Slice of Pie Cookbooks & Entertaining

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.

July 4th Ruby Red Tablescape

The 4th of July at our house is a series of special meals and great tablescapes! Some are done on the kitchen table and are relatively simple; others are outside and at least one will be set on the dining room table. The temperatures are in triple digits in Southern Illinois, so other than very early morning coffee on the back deck or late evening refreshment on the front porch ... we probably will not be outside! So, here's the first of a few tables I'll post in the next week!

I love the little parade characters down the center of the table. I don't even remember where I got those, but I bought them to entertain Miss Phoebe! The little boy pulling his wagon with a dog in it reminds me of my own childhood! I pushed a doll carriage filled with kittens in a parade when I was about 6 ... and all the kittens jumped out and ran down the street! People were grabbing them and giving them back to me. I managed to get to the end of the parade route with all the little cats ... but it was quite a job!

This table is set with milky white plates and mugs combined with ruby red Depression Glass and an Cape Cod cocktail glass. We'll start this meal with Shrimp Cocktail. The little bird house ornaments sit at each place setting, and the Cambridge flatware adds a little more lustor to the setting.

This is one of my favorite decorating pieces, and I actually have several of them. It is easy to change the seasonal decor in the bottom of the hurricane. I'm linking with several of the parties shown in my side bar, so make sure you click through to see the other posts! Happy July 4th! Try to stay cool.

I'm partying with Common Ground so make sure you click through to visit the other posts.

Sunflower Sunday Supper

Miss Phoebe brought her mom and dad over for Sunday supper! So, I set a simple table using Pfaltzgraff Hunter Green dinnerware, Bull's Eye stemmed glasses and sunflower plates.

The centerpiece is a candle that I keep on the kitchen table most of the time. I change the filler in the glass container to go along with the seasons or the table theme. Silk Black Eyed Susans were perfect to go along with the sunflower place mats and plates. I love the battery operated candles!

I am the lucky owner of a gas grill that has an oven in it. It is designed to serve as a smoker and an oven and the temperature goes up to 450 degrees, so it is perfect for baking a pan of cornbread to go along with our glazed grilled ham.

I mopped the ham with a key lime mustard vinegar glaze and served it with cheesy potatoes and baked beans. My daughter brought her famous deviled eggs and our dessert was fantastic! I made a white "poke cake" and topped it with banana pudding, a layer of sliced bananas and another layer of whipped topping. It is a perfect ending for a summer night's supper!

I'll be posting with several of the parties shown in my side bar so make sure you click through to see all the other party posts! Hope you have a wonderful week!

I'm linking with the party at http://www.betweennapsontheporch.net so make sure you
click through to visit the party!

The Back Deck is Filled with Chickens, Pigs and Rabbits!

Pigs-Washboards-Chickens in the Garden!

For the last couple years, I've wanted to use my small collection of wash boards in my flower garden. I have an old wash tub and a few other vintage pieces that helped me blend it all together.

My pink pig was a gift from my sister years ago. Piggy has been gray, hot pink and now is a soft real piggy pink!

The old tub is a 1950 vintage and belonged to my husband's grandmother. We've always used it for summer parties ... to ice down watermelon! The red bird house is a new acquisition and the roof is made out of a piece of an old tire.

I've been unloading all kinds of storage spots because I've opened up a big booth in an antique mall. When I ran across my collection of little chicken teapots, I decided to use them in my flower boxes. I always think the boxes look empty until the flowers really fill out, so adding the chix filled those empty spaces!

I have new cushions this season and, of course, had to use lots of red! I've had some of my wrought iron furniture for almost 30 years. When some of it has been damaged in storms, I've just taken it to the welding shop! You cannot go wrong with wrought iron!

I always use a few faux flowers on the deck. Red poppies, geraniums and a few pink and cream colored accents ... have been great for entertaining.

I love quirky things, so filling an old pair of pink patent boots with silk flowers was a natural for me! Sure is a conversation piece!

Thanks for stopping by. I'm going to post with several of the parties in my sidebar, so make sure you click through to see the other posts! hope you have enjoyed the month of June. Can you believe it's almost over?

Upcycle the Old Wicker!

Do you have certain things that are like members of the family? It is hard to part with them, even when you should?? This wicker rocking chair is one of those things. I have had it for 30 years and it spent most of its life inside the house. In recent years, though, I've used it on the front porch where it is under cover, but last winter the cover I put on it to store it for winter ... blew off ... and rain blew in, so it was wet for about a week. Not good on old wicker. Spray paint to the rescue! I scraped all the old paint off, sealed it, repaired the broken rattan and gave it a new color! So, it is back on the front porch, surrounded by the Sunday newspaper and still offers a favorite spot for rocking!

This old settee is outdoor wicker (plastic) and has certainly seen better days. I replaced it with a new one, but didn't want to just toss it out, yet. So, It became an ornament ... that holds other ornaments! I still need to do a little trimming, but it works perfectly to showcase some of my little chairs and rabbits! I think it will be equally adorable filled with pumpkins in the fall ... snowmen in the winter ... and then the rabbits will return for spring and summer!

Hope you'll take time to visit my Hubpage posts!

As always, drop by Metamorphis Monday to see all the other posts! Happy Monday!

Get to Know Me a Little Better!

I'm changing my life these days! I'm still a very happy grandmother and an author of three cookbooks, but I've given up my newspaper cooking column and have shifted to blogging on a regular basis! What fun to be able to hear from people all over the world who enjoy what I love to share. This site is dedicated to all things life styling! You'll find tablescapes, party menus, recipes, pictures and stories about my perfect Miss Phoebe and all the things we love to do together. I hope you visit my sister site that is dedicated to my newest venture! I've set up a double booth at my favorite antique mall in St. Mary's, Missouri. St. Mary's is just a few minutes south of St. Genevieve ... a perfect little French Colonial community that is quite the tourist spot. Here's hoping you'll continue to follow all the things I'm doing ... and always let me know what you think!

Check out Rolling Red Truck Treasures!

Japanese BBQ Party

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Had a Great Easter!

Happy Easter!

My little bunny wouldn't let me take her picture today! She was a happy little girl, though. She got books and lots of little toys in her goodie bag at my house and a movie and a little candy and lots of other things from the Easter Bunny that stopped by her house!
She's not big on candy, which is probably a good thing ...

Here are pictures of other parts of our day!