Everyone has their own style. Their own way, nature, and behaviors in life. Being in the wedding/event business we see this a lot - and it actually makes things a bit more fun. We get to see so many different ideas and ways to do the traditional wedding routines special to each couple's personality.
While perusing one of our favorite websites, Etsy (Who doesn't love that site by the way?!?), we stumbled upon ToHellinAHandbag's shop. Let us tell you - this is a perfect example of how couples can fit their personalities into their wedding day - Look at what she does:
ToHellinAHandbag will make you your own custom cake topper based on your own body art - how nuts is that? Love it. These are the kind of things that make our job just a bit more fun...
:)
Thought you guys might get a kick out of this one!
We worked with a super amazing couple just a few weeks ago - Adam and Hilary. Their wedding was story-book perfect: beautiful weather, stunning bride, dashing groom, and loads of friends and family to wish them well in their life together.
How amazing does Hilary look in that dress?
The wedding was held at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme (so good, right?). Flowers were done by The Flower District and fit the mood of the day exactly. It was a fun day for everyone involved, especially us. What a great couple to work with!
This fall, the Visiting Nurses Association of South Eastern Connecticut turns 100! We sometimes forget to take a minute to recoginize those that help us during our toughest times, but last week - we all took a moment down here in New London County. The VNA hosted a fundraiser/birthday bash down at Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford. Visiting nurses of all backgrounds from around the area came out to visit with one another and to help celebrate the time and effort that others give on a daily basis. The bash was fall themed and fit the early crisp fall night perfectly! Gourmet Galley was lucky enough to be invited to the event and there we got to see a lot of locals from Lawrence and Memorial Hospital that we've worked with in the past so it was great to reconnect with them for the evening.
Happy Birthday to The VNA of Southeastern Connecticut from all of us here at Gourmet Galley. We appreciate everything you do on a daily basis.
As we mentioned back in August, Wednesday's are an exciting day for us - It's the New York Times Dining Section day!
This Wednesday was especially exciting for Event Coordinator Karen Bartelli and the rest of us here - her brother was featured in an article about Portland, Maine and the fine dining that's available up there in the northern part of New England. Stephen Lanzalotta works for Micucci Grocery and makes pizza from scratch out of the back of the store. Just look at this pizza...Doesn't it make your stomach growl?
(Image courtesy of the New York Times)
Not only was Stephen's pizza written up in the New York Times this week, but also featured in this month's issue of Bon Appetit! This guy is famous...and he's Karen's brother. Our staff and their families have such a rich history in food. It's so much fun to see one of the true greats putting Portland on the map in the world of food. People don't typically think of New England for anything other then seafood and chowder - why not pizza and bakery items?
Way to go Stephen. We're applauding you here in Connecticut!
When picking up the mail the other day, we were surprised to see something very different then the norm in the mailbox - a long paper tube. What could this possibly be?
As we popped the top off, we all did a round of "Oooooo" and "Ahhhh". It was a wedding invitation for one of the couples that we're working with on their upcoming nuptials. It's an exciting day here at Gourmet Galley when we get the invitation - it helps to set the tone for the entire event. Here's a peek inside:
The invitation!
The reply card! (Printed on an ACTUAL page from a John Keats book of love letters!)
A map to the event, pouch with a wine cork, fabric swatches with "Love" and "Keep Calm and Carry On"!
Had to share with you guys -Awesome, right?One of the best parts of being in the wedding industry is seeing the details that people use to help mold their events.With all of the upcoming weddings in the fall and 2010, we can’t wait to see what comes next.
There are some great wedding invitations out there. Take this simple and clever modern invite from InklingPaper over on Etsy that we found. Cute, keeps things light, and reflects the couple's personality.
Check out Avocado Blue. They have some great invites that will suit just about any wedding. Also - they'll make you up to three samples of the invites and send them to you for review before you decide on one. What more can you ask for from an online company?
Have a unique wedding invitation or invitation idea that you can share with us?
Quick game of "Word Association" - we say a word, you tell us the first thing that comes to mind. Ready, set...
BREAD.
If you’re like any of us, the word would have sparked heart flutters, drooling, and screams of excitement instead of words.We love bread – I mean…who doesn’t?However, when I think about bread – I think about buying it instead of baking it.There isn’t much better then having bread fresh from the oven, but it always seems so labor intensive and delicate to make.However – that’s not the truth …
The topic of bread came up a when Victoria and Tim were visiting with some friends the other week, and they shared a secret – Bread is EASY!If you have the right recipe, good ingredients and just a few spare minutes, you can have bread all you want!
Here's the recipe:
3 cups bread flour (Our Friends use King Arthur - http://www.kingarthurflour.com/)
1.5 cups water
1 packet of quick yeast
1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
Combine all above ingredients in large bowl. Mix ingredients with a rubber spatula. Mix until all ingredients are combined but do not over mix. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in a room temperature spot for 4 hours.
Remove dough from bowl and place on large plate that has been lightly coated with olive oil. Fold it over two times so that olive oil coats the dough. Place already used plastic wrap (let's not waste people!) lightly over the bread. Leave on plate for 1/2 hour.
At the fifteen-minute mark, preheat oven to 450 degrees and place Dutch Oven (the best option or you can use any other round type pot that has a secure top) in the oven while you are heating the oven. Once the 1/2 hour is up, pull the Dutch Oven out of the oven and drop the dough seam side up and shake to evenly displace dough. Cover and bake for 1/2 an hour. Take the top off and cook for another 15-30 minutes or until the bread is a nice dark golden brown. Remove from pot and cool. Enjoy!
I say it again - we love bread. Now that we've got this nice little recipe, expect us to be having the kitchen bake us up some bread to enjoy regularly.
Anyone else have any great quick and easy bread recipes you can share with us?
