Thanks Winnipeg Free Press!

Happy Tuesday!  We were so excited to be interviewed by the Winnipeg Free Press for an article on green weddings, along with Patty from Off the Page Photography.  The article came out on Saturday, and if you haven't seen it, here it is:


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/fyi/Earth-friendly-wedding-vows-128095818.html

Thanks to Meghan Potkins at the Free Press for the interview and wonderful article!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I am not a cookie person.  Give me chips, veggies and dip or anything salty and I'm all there, but sweet snacks are generally not my thing.  However.  My sister-in-law, Char, has been making these delicious chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for years, and I love them.  Like, I can eat six and still want more, they are that delicious.  And they're the perfect cookies to whip up for a birthday party, hostess gift, or kid-friendly dessert. Char kindly agreed to bake the cookies and take pictures, and write us a blog post and share her recipe for today!  Enjoy!

 Photos of the wonderful cookies:

 

And my lovely niece cooking lunch:

 From Char:

I've heard the adage "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach".  But over the years I have come to realize how relational food can be.  As I have had the opportunity to share meals with friends, family, and acquaintances, I have learned that the least invasive way to get into someone's life is to ask them to share a meal with you.  As you work together in the kitchen preparing a meal, or sit down together you share something simple yet profound with one another....your time.  I have had the joy of spending time with people around a table talking about our lives, struggles, and achievements.  How wonderful!

Although cookies are not a meal per say, I think they have become a social tool for us as a family.  We bake side by side in the kitchen, sharing time and space with one another, teaching and learning, both about baking, and about our day as we talk while we work.   What a great opportunity it was for us when Jessica asked us to take pictures of our cookies for her blog.  I got to see a 7 year old read and accurately measure ingredients, and manage a kitchen.  She shared the tasks evenly among her siblings and asked for help when she was unsure of herself.  I am pleased to be able to take part in this coming of age story with my children.  I remember fondly the times I would bake gingerbread cookies with my grandmother.  I hope one day my children will look back fondly on these days as well.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 cup margarine (I use butter)
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1Tbsp hot water
1 tsp Vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cup oatmeal
1 cup chocolate chips

cream together margarine, sugars, eggs, water, vanilla

sift together dry ingredients (I always skip the sifting part ;)

Add dry to wet.  Add chocolate chips

Bake at 325-350 until barely turning brown - almost underdone.

Let cool, enjoy!

3 Years Later

blf studios

Today marks three years since With a Flourish launched.  The date really means nothing except a number on a business license, but I'm in the party planning business!  It's a day to celebrate.

Over the past three years, we have done some pretty neat stuff.  Each wedding we refine our style, our services, and our approach to weddings.  We've worked on some high profile events, and beautifully intimate weddings.  We've done everything from style and plan with little direction to assist only on the wedding day.  After every event I go home exhausted and thrilled that I have a job I love.

Our personal lives have changed as well.  Miles, my son, was a newborn when I took my wedding planning certification.  Now, he's an almost four year old incredibly funny...little boy.  My family moved to Bolivia for a year.  Adrienne got married and bought a house that she's busy decorating to perfection.  I know you may not care about our personal lives, but I do believe that every experience we've had makes us better people, business women, designers and planners.  It's all connected.

Going into our fourth year we have some amazing things in store.  We're currently going through every aspect of our business from first glance of the website until after the wedding is over, to update and improve the way we serve you.  I'm excited, and like always, I can't wait to see what next year will bring!

Happy Thursday!

Real Green Weddings

In our second installment of Real Green Wedding ideas from our past couples, let's take a look at Paige and Kevin's wedding from last year:

Paige and Kevin, who were living in Dauphin, had their wedding at Pineridge Hollow.  Having both the ceremony and reception at one place can save hundreds of miles of fuel being used by your wedding guests to get from the ceremony to the reception. 

Photos are from the amazing blf studios:

Paige and Kevin kept the decor organic and simple.  Centrepieces were green apples in simple white bowls, and with accents of lavender, the room looked lovely.  As guests left the reception, we packaged the apples in kraft paper bags and gave them away for the ride home.  Giving away your centrepieces is a great way to give a little gift to your guests, and ensured that Paige and Kevin didn't need to take home hundreds of apples!

Chiah Tea Recipe

I hope you're all having a great week and enjoying the weather.  A couple weeks ago, I posted our tea party photo shoot.  Today, I thought I would share Adrienne's tea recipe, which can be served warm or iced (considering the weather I'd probably take it iced today).  It's really similar to chai tea.  This particular recipe is from Nepal:

Chiah Tea

Steep:
3 T. black leaves 
5 C. boiling water
6 whole cloves
3 cardamom pods, cracked open and ground, or 1/2 t. ground
2-3 cinnamon sticks


Simmer 10 minutes to blend flavours.  Strain.


Add:

1 1/4 C. milk, heated
1/3 - 2/3 C. sugar


Serve warm or iced 

Enjoy!

Real Green Weddings

Looking through wedding photos from the past three(!) years,  I realized just how many eco-conscious couples we have worked with.  I'm working on a list for the website, and while I work on that I thought I'd post some ideas from past couples on the blog.

Nat and Neil were married in 2009.  Their beautiful wedding included locally grown flowers, which were arranged by a florist.  Nat got the flowers through Strawberry Lanes, a seller at the St. Norbert Farmers' Market.  She went to Morris just before the wedding, while the flowers were still in the ground, and chose her favourites.  Then the flowers were cut for her at the perfect time and taken to the florist to be arranged. 

Photos by Larisa Lotoski:

Colours were blue, purple and white with a lot of greenery.  I don't have photos of the centrepieces, but they were beautiful.

If you are considering using local flowers (and we totally recommend that you do), here's a few things to keep in mind:

• Hail happens.  Rain happens.  Flowers don't grow on your wedding schedule.  Be willing to swap your original choices if need be.
• Manitoba-grown flowers won't all last as long as flowers brought in from other countries (did you know that in South America they use pesticides that are illegal in North America?  That's one way florist-shop flowers stay fresh looking for so long).  Arrange to have the flowers cut and arranged as close to the wedding as possible, and put the flowers in water when you can (between the ceremony and pictures, for example).
• Just because you use local flowers doesn't mean you have to arrange them yourself.  Unless you love arranging flowers please don't spend the day before or morning of your wedding putting together centrepieces and bouquets.  We've done floral design several times and it always, always takes longer than we think it will.  Contact us to find out how we can help!
• Using local flowers promotes local business and connects you with the grower, ensures little environmental damage through shipping, guarantees that workers were paid fairly and not subjected to the most harmful pesticides (ask if the grower has any organic flowers), and is usually more economical!