Shop and Nosh at the Cafe at Middlebury Consignment

Social Media Promotion: Sponsored

Cooking Class at the Cafe at Middlebury Consignment

If you follow my blog even semi-regularly, 

you know there are two things that I absolutely love to do 

SHOP and NOSH!

And now I've found a way to roll my two very favorite things to do into ONE, by taking part in a cooking class held at The Cafe at Middlebury Consignment! When an invite rolled into my inbox to visit the Middlebury Consignment Store, needless to say, I was thrilled!

I was familiar with the store through some television advertisements, and several friends have visited on a "destination day' to shop Middlebury, but until now, I've never had the opportunity to visit Middlebury Consignment for myself.

Opening in 2009, Middlebury Consignment is a one stop shopping store for all your home design needs. Not your typical 'consignment' store - Middlebury Consignment mixes a bit of  upscale consignment pieces with new design furniture and fixtures.

I spotted pieces from Lillian August, Howard Miller, Barkman, and more! The original store has since expanded to three buildings, the second two dubbed "the annex" located a few miles down the road. In addition, full design and decorating services are offered, as well as culinary accessories, tools, and utensils.

But on this visit we primarily spent time in the kitchen of the Cafe at Middlebury Consignment, taking part in one of their popular cooking classes. This particular class featured the preparation of appetizers, but they offer a wide and varied range of classes! A quick glance at their cooking class events lists dates that feature Cowboys and Campfires (Aug 6. 2017) Trip to Morocco (Aug 16, 2017) A Tuscan Grigliata (Aug 27, 2017)  End of Summer Tapas Party (Aug 30, 2017) Provence Inspired Steakhouse (Sept 7, 2017) and many, many more in the months to come.

Check out their event calendar at https://www.middleburyconsignment.com/cooking-events/

We started with a nice glass of wine and some cheese and crackers. Our cooking group consisted of a wide range of Connecticut social influencers invited to experience the fun of an 'appetizer' based cooking class led by The Cafe's own Chef Mary Kravec.

In attendance were Natalie from New England Foodie,  Brittny from Basic Britny, Hannah from Sometimes Social, Amanda from the Amanda Bella, Christine from Vigora and Vogue, Nonee from Nonee's World, and Yinka from Yours Truly Yinka and Linked Media.  (If I missed anyone - let me know and I'll link back to you too!)

Visit them all in the days to come for their details of this fun event!

Chef Mary instructs her cooking enthusiasts!

We jumped right in and donned our aprons and Chef Mary would rotate around the kitchen island recruiting the nearest participant to prep that particular portion of the meal. By the end of the cooking class everyone had some "hands on" experience and she included lots of great tips for food prep like how to use a spoon to peel ginger, blanching the broccoli rabe with salty water to draw out the bitterness and retain the crisp green color, and so many more!

Here are some photos of our food preparation:

Here I am --
so intent on stuffing those artichokes
Photo Courtesy of Linked Media

Voila! Stuffed Artichokes -
Ready to pop in the oven!

Amanda works on the flatbread dough!

Nonee works on the rosemary kebobs

Marinating the Balsamic Wings

While everything cooked up in the oven 

we had a wonderful tour of the store!

Yassss!

I'm definitely making a return trip just to shop!

When we finished touring the multiple floors of furniture and home decor we returned to feast on the fruits of our labor!

We made this!

My plate full of goodness!

Broccoli Rabe

Stuffed Artichokes

Roasted Grape Flatbread with Ricotta 

Balsamic Wings

Polenta Squares

Blueberry Lavender Crème Brûlée

I think I can speak for everyone and say we ALL thought the cooking class was a wonderful experience! We each felt like we had a part in the preparation and we certainly walked away with some great tips! I've already replicated the roasted grapes into a chicken dish I prepared this weekend with the same great results. DELICIOUS!

If you haven't already, visit Middlebury Consignment and treat yourself to one of their upcoming cooking classes!  You'll be glad you did!

Middlebury Consignment
The Cafe at Middlebury Consignment

1365 Whittemore Road
Middlebury, CT 06762
Phone (203) 528-0130
https://www.middleburyconsignment.com/

Store hours:
Monday through Saturday 11AM - 5PM
Sunday 11AM - 5PM

Disclaimer: I was invited to tour the store and take part in the cooking class by members of Middlebury Consignment's management and marketing team, however, all views expressed are my own.

CT Tourism Wants to Help Promote YOUR Connecticut Business

CTVisit.com Unveils All New State Tourism Website

Mobile Friendly and just in time for peak CT Tourism Season

That's right CT businesses! The Connecticut Office of Tourism wants to help travelers find YOU and your attraction through their NEW easy to navigate website.

Travelers can now find information on more than 4,000 places to visit, stay and eat in Connecticut as well as hundreds of inspirational travel stories, vacation deals and event listings all in one place, www.CTvisit.com.


The completely redesigned and rebuilt website, launched in late April 2016 by the Connecticut Office of Tourism, makes it easier for visitors and residents alike to learn more about Connecticut's major attractions as well as its hidden gems (is that YOU?) and to plan their next getaway in just a few clicks.

 Just in time for summer travel, the new site is highly visual, content rich and entirely mobile responsive. Leveraging the latest interactive technologies, it features:

• Connecticut Attractions: Information on 4,000+ tourism attractions, accommodations and restaurants ­ more than double the number of listings offered on the previous website
• Connecticut Activities: Intuitive navigation that organizes information based on types of businesses.

• Activities (Do), 

• Accommodations (Stay) 

• Dining (Eat)

• Connecticut Getaways: Suggested getaway itineraries and travel stories for visitors looking for Ideas based on the type of experiences they enjoy
• Event Calendar: A Calendar of events that can be filtered by date range, type of event or region and a special "What to do This Weekend" feature  
• Sort by Region: Regional site views which provide visitors with an in-depth opportunity to explore the unique offerings in each region of the state 
• Your Own Page: Individual pages highlighting each destination, which are free to the businesses and allow them to showcase photos, videos, upcoming events, travel deals and can even automatically bring in their social media feeds and TripAdvisor® ratings
• Destination Tip: The "While You're in the Neighborhood" feature which serves up suggestions and directions for other attractions, hotels and restaurants that are close by the destination you¹re viewing 

Wow! This is big! This is so important for Connecticut to promote and support its own LOCAL businesses!

With nearly a year in the making, this new site was a collaborative effort involving Connecticut's many different kinds of tourism businesses, local associations and other Connecticut state agencies.

Yay for Connecticut!!!

Regional tourism districts also worked closely with the state¹s tourism office to enhance content and aggregate listings so that visitors could enjoy a seamless experience of all Connecticut has to offer.

Read what some of those involved had to say about the process and the new end product!

Connecticut now has a state-of-the-art website to support our $14 billion tourism industry, which supports 80,000 direct jobs. The new site, a key component of our still revolutionary Connecticut marketing efforts, makes it easy for visitors to find and explore our state's rich array of destinations, which will help keep tourism a thriving industry in Connecticut!

-Catherine Smith

Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development

"In our research, we learned that potential visitors, even our own residents, wanted more specific ideas of things to do in Connecticut. So we designed the new CTvisit.com to bring our state¹s dynamic blend of offerings to life using lots of great imagery, engaging content and streamlined navigation,"

-Randy Fiveash

Director, Connecticut Office of Tourism

"The new site gives the tourism regions the best tools we have had in years to market not only destinations and experiences in our own footprints, but also to build interest and exposure for events and attractions a short drive away. The whole state benefits!"   

 -Ed Dombroskas
Executive Director, Eastern Connecticut Regional Tourism District

"This has truly been a team effort involving tourism businesses from all across the state, the Connecticut Office of Tourism, the regional tourism districts, the regional visitors' bureaus and many local organizations. We could not be happier with the process - and the result. Potential visitors to Connecticut now have such a breadth and depth of information and inspiration at their fingertips."

-Andrew Wood
SVP, External Relations, Mystic Aquarium

"It's exciting to see it all come together. This has been a research-driven, inclusive process. Since the first input session last year, we have all been focused on one key objective: to provide potential visitors and our residents with a great online experience ‹ one that inspires them, maybe even surprises them, and ultimately motivates them to explore more of Connecticut."

-Matt Fleury
President and CEO of the Connecticut Science Center

At every key milestone in the process, from identifying what the site should do to evaluating how it should look,  the team reached out for quantitative and qualitative feedback from consumers (both in-state residents and out-of-state travelers) as well as from tourism business partners across the state. This research guided every phase of the site development process.

The site is also built on a Content Management System (CMS) that empowers tourism partners to manage their own free feature page. They can edit their information, post events, add deals, update imagery - making it easier to keep the entire site¹s content fresh.

Learn more about CT Tourism through this video

About The Connecticut Office of Tourism

The Connecticut Office of Tourism, a division of the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), created the Connecticut still revolutionary strategic marketing initiative to build pride among residents and bolster the state¹s reputation as a tourism and business destination. Connecticut offers such a diverse mix of activities and attractions, all in such close proximity to each other, that visitors can enjoy multi-dimensional experiences within a short drive ­ from the exciting and relaxing to the historic and innovative to the culture and nature-focused. For more information, visit www.CTvisit.com and join the Connecticut still revolutionary community on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram.