Tonight was yet another First Friday Gallery Crawl night!!
[See the FIRST First Friday Gallery Crawl and the second here.]
Tonight we frolicked along with our wonderful friends Faith + Tate!
Mid-afternoon hunger snack: greek yogurt, Crofters, Ambrosial muesli (which made an excellent mix-in!)
Matt and I biked over to F+T’s (about a mile) and then we walked (about a mile) downtown. Our first stop was the 2nd Street Gallery, which always has cool exhibits and good food
I had a small glass of white
And joined Faith in the fruit + veggie nibbling
Then we moved on to Artifacts, a cute boutique that Faith and Tate highly recommended based on their past gallery crawl experiences. They said the owners were nice and the food plentiful.
They were right!!
We enjoyed sandwiches and cheeses and liquid chocolate!
And a Danish…danish (!?) from a bakery in Wisconsin!
I suppose this was dinner!? (I did a bit more nibbling too)
The best part was the cute poochies!
I found these cute letterpress notecards that I loved
As well as this beautiful Dragonfly glass – perfect for oats or smoothies! Sadly you have to buy all 6 at once and they come from France, so they are a bit pricey. I prefer to have just one of everything or I’d never have room!
On our way to the last gallery, we stumbled upon the famous Market Street Wine Shop Friday afternoon tasting!!
We took a detour in there to try about 10 different wines – as well as a few cheese + bread samples!
Our third and final gallery tonight was the McGuffy Center. They had a few treats out, but I just had a bite of hummus and a few more grapes and called it a night.
Faith and I had plans to attend a dance performance. The tickets were $8 and we were a bit disappointed when the performance only lasted….8 minutes. But it was still fun to watch. We had been expecting a full hour!
The husbands had wandered off to go to a bar, so we found them when we were finished
We were supposed to go out for a casual dinner afterwards, but everyone agreed that we were not really hungry, so we walked back to F+T’s for a warming beverage and a few healthy snacks.
Faith put together a tasting plate of fruits + veggies
And we warmed ourselves with PERO!!!!
Have you ever heard of Pero!?!!? It’s a dream come true! A caffeine free beverage that is a mix of coffee and beer brew mash. Heartier than tea, without the caffeine of coffee, unsweetened, instantly stirred into water, and FOAMING!
It’s made from malted barley (just like BEER!) and chicory for thickness.
LOVED the foam!! It really did smell like Matt’s beer mash, but in a good way. I love it! We put a bit of almond milk in it and the milk curdled. Almond milk sucks! But I think with a little creamy milk and sugar, it would be awesome after dinner on a cold night. [It was tonight!]
Our bike ride home was COLD. But the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s “Christmas Canon Rock” is HOT!
Goodnight!
{ 64 comments… read them below or add one }
what a briliant night, so very exciting. the food faith put together looks delicious!
That “danish” is actually “kringle” from a wonderful family-owned bakery in Wisc.! They have a ton of flavors, too.
Yes – that’s what he said! I couldn’t remember
Aw, my extended family owns one of the original Kringle bakeries in Racine! So good!!!
Kringle is DELICIOUS!! We lived in WI for 3 years and I loved splurging on that every now and then. Yummm!!!
I love the Kringles! My boss is from WI and we get a lot of them gifted to the office at this time of year from people who knew he liked them. I actually saw them at Super Target, too a few weeks ago.
Aww, don’t hate the almond milk! Haha. To each her own, though. And I have an immense problem when it comes to stationery. I buy and buy, and never have a reason to use any of it!! I have put a cap on my purchasing. I’m sticking to pens and planners.
For hot things, it ALWAYS curdles on me!! Same with soy. I don’t get it.
try heating the almond milk before you add it to the tea/coffee, or pour the hot drink into the almond milk so it heats it slowly/tempers it!
that is waaaay too much work for me
It’s true. I have almond milk in my coffee every morning. Pop the almond milk in your coffee mug first, microwave it for 30 seconds, then just pour your coffee in when it’s done. Otherwise, it is a gross, undrinkable curdle!
Oh my gosh, it happened to me last time! And I was so oblivious when I looked at it, I just thought, “wow, what got into my mug?!” Haha. Whoops…
Pero sounds like such a funky little thing! Can you drink it cold too?
No idea, but I dont’ think that would be as good..
I love Trans Siberian Orchestra!! Have you ever seen them live? They are amazing. Their album is definitely a staple for my holiday music.
That drink sounds perfect- I try to avoid caffeine whenever possible
What a wonderful evening full of delicious food!
I loove that last photo
I love art walks – or crawls – ! You can’t beat art and free food
Glad you and the gang had a good night– looks amazing!
Let them eat cake! Really like the last photo : )
Holy moly, that pero stuff sounds AMAZING! As someone who is gradually building up my caffeine intolerance, I’d love something “safe” to drink at night!
The dragonfly glass was soo cute. You could always buy it and then give the other glasses away as gifts.
I read your comments REALLY quick and I thought you mentioned “lipids and chocolate.” It made me think: “ooh what a great combination…. oh wait!” and then I went back and saw it was “liquid chocolate.” That def made for a laugh!
I love Pero!! In Germany we call it “Kinder Coffee” and and the kids drink it, when the adults have real coffee. I drank it while I was pregnant and was trying to avoid caffeine. It was a great substitute. I put cream or milk in mine. It is also great to have a cup in the afternoon, for people who cant have caffeine that late in the day because they will stay up all night otherwise
That Pero stuff sounds awesome!!!! Is it carried in gourmet grocery stores, or where can I buy it? Whole Foods or is it more of an ethnic market type deal?
I have to find the Pero — never heard of when we lived in Germany.
You can find the dragonfly glasses in singles frequently in TJM, Marshalls or Homegoods. They are approx. $2.99 to $3.99 each. They are made in France; they were very inexpensive there and in Germany — mine are bumble bees.
Here’s a good price (8.99) on the dragonfly tumbler and you can order singles:
http://afrenchaddiction.com/Collections/LaRochereGlassware/LaRochereDragonfly/LaRochereDragonflyTumbler.aspx
Plus there’s a coupon code for 20% off: Holiday2010
@Elizabeth
@Angie
@Kris
@Kelli
Thanks for the links! I feel bad though – I should support my local shop! Maybe I should get all six, and giving them as gifts sounds like a perfect solution!
I have two of those dragonfly glasses! I found them for a reasonable price on Amazon…
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006IQ3DY/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=AH41BC3G7NDFM
Love them! Dragonflies are my thing.
~
Oh I would definitely make a meal out of all that delicious nibbling!
Sounds like a lovely evening. I’ve never heard of pero but it sounds awesome!
Never had Pero before! I’m intrigued!
that sounds like so much fun! what great friday night activities
8 min. performance, wow that’s very short.
that last picture. Oh my!
love,
cathy b. @ brightbakes
I wish they had that sort of thing where I live! It looks like so much fun!
Kath, forgive me for being nosy but do you even own a car? Of you do, is it ever used? I read your evening events and thought “wow they bike everywhere!” very admireable!!!!
We do own a car – two actually. We have talked about selling once, but I think we need to get through a Virginia winter first, AND get through our business opening before we sell one. We just make ourselves bike everywhere to be green.
Wow!!! It looks like a wonderful evening!! And those pups are too cute!!
almond milk DOES NOT suck! LOL!
Try almond breeze chocolate flavor…..they have an unsweetened variety that is sooo good! That gallery crawl looks awesome……here in buffalo we have something similar but it is only at the big main art gallery, there i music, food, and free entrance into the gallery….so fun!
What a fun (albeit random) night!
Love the picture of the cake in the last shot
Looks like such a fun night! I’m glad you mentioned almond milk – if I can’t have dairy, what would you suggest to splash into coffee? I’ve tried soy and almond and both are fine but not great. Should I try rice?
I don’t know! I use organic cow’s milk, which always blends beautifully. I’ve always had trouble with the other milks on the market. My best guess would be a soy creamer of sorts. I think a little fat seems to be key.
I have Pero at my house too! We got it from whole foods for free when we were looking for this other drink that they no longer make, they said this was just like it
Don’t hate on the almond milk… it’s my favorite!!
I love art exhibits! This looks like such a fun evening.
You know, I was just thinking I needed to stop in the Edwardsville Art Center next time they have an event. Checking out their website now!
And I’m with you on having one of everything, especially with dishware/glassware. I love having tons of different kinds!
And Pero sounds awesome!
in college we used to drink something called ‘java beer’ it was literally coffee and beer mixed together. and we loved it.
Is the Ambrosial museli sold in stores? I tried looking at my earthfare but I didnt stumble across any.
I’m not sure – I think it’s a new product. Did you check their website?
Good idea! thanks
My father-in-law used to enjoy Postum, which I think stopped production, so my hubby found Dandyblend for him which sounds similar to Pero with the addition of Dandelion which is very good for you – especially in pregnancy. If you like Pero, I think you’ll really enjoy Dandyblend.
Pero sounds intriguing. I have yet to make it to a First Friday art gallery crawl but they always look so fun! Maybe it’ll make it onto my 2011 list.
I’ve had that sipping chocolate before, it is RICH!!
Those letterpress cards are cute.
Never heard of Pero before! Where do you find it??
Faith said you can find Pero at whole foods and similar stores
3 things!
1- I hadn’t thought of this before, but Danish does have a capital ‘d’! I was surprised when I looked it up, but then again of course it makes sense.
2- when you see a set like that you could keep one and auction off the rest! I’m sure lots of us readers would love a KERF replica! You could even donate half or all of the profit to charity- whatever floats your boat!
3- indeed, super cute pooches!!
Racine Kringle – yum! How funny that they had that down “south”!
They didn’t have it – it was shipped down special!
Huh. I put Almond Breeze almond milk in my coffee all the time and have never had a problem. Silk Soy milk curdles on me, but not the almond milk. Did you use Silk Almond milk? That seems to have more thickeners.
That danish looks very much like a Kringle from Wisconsin!! I’m from there and when I was in school we used to do Kringle fundraisers all the time. They’re so tasty
Too bad those firefly glasses were expensive…they’re really cute.
Please tell me you know the breed of that second dog from the gallery? It looks like a fox and it oh-so cute. It kind of reminds me of a Shiba Inu, a type of dog I’ve been going mad for. The BF agrees they’re cute and I’m hoping they’re one of the ones we can get one day.
Just experienced the almond milk coffee curdle. BOOO
love the cake art piece at the end…. who is it by?!
I don’t know the artist – it’s at the McGuffy Gallery