Workshop Wrap Up...

Here's a picture of Gail's trunk show set up in Allegory Gallery.  Isn't her work beautiful?  Gail had such an amazing selection of innovative pieces.  That's what I love about her work – it's always evolving and growing.  She also had an array of her vintage sequins available.

This is a shot of Gail demonstrating a technique during the Sunday morning mold-making class.  In the shot with Gail are (from left to right) Lynne, the back of Anne, (Gail of course) and Nancy.

These lovely ladies took all four classes with Gail this weekend.  From left to right:  Nancy, Anne, Joan, Gail, Baba, and Dawn.  What an incredible bunch of women!  I enjoyed getting to know all of them better over the course of the weekend.

It was so nice to spend time with Gail.  It's so rare that I get to see her, let alone spend exorbitant amounts of time with her.  Our problem is that we talk too much and ended up staying up way too late every night!  It was most excellent to see her though and host her wonderful workshops.

After the workshops were over, we went across the street for dinner at The Kitchen on Main.  They just opened for dinner and we were lucky to get reservations.  It was a nice way to end the weekend.  Good company and good food.  In the photo above (from left to right) Anne, Baba, Dawn, Joan, Nancy and William.

Over the years, I've grown to love some of them and it's such a treat when we take a break from our everyday lives and gather.  It's like there's sparklers in the air.  I can feel the creativity roiling.  It always stings a little when something like this is over.  I know that everyone will be on their way to their homes scattered across the country.  I try not to get depressed and try to think about the next time I'll see them.

This was also a wonderful opportunity to meet new people!  I can't wait until our spring event, when I can hopefully summon them all back again!

I will distract myself from missing them with pictures of the food we had that night!  Above are some toasted brie cakes we had with a cranberry relish.

This was what William had for dinner and I could help but take a bite.  It was the slow roasted Berkshire pork shank with an apple and bacon salad.  The pork melted like butter and the apple cider glaze was a perfect balance of sweet and tangy.

I had the cedar planked Scottish Salmon.  It too was mouthwateringly delicious.  It was served with squash and roasted green beans.  I felt like licking the plate, but I didn't want to shame my dinner companions.

We couldn't pass up dessert!  William had (with my help) a mini chocolate cake with a caramel sea salt sauce and homemade raspberry ice cream.

I had the espresso flan with the vanilla creme anglaise with the nutty caramel ribbon.  The flan was smooth and custardy with a mellow coffee undertone.  That's another item on the menu that was plate-licking-worthy.

Dawn was such a peach to offer some of her angel food cake with peaches and whipped cream for me to try.  And try I did!  The cake was the perfect cloud to sop up the syrupy sweetness of the peaches.  The fresh whipped cream rounded things out with a creamy smoothness.

The weekend was such a success on so many levels.  The people are my favorite part about these type of events.  These workshops bring the most amazing groups together and there's something magical when everyone is in one place.  It's like everyone carries with them a secret ingredient and when they're together, it creates a creative soup of sorts... or a salmagundi.  The flavor is completely unique and depends solely upon the chefs in the kitchen.