Last weekend we packed up my Honda Pilot, checked out of our normal lives, and headed north for a blogging weekend…
Here is the story.
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So indulgent right? Holly and I (who both work many evenings and weekends) managed to get a weekend off AT THE SAME TIME. So we quick called up one of our best friends (who also doubles as our fabulous sous chef on these blogging weekends). She was totally game for a weekend of food, friends, and laughter (we may have bribed her with wine, but hey, whatever works right?). In fact our friend was even able to recruit her sister to be an additional sous chef-and I will tell you, that girl is the bomb. But I digress. Planning had started in a big way…
But, as luck would have it, right before we were going to head up to my cabin for our cooking extravanza, we found a bat in my son’s room at the cabin. (If you missed that story-head to our Instagram Stories and click on the highlights marked #cabinlife– the sordid details are all there) EEEKKKK…. I kind of freaked out, lost my mind, and thought we were going to have to cancel the whole weekend. My rational friends however, talked me down, set me straight, and they decided we weren’t afraid of any bats (nerves of steel, I tell you, nerves of steel). In the meantime I hired a professional who did not see any evidence of bats inside the cabin and is going to work on fixing any areas where they could possibly get in-and hopefully soon. The downside of cabin life I guess.
So we started a spreadsheet. Started recipe testing. Started grocery lists for the big weekend. Instacart orders were placed. Crate and Barrel was visited for props. Our goal was 8 recipes, perfected and photographed. Lofty goal for sure.
Turns out 4 women + groceries + photography props are ALMOST too much for my car. But due to our excellent packing skills (i.e.-shoving and stacking skills) we loaded up the car and headed up to the cabin. (I wore my son’s Batman hat as recommended by my husband. After all if did encounter any bats we sure did want to seem friendly, right?)
We started cooking immediately when we got to my cabin. The chopping and mixing began in earnest. After all, we had to capture the light before it got too dark for photography. Pro tip: don’t start with the margaritas. The more margaritas you test, the harder it is to make everything else. Our sous chefs quickly got the idea of what mania they were in for- and god bless those ladies, they didn’t run screaming, or steal my car and high tail it back to the city. The good news about being so productive day #1? Dinner was amazing. We all spent the late evening drinking wine, watching “Notting Hill” (my favorite and best soundtrack ever) and recuperating.
Day 2 was more of the same, but more intense. We had at least 5 recipes to make/style/photograph. Those who were so inclined went for runs (the crazy ones that is). Much coffee was consumed and we dove right in. And of course Holly, ever the optimist, had a few unplanned recipes she had been working on, that she just so happened to have brought the ingredients for, and since we were already cooking…? I got her point and as usual she was right. Many hands made for light work, and again-our meals were awesome! We took a break in the middle for walk (the day was beautiful). We finished strong and were able to spend some well deserved movie time again. “Love Actually” because we were on a Hugh Grant kick evidently (another amazing soundtrack- Check it out if you don’t believe me!). Again, with wine, which we also deserved.
I also made the gals take personality tests. I had previously done this, and I’m still an ISTJ. The Logistician. Which means I am an analytical, self-reliant, stubborn, loyal, rule following gal who doesn’t like change. Hmmm…not sure I needed a personality test to tell me that-but having said that, it was fun to see how eerily accurate this test was. And it was free! If you want to try it out-16 Personalities-let us know in the comments below what personality type you are and how accurate you felt it was. I’m curious!
Sunday morning was for cleaning up the mountains of dishes, eating leftovers and trying to get our editorial calendar worked out. We’re so excited to share all of the great recipes we were able to finish this weekend! A million thank you to those awesome friends who came with us and helped us with everything from recipe tasting and critiquing, to chopping, to running to the store, to providing entertainment, to tolerating our particular brand of crazy. You are the absolute best and I can’t wait to do it again (although I would understand if you need a little break, or maybe even a long break).
Stay tuned, the summer is going to be pretty great around here at With Two Spoons. So good, that you may want to go ahead and subscribe so that you get the new recipes right into your inbox. After all, you don’t want to miss a thing! And since we’re on the subject-also tell us what you would like to see more of! I promise, we read every comment!
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