this weekend was fantastic!
I mean, how could it not be when it was spent with these beauties:
Allie and I arrived in Atlanta early Friday night. It was about a four and a half hour drive from Nashville but you wouldn’t have thought it took more than a couple of hours with the way we were jabbering the entire time! 😉
Laura had big plans for us for dinner that night…she’s spoken highly of Push Start Kitchen, an underground supper club (um, how cool does THAT sound?) many times so Allie and I definitely knew we were in for a treat, but I had no idea just how much I would LOVE it!
I want to save all the food pics from my trip for my What I Ate Wednesday post, but here’s a glimpse of the setting for the night:
I couldn’t get over the fact that the chef and his wife run the whole thing out of their home! It was so perfectly set…great mood lighting (aka bad foodie lighting), nice music, and a beautiful tablescape…
The table, which was absolutely gorgeous with it’s rustic finish, was arranged for a
dinner for sixteen.
I loved all the little accents…simple yet charming!
We started off with a warm cocktail of rum-spiked black tea with honey syrup and masa cakes served with tomato aioli…which were only like little pillows of Heaven dipped in creamy, life-changing nectar of the gods!*
Note: That is NOT an exaggeration.
As we were mingling and waiting for the other guests to arrive, we were able to catch a glimpse of our first course!
And here’s a little tease:
The menu for the night!
Two words: FOOD COMA 😉
Zach, the amazingly talented chef, his super cute and VERY pregnant wife, Christina, and me.*
Sorry for the incredibly horrible iPhone photos :-/
The next morning, the three of us eased out of bed, enjoyed our morning ACV cocktails courtesy of our host/bartender ;), and relaxed a bit before it was time for me to whip up a batch of Snickerdoodle PanCOOKIES!
Made even better topped with Nutzo and crack sauce!
Then it was off to Atlanta’s first annual Vegan Festival!
They had a TON of vendors from companies all supporting animal rights…there were booths with t-shirts, jewelry, supplements, desserts, you name it! Of course, if you know us, you know…we were just there for the food! 😉
Delicious VEGAN food!
The rest of the afternoon we spent walking around shops in Atlanta enjoying the MARVELOUS weather!
And some more “snacking” when we stopped in at Bella Cucina…
I’m such a sucker for free samples!
And I totally fell off the wagon on the pantry challenge as soon as I saw these pickled plums!
You would too if you read the ingredients!
Pitted dried plums, apple cider vinegar, cane sugar, coriander seed, mustard seed, arbol chili, bay leaf, and orange peel
For the record, it’s delicious! 😉
We also stopped in this little chocolate shop with the CUTEST displays, no samples there (which was probably a good thing since we were stuffed to the brim already) but I couldn’t resist a couple of pics!
Isn’t that macaron tree the cutest?
We ended our shopping for the day at the granddaddy of all farmer’s markets:
Seriously, this place was HUGE!
And they also didn’t allow any pictures (grumble)…but I just HAD to sneak a couple once I found myself in the mustard aisle mecca:
I’m not even kidding you, my blood pressure went up when I saw all of this! Lol
Annnnnnnnd well…I had already fallen off the wagon…
Hey, I could have done a LOT worse! 😉
The prices were so incredibly cheap! I got the hemp protein for only 15 bucks and c’mon, you gotta be proud of me for only coming home with ONE jar of mustard! Lol
Dinner that night (which again, I’ll only tease you with for now), at Barcelona, included a sweet treat, but that’s not just any dessert…
That’s FREE dessert!
From this VERY hot bartender! 😉
Ummmphffft!
The next day we just chilled a bit, enjoyed some peanut flour/cottage cheese quesadillas made by our gracious hostest…
Yum!
And ended with lunch at Dulce Vegan!
Then, sadly, it was time for Allie and I to head back to Tennessee…
Our attempt at sad faces! Haha!
But not sad for long because we all know…
This weekend is DEFINITELY happening again!
And maybe next time, Lee won’t be out of town while we’re there! 😉
What did YOU do this weekend?
Have you ever tried a masa cake?
I swear my life has been forever altered since that first bite! Lol
Umm, bourbon ice cream? Definitely looking forward hearing about that!
What a great weekend – so jealous and wish I could have joined you lovely gals! 🙂
Looks like you had a lot of fun!! Jealous that you are all so close to each other. Hellooooooo from way up here.
Aww! Why can’t all us blends live in one state? Better yet, we should just get our own little country…like a cult! Lol!
Sounds like you all had a great time!
I’m sad that I missed it. Sounds like you guys had an awesome weekend. I’m glad you got to go to the farmer’s market. Isn’t it so cool? I need to shop there more, it just gets really crowded (as I’m sure you saw).
Oh yeah, it was CRAZY in there! And of course I was going through a huge case of sensory overload! Lol I couldn’t believe how much stuff they have! I really hope you can be there the next time we visit…we’ll frolic up and down the aisles together! 😉
I didn’t even know you took half of these pics!! I love how we went from bacon fritters to vegan food festivals. Rock on! 🙂
Thank you again for the AMAZING pancakes. It was so nice if you to cook even thought you were my guest! I ate my last one slathered with warm NuttZo last night. Excellent midnight snack.
You’ll have to come back soon. A certain bartender misses you. 😉
P.S. Can I please haz the group pics for my blog post?
Of course! I’ll email it to ya right now!
Yeah, definitely quite the array of food choices this weekend! Haha! And you are more than welcome for the pancakes…I rarely ever get a chance to cook for people, so I loved every minute of it…yes, even the minutes where I was cursing your stove! Haha!
Dude, he accepted my friend request but didn’t post on my wall or anything…think he’s doing the three day guy rule? 😉
What a fun weekend! I may have to crash the party next time! 😉 All that food has me hungry!!! BTW… I LOVE that hemp protein!!
Oh my gosh, wouldn’t that be fun?! A few more and we could have ourselves a mini-Blend! 😀
LOVE this protein powder! I picked up a couple of sample packs at Whole Foods a few months ago…best plant-based powder I’ve tried so far! Sooooo much better than Garden of Life! Ick!
Um can we talk about how super jealous I am of your meet up, your meals & and your awesome food finds!! So glad the three of you had such a great time together xox
I’ve been to that farmer’s market. It’s amazing! I’m sad I didn’t get more things when I went though.
Oh geez, if I had had my way, I would have brought have the market home with me…but I’m not quite sure it would have all fit into Allie’s car! Lol
How far is it for you to drive here?! You can come visit, I will wine and dine you, and you can make me, Mike, and Anthony pancakes! Hehe!
So happy you had a marvelous weekend! How fun! Allie seems so sweet, I want to meet her one day so bad! Love Laura!
Happy Tuesday! <3
That looks like such a fantastic, food-filled weekend! I’m jealous. 😀 That’s really neat that the chef runs Push Start out of his home! And the menu there sounds phenomenal. Bacon and apple fritters? Yes please! I can’t wait for the rest of the pictures!
So holy.wow your weekend looked like it was so much fun. The highlight of my weekend was probably going over to my parents’ place for dinner on Sunday night. I’m a wild one… you don’t have to tell me 😉 But it was pretty nasty here weather-wise, and the boy was out of town, so all I really felt like doing was curling up at home and hiding out.
Haha I’m glad I’m not the only one demanding pancakes during your visits!
Haha! Yeah, seems like it’s kinda turning into my thing…I “pay” for a place in stay in pancakes! 😉
Looks like such an awesome weekend! I love all of the eats, I would totallly be in a food coma too haha but it looks all worth it! I’m checking out that syrup by the way, it looks awesome!
Oh yeah, toooooooooo-tally worth it! And ugh, I keep stalking that website but I can’t narrow it down…I want them all! Did you see the peanut butter flavored syrup? OMG!
I almost didn’t want to read this post because I new I would be SO sad I wasn’t there! And I’m right. However I am glad that the three of you were able to have so much fun together…and I am impressed at your restraint in shopping. Next time you will have to fly….although I wouldn’t let that stop me, and I bet you wouldn’t either. 🙂
I can’t wait to see the food photos!
Haha, flying to Colorado from Blend didn’t stop me from toting a whole other bag with me just for my swag so yeah, you’re probably right! Lol
Oh my gosh, it would have been SO great if you could have been there too! Miss you!!
PS, you’re going to DIE when you see the food! 😀
It looks and sounds like y’all had a seriously awesome weekend!!! So many good looking eats and tasty treats… I am totally envious of them all, especially from the farmers market! You definitely had more self-control than I would have 😛
Haha, thank you! I was SERIOUSLY proud of myself! I kept feeling so guilty picking up stuff after making my official “clean out the pantry” announcement…I even put some stuff BACK! Lol
i’m not going to even begin to tell you how jealous i am! I am just going to sit and wallow.
there…done!
Awww! 🙁 Puh-leeeeeeeeeeeeease tell me you’re coming to Blend next year!!!
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New to your blog, but I have to say that the vegan festival looks awesome, the closest thing we have here in St. Louis is Earth Day.
Hey there Ang! Great to have you! Too funny, I was JUST in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago! Not nearly the size of the one in Atlanta, but I LOVED the farmer’s market!
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