Easter at Grandma Debbie's!

For a couple week,s Phoebe and I talked about baking some cookies for Easter and she declared that we should bake 105 cookies!   She is big on the number '5'!   So, I got out the trusty cookie shooter, knowing that one recipe would make about 100 cookies!   We made cute little oval shaped 'blue eggs' and dipped one end in simple white glaze.   We also baked a batch of cookies from the seasonal and new pink lemonade cookie mix.   I've gotten attached to some of the cookie mixes ... which is unusual for an old scratch cook like me!   Phoebe's job was to decorate the tops of the cookies with Easter sprinkles of green grass and colored eggs, but she went a little overboard on a few!  They were beautiful!

Here's a collage of our Easter tablescape.   I bought this china pattern that is delicate lilac colored pansies years ago to use at the Sunday afternoon party I had for my parents' 60th wedding anniversary, which is March 30th.  I get them out almost every year for Easter dinner and mix them with my collection of china odds and ends that feature paintings of tiny violets.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope springtime is treating you well.  Today, I'll be spending lots of time in the yard and enjoying every warm minute of it!

Sedona Tablescape!

I've been selling lots of sets of dinnerware in my antique mall booth ... but not enough to justify buying a new set.  Oh well, I bought a new set of Pfaltzgraff anyway.  I just needed some bold color for everyday!  So, I got online and ordered 12 placesettings ... so I could enjoy them while entertaining ... and use them everyday, too.  I love the bold colors and had place mats and napkins already ... and a set of flatware that works well with this pattern!

So, the really big dinner plates are kind of simple ... but ... the "pop" comes later!

Don't you just love the primary colors? Looks like a Fiesta!

The homespun napkins repeat the colors of the bamboo place mats and someplace, I have a big tablecloth that matches those napkins!

Yes, I have all kinds of things stored and en route to the antique mall booth, so if you are ever at the St. Mary's Antique Mall, in St. Mary, Missouri ... just south of St. Genevieve ... look for Booth #272 ... Rolling Red Truck Treasures.  You will probably find something that you need ... that I don't need anymore!

These fabulous salad plates are where the color really pops.  This is a "southwest" pattern .. .but it also reminds me of the 1950s ...  Either way, I love it!

I can see it set with cobalt blue glassware ... or red glassware ... or big wine glasses with yellow stems ... and yes, I have all those!

The soup bowls are also extra large ... and I need them for this menu ... We're having ...

Manhattan Clam Chowder

with

Sweet Potato Focaccia

Chicken Parmesan 

with Spaghetti and

Homemade Red Sauce

Served with a Side Salad of 

 Greens with Braised Brussels Sprouts,  &White Asparagus in a warm

Balsamic Reduction 

Doesn't that sound incredible ... and Oh, did you notice that this dinnerware works for an Italian theme, too???

This deep oval plate is actually called
a dessert plate, but it works so well for a side salad that you want your guests to eat along with their entree.

It is deep enough to keep the salad dressing in the plate and fits nicely into the overall place setting.

Following this picture is one of the flatware.  This is Cambridge and I've had it for several years.  I just love the shape of the handles and the multiple colors.

Papa Joe tried to teach Miss Phoebe her primary colors using this flatware, but she was in her "blu-u-u-u-" stage and she didn't care about any of the other colors!



I'll be posting with ...

Let's Dish!

Wow Us Wednesdays!

Tablescape Thursdays

Seasonal Sundays

Make sure you click through and visit those parties!

Cactus on the Kitchen Table!

I'm tired of winter ... and it isn't over.  I needed a big dose of bright colors, so I treated myself to some new dinnerware, which you'll see in time for all the tablescaping and dishing parties this week!  Right now, take a look at my new centerpiece for the kitchen table!

I seldom set a table without some little pig slipping around behind a coffee cup or tucked into a composed centerpiece!   This time, I decided to put a couple center stage ... filled with faux cactus.  Miss Phoebe has been real interested in cacti lately, and although she has a real one growing in a little pot at home, I didn't want to have to take care of real ones ... or deal with the stickers in her little fingers.  She will, of course, handle all these when she sees them.

I love my big candle hurricanes.  I fill the bottoms with different things and enjoy wrapping the simple white candles with ribbon or raffia to bring it all together!  This is burlap ribbon ... (Hope these qualify this post for the cloche party!!)

I'm sharing this post with Tabletop Tuesday and the cloche party on the same site ... so make sure you visit the parties and check out some of the other posts!  But, before you go ... look around my site!

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

I worked on my newspaper cooking column today, so I wanted a crock pot supper that was easy to throw together!  My mother used to make the most wonderful barbecued pork ... long before there was a BBQ restaurant on every corner or even before we had crock pots!  Mama would bake a big pork roast on Saturday, then chop it up; cover it with BBQ sauce that she made herself (with plenty of brown sugar); and throw in chopped onion.  She'd put it in a covered roasting pan and bake it while we were at church on Sunday morning.   I'm sure the old gas oven was barely on ... because that meat just melted in your mouth and made the best sandwiches!

So, I decided that I'd do the same thing today.  Almost.  Mama was cooking for seven people ... I was cooking for one!  I placed 4 chicken tenderloins in my tiny crock pot with 1/2 cup of bottled BBQ sauce and some chopped onion.  I added a dash of Worcestershire sauce, ground pepper and a pinch of brown sugar.  It really just took about 2 hours on high ... The meat was frozen when I started it.  Oh, it was good and all I needed after tasting cooking column goodies all day!

I'm posting with Mix it Up Monday!   Make sure you visit the party to see all the other yummy foods!

If you want to see my cooking column from last week, here's a link to the newspaper column!  Good Food: Local Cooking Column

Prayers for the Folks in the Northeast

Thoughts and prayers to all our blogging friends experiencing this winter blast in the Northeast ... Maybe this will be the last storm of the season.

Little Red Pepper Poppers!

Here's a quick video that shows you how to make mini peppers stuffed with corn pudding ... great little appetizers or side dish!   

I'm posting with Red Wednesdays, so be sure 

you click through the favicon on my 

idebar to visit other red posts!

Blue Winter Days!

This will be my last wintertime post ... maybe!  It will have to snow again to get me to set another winter tablescape!  I'm ready for Springtime, you see!

I have many sets of blue and white china and several sets of blue collectible plates.   The beauties are Royal Copenhagen and are intended to be used as 

decorations, but I have frequently served salads in them and nobody 

died from the lead in the paint!

This china is Nikko and it is called Heartland.  The patterns reflect the four seasons.  I have 16 place settings and enjoy using it year-round when I entertain.  

My followers are going to think that I've started dealing in rags!  Here are the kitchen table rag decorations I made for Christmas!  Love the colors.  

The centerpiece looked great with everyday dinnerware and looked even 

better with my  Spode Winter's Eve!

In addition to the trees and wreath, I wrapped Styrofoam balls in the matching fabric to put in the bottoms of my candle hurricanes.

If you are interested in my work world these days ... cooking classes for 1000 students ... 

check out Good Food: Local

I'm posting with a few blog parties so be sure you check out ...

Let's Dish!
Wow Us Wednesdays!
Tablescape Thursdays
Seasonal Sundays

I'm Back!

Haven't posted any tablescapes for several months!   Been busy setting up a new not-for-profit agency and making some changes in life ... but I'm back at it and wanted to participate in Tablescape Thursday so I've posted several of my favorite collages of past designs!  I'll be back with some new things soon ... I'm back writing my newspaper cooking column ... will be teaching cooking classes to over 1,000 students of all ages in six counties ... published another cookbook while I've been "away" and I'm having a blast!  I've managed to incorporate all my passions into a business and it is wonderful!

Rags in the Dining Room!

Last summer, I made 35 rag wreaths.  I sold some of them in my antique mall booth;  sold some to friends ... and gave some to friends.  By the time I hit number 25, I realized that I had only made one for myself!  So, I decided what I wanted to do in the dining room for Christmas decorations and set out to include rags!  I deliberately used a color theme and my white owl ornaments, so I could leave the decorations up a couple months after Christmas.  Yes, I admit that I love putting Christmas decorations up ... and dislike taking them down!

So, I made a rag wreath ... rag candle rings ... and a rag garland for the mantel!

Fancy Cocktail? Nope!

I know you think this is a fancy cocktail, but it is poor old simple apple juice with some spinach juice added in!   I'm new to juicing, so you might see entirely too many juice posts for the next few weeks!  My juicer arrived today ... so ... in went 4 apples and a big handful of spinach leaves!  That made two cups and I added two more cups of plain old carbonated lemon infused tap water ... that I make with my Sodastream.   I get so tired of eating my daily fresh fruit ... and drink the carbonated water instead of soda, which I almost cannot stand!  This was a really refreshing afternoon treat on a very cold winter day in the Illinois Delta!

Good, Good Spinach!

If you haven't been hungry for fresh spinach, you will be after you look at this post!  My friends at the Mulberry Hill Farm just a couple minutes south of Carbondale, Illinois ... grow lots of good things.  This winter, they've been selling spinach at our indoor farmers' market ... and it is so good.  You don't know what to do with fresh spinach?  Take a look at these ...

Here is quick braised spinach with the very traditional liver and onions ... 

with mashed potatoes and onion gravy, of course!  Braise the spinach by melting a little butter, bacon grease or olive oil in a skillet and adding the fresh spinach leaves to the skillet ... keep the heat on high and toss the spinach around until it gets a little "scar" on it.  Drizzle it with your favorite vinegar ... I used Balsamic for this one ... and continue to toss the spinach until it reaches the color and texture you desire.  I don't let mine break down completely.  A little crispiness is good!

In the picture above, we have steamed spinach with roasted chicken breasts that have been glazed with peach salsa ... To steam the spinach, heat 1/2 cup of water or juice ... I used peach juice here ... put about three cups of spinach leaves in the pan and put the lid on.  Let it steam with the simmering liquid for about 3 minutes, then start peeking to see if has absorbed the liquid.

The last picture is a fresh spinach simple salad, served with bbq pork and Swiss cheese potatoes!  I enjoy tossing coarsely chopped spinach leaves with a little minced onion, apple cider vinegar and a drizzle of olive oil!  How simple is that?

A Fondue Party for Eighteen!

Wow!  I've been away for the last six months ... away from blogging, that is!  I've been busy setting up new not-for-profit business ... Moore Tourism Development, Inc. and I've been devoting all my time to that ... and family!  I'll tell you more about that in another post ... but for now, look at this!

I hosted the Carbondale Federated Women's Club meeting last night and I prepared fondue for 18 people!  Don't you love this approach?  We just put all the dippers down the middle of the table like a runner .. and each person had their own pot of cheesy yumminess!   Five of our hospitality and tourism university students helped .. for a donation to their student association ... and that made it even more fun!

The dippers included chunks of all kinds of bread, cubes of grilled chicken breasts, grilled sausages, roasted tiny red potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots!   The recipe for the 8 quarts of fondue is on my recipe page.