Flashback and Foodie Friday

Friday means food..with Gollum and Suzy for her Flashback Friday...Please stop in at their blogs to see the other entries..

First, dear bj, this is in your honor..



We have been having an on going dialogue and bj has been educating this NY girl about her TX nuts! :)

So when I baked yesterday, I used PECANS in my Banana Bread instead of walnuts..



The ones on the right are banana, and Irish Soda on the left...this is minus the ones I gave out this morning.
My theory is if you are making a mess, might as well make a big one, and bake a lot at the same time..


The Soda Bread recipe is ....

Irish Soda Bread....Kathleen


4 C flour
1 t salt
4 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 C sugar
2 t caraway seed
1 C raisins
1 egg
1 t vanilla
2 C buttermilk
1/4 stick of soft butter

Sift dry ingredients. Mix in the seeds and raisins. Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix.

Add beaten eggs and soft butter, mix

Put into 2 greased loaf pans, or 1 10 in round. Slit the top with a knife.

Bake at 350 about 30 to 35 for loaf pans, 50 for round.
Brush with butter or milk 10 min before removing from oven.
Check center to see if done, do no over bake..



I know a lot of you are harvesting eggplant now, and the local farm stands are filled with them..
So eggplant parmigiana, sliced thin and piled high, is on the menu...





For my Flashback Friday, I link you to the directions on how to make this...



Sausage bread directions

I have to tell you this post took hours! I was constantly kicked off by that dating service.
I have tried to get Blogger help, with no avail...
So many of you have told me it is happening to you, yet others seem to have no trouble...
Tootie thought it was my counter, so I switched to hers..still happened..
I deleted some gadgets, cleared my cache and cookies, ran spybot and other detection devices, and still it pops up!
If anyone know how to get Google to help, please email me..
Thanks so much! I am pulling my hair out trying to fix it..
And thanks for your visit...

Tablescape Thursday~ And a Blogger Meet...

Please join Susan for the other entries this week..and as always thanks, to our gracious host....

Today was a first...I met a blogger in real life...
Alma, aka known as The Tablescaper, met me in our little town for a quick lunch..and 4 hours later we parted, I am sure we will do a repeat performance..

After lunch, we stopped at Villeroy and Boch's basement to look for bargains.
Alma bought some lovely things, and I added to the Christmas plates I bought last year.
After all, it is less than 5 months away..

We never ran out of things to talk about, it was so much fun!
Do check out her blog..the view from her deck is to die for!

I was looking at my pink hydrangea and noticed the little specks of blue in the center..




I have had this blue/pink/green plaid tablecloth for years, and never used it..



My first thought was to go with the blue, but then I changed my mind and decided to pull out the pink and green...



I used white chargers from Noritake outlet, green plates and a white ruffled bowl from HG. The napkins are Villeroy and Boch, by way of HG, and I think I paid 1.00 ea or less in the clearance.



Little white cabbage leaves for the bread plate, and a tiny green fish ramekin for butter or crackers for the soup...


This pretty pink and green bowl was used to float my pink hydrangeas. Can you see the pink ceramic bow detail?






Some green votives, pink glass by Lenox , napkin ring from WSonoma outlet, and clear stemmed glass from Pfaltzgraff outlet.



I tried out those new rose color cabbage leaf soup bowls I showed you, but the pinks weren't just right..



So I will have to save those till I find something to use with them..I know there is something hiding in my cabinets that will work! :) (or in HG, or CTS, or TJM)

Then I was thinking what if Miss Janice stopped in, LOL..you all know how she loves the pink and Green Lily colors..so I switched out the napkin to pink....



Miss Janice never showed, but if she ever comes to visit, I will deck out a table just in pink and green!



So what will we eat??
Shrimp are pink, and served on a bed of spinach over angel's hair, I think the colors will all work..





And a little blueberry crumble with vanilla ice cream for dessert..



Thanks for looking, see you for Foodie Friday...
(Please let me know if you are still getting that dating service popup when you come to my blog..thanks!)

Outdoor Wednesday~A Mixed Bag...

I am joining Susan from A Southern Daydreamer for her weekly Outdoor Wednesday..
Thank you, Susan, for hosting, and I hope things are getting better there!

Thursday I drove over to the North Fork of L.I. to meet my H.S. friend at the Ferry.
For those not from NY, may I bore you with a little geography?
L.I. is an island , which is part of NY.


If you picture a fish, the eye would be Manhattan, and the tails would be the North and South Fork.
End of No. Fork is Orient Pt..South fork ends at Montauk.
It is approx 120 miles long and about 20 miles wide.



Lesson over..

The ferry comes across LI Sound from New London, CT. Pat drives from RI to New London, walks on the ferry and about 80 min later, walks off, and I pick her up...
We have been doing this for about 20 years...

We drove about 12 miles west to the old whaling town of...



Here is the ferry coming in, it was very foggy..



You can also take the SeaJet across to CT and a bus will deposit you at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, where you can gamble, lose your shirt, and come back on the jet a few hours later....:)


We walked around Greenport in the drizzle, and stopped in at the Doofpot, where they had all kinds of Italian pottery dishes...



We were the only ones in the store..and by the number of cars coming off the ferry and waiting to go on, you could see tourism is DOWN...

It was good weather for these, all painted differently...



We had lunch at Claudio's, Pat had lobster salad sliders, I had shrimp, and talked up a storm, the weather outside was stormy too.
I dropped Pat back at the ferry, I thoroughly enjoyed our visit...we go back so long...I wish we could visit more often!

On the way back to my side of the island,the South fork, I stopped at one of the many Farm Stands..



The corn was .65 an ear...WOW! I see where they got the name..

These cherries are NOT local...They come from Suzy's and Cathy's area...
I had never had the Ranier cherries..so when they came down in price, I bought a few for a taste test...



They won, much sweeter...Cathy said they have been great this year..

Finally,yes... I hear those snores..:)..

A few bargains..oh, that woke some of you up!!

I got these napkins for 70 cents in Home Goods..look at all those colors..the plates were 2.00 as were the rosy pink soup/salad bowls...
The striped bowls were 4 for 1.50..look at all those colors, oops, I used that line already!
But really so many "hues" to incorporate into a Tablesetting..:)





Thank you for visiting....before you go have a piece of Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Loaf...I think I have made this more than any other sweet...I won't eat bananas once they get a little too ripe, so they go in the freezer till I have 9, then I make 3 loaves..


Please stop in at Susan's for more entries..
See you for Tablescape Thursday..

Metamorphosis and Mosaic Monday

I am joining Susan for Metamorphosis Monday. In my case it is a mini metamorph...

My kitchen is 8 yrs old, so no way was I ripping it out.
But I wanted the granite "look" formica replaced with the real thing, and I wanted the cabinets dressed up a bit with moulding
This is the before..
I kept my Thermador ovens and stove, and I have 2 Bosch dishwashers, that are just fine, thank you!



You can see the BEFORE sink area in this one from a few years ago..





AFTER...

Here you can see oak moulding has been added..



Moulding stained and you can see the granite..





I picked a subway tile for the backsplash, which was the hardest choice of all...





I went with a wider sink, but not deeper. I found my back hurt when I used deep sinks at friends homes...

When we replaced some of the doors with glass I saved the doors and had them installed on the ends of the upper cabinets to dress them up..

I found these Waverly valances at a great price in the Christmas Tree Shops..






Across from the island is my desk area, I am still waiting for my shelf to go up, so I can move my cookbooks there, making more room in the cabinets for..well, dishes I guess!

You can see where the shelf will be...
These cabinets were installed, and filled !



We are shopping for a new SS frig..waiting for a good sale..

I know these pics aren't great, but you can get the idea..



Please join Susan to see the other entries this week..

I am also joining Mary with a little Mosaic....

WHIPPED CREAM!


Please join Mary at Little Red House to see the other mosaics..

Thanks for visiting..

Christmas in July...

As many of you know there are a whole group of bloggers doing Christmas in July events..
I join Printers Devil for a Christmas Tablesetting..Please check out the other entries at her blog..



I used a round red placemat, with a red check Christmas tree shaped placemat on top, (Pottery Barn) and red check napkin..

Red plates, peppermint swirl salad and Santa's hat soup bowl...all from Pottery Barn outlet..



Swirl name card holders, ornament salt and peppers...
Pine cone tree as the centerpiece, Christmas stems, and a candy cane at each setting..
Red and green ornament shaped candles
A table for all age groups!

And a basket of homemade cookies for the guests to take home...



5 months from today is...CHRISTMAS!! And I bet some of you have started your shopping !

Thanks for visiting..

Flashback and Foodie Friday & my prize from Wives with Knives..

Another Friday rolls around, and after yesterday's torrential rainstorms, I am happy to see the sun!

I am joining Suzy atKitchen Bouquet for Flashback Friday, and Gollum at Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday..
Please stop in at their blogs and check the other entries!

This is a chicken pot pie made in individual chicken shaped casseroles



And for dessert a lemon tart, made with shortbread dough pressed into a Chinese porcelain spoon, and filled with lemon curd..



Recently I was a lucky winner of this great apron from Cathy at Wives With Knives..
Isn't it adorable?
Stop in at Cathy's blog for some great recipes and trips to the Farmer's Market where she has a booth..
Thanks again, Cathy, I will try to keep it clean..:(
I told DH it was from a new club of aggressive housewives I joined...step away from my prep area, man!



Please come back tomorrow for Christmas in July..

Thanks for visiting...

I am now a dot com..no more dot blogspot..you will still be redirected though..