Saturday, October 30, 2010

Pear and Peonies Giveaway!

Here's one of our favorite giveaways ever. Yes! Thank you Brittany Fenton of Pear and Peonies. This will be their second show with us and we love having them along for the ride. Brittany has generously offered a $20 gift certificate to be spent at our 2010 Holiday Boutique. Tell us in a comment why you'd like to win this one. Pass the word along - we need 20 comments make this giveaway good. In the meantime, enjoy a few pictures of their awesome clothing line.




Winners!!!

Here are the winners in our necklace giveaway:

SUZIE - you win the bling necklace!

M'LISA - you win the initial charm necklace!

Congratulations! Just find me (Lauri) at the boutique to claim your prizes.

I'll be posting another giveaway later today - so check back. I LOVE giving away great stuff.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Vendor Highlight: My Growing Season

First of all, let me remind you to comment on the giveaway post. We just need a few more comments before we can select the winners and then . . . we'll post another great giveaway!

Michele Sly of My Growing Season is a mother of three with an entrepreneurial gene. I originally sought her out because I personally want to own each and every one of her products - and all my kids are already grown up! These are wonderful ways to teach and entertain children. Everything is so well made and she's got a great replacement policy if you're like most of us who find that pieces tend to go missing at times. Working with Michele has been a delight. Here are a few pictures of what she'll have at the boutique and there are ever so many more. There are also a couple of Christmas soft toys that are must haves - an advent calendar and a nativity set. I honestly don't know how anyone can limit themselves to just one item! Be sure to check out her website - just click on My Growing Season up above. Thank you Michele for being a great part of the show.




Monday, October 25, 2010

Food, Glorious Food (and a great recipe to boot)

First, before I get to the tasty stuff - make sure to comment on our last post to enter our giveaway!

Okay, so I must admit that our family went to see a production of "Oliver" recently, so the title of this post just kind of popped into my head. We've posted before about all the great goodies at our boutique. Click here. People - it just keeps getting better. We have Kathy Buhler's seriously amazing chocolate/caramel dipped pretzels, caramels, and pecan logs. We have Linda Tabish's chewy, gooey chocolate turtles. Then there are Diane Wiscombe's gigantic peanut butter cups. Maudine Thomas is doing her fabulous brownies and cookies. If things go smoothly, Lauri Glauser may just bring some of her freshly baked sweet rolls, spicy gingerbears, or to-die-for creme-filled chocolate cupcakes. Joan Gregory's perfect-for-the-holidays green and red pepper jellies will be there waiting for you. Oh, and don't forget that oh-so-sensationally creamy tomato basil soup. New this year will be Sandra Farish's decadent gourmet dessert toppings. And the inspiration for the recipe I'm going to share with you will be there, too. I'm talking Tagge's Famous Fruit jams and salsas. Here's the story:

Earlier this year, I just happened to be at a local grocery store at just the right moment to take advantage of a great buy on pork roast. The next Sunday morning I was trying to decide just what to do with it - the usual prep just wasn't doing it for me that day. I got out a crockpot cookbook that had not seen the light of day for a very long time and started thumbing through it. I came across a recipe that sounded like it just might be a winner, but two things here - a) I didn't have all the ingredients on hand, and b) anyone who knows me is aware that I can seldom leave a recipe alone - I pretty much always make changes no matter what. This recipe called for 1 jar of apricot jam. I only had 1/2 of a jar. Amazingly enough, I actually had dijon-style mustard. Anyway, I remembered that I did have some of Tagge's peach salsa in my storage room. Let me tell you - the finished dish was fabulous and instantly became a family favorite. I've made it several times since and it always gets rave reviews. In fact, I made it yesterday and I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture to share with you. I strongly recommend that you pick up some of Tagge's yummy food items at the boutique and then make this for your family. I call it -

SWEET AND SAVORY CROCKPOT PORK ROAST

1 pork shoulder roast (3-4 pounds)
1/2 jar Tagge's Famous Fruit apricot jam
1/2 jar Tagge's Famous Fruit peach salsa
2 Tablespoons honey dijon mustard
1/4 cup chicken broth (or 1/4 cup prepared chicken bouillon)
1 large onion, quartered and sliced
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (depends on your family's taste)

Place the roast in your crockpot (I highly recommend using a crockpot liner bag). Put everything else on top and mix it just a bit. Cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 5-6 hours. Place your finished roast on a serving platter and then pour the juices into a gravy boat to be served over rice. We like to cook equal parts rice and barley - a nice, unique texture.

So easy, so tasty!

Again, don't forget to comment on the giveaway post. You would love to have either of the necklaces! Encourage your friends to enter also - we can't do another giveaway until we have 20 comments and two winners in the first one. We have some more really great things to giveaway!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Crafter Highlight and Two Giveaways

Our first highlight of this season is on Jennifer Gardner. She's the mother of three beautiful daughters, wife to a really nice guy, fabulous photographer, superb swim teacher, all around great gal, and one of our jewelry designers. One of her current favorites are wax seal pendants that have been seen around the necks of many celebrities. She also loves to create some majorly fun bling. In addition to what you'll find at our boutique, she'll also do custom orders for weddings, other special occasions, or just to match a particular outfit. You name the colors, she'll create something to die for. She's got stamped metal charms that you can customize with names or words that are meaningful to you. You'll also love her unique bracelets. Here's just a few pictures for you to get the idea.


Jenn has generously offered two giveaways - one bling necklace and one wax seal pendant necklace. Leave a comment to enter. We've got to have a minimum of twenty comments for the giveaway to happen, so pass the word around. Two lucky winners will be announced next week.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Got any great ideas?

Hey all you crafty people - we have room for another crafter in our upcoming boutique. We're looking for something new and fun. Check out the list of what we have at the bottom of our blog and if you are interested in doing something that is not there or know someone who might be - leave us a comment with your contact info.

Monday, October 18, 2010

New Flyers!

Here's our new flyer! Feel free to share with and send to all your friends. Giveaways will start later this week - so be sure to check back.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Expanding on the Web

Charla and Lauri Present . . . is now on Facebook!

Add our event to your calendars and "like" our page. This year will be our 30-year celebration boutique!


Click here: