A Blues Table for Five (Recipes!)

I have been dying to use this TJ Maxx tablecloth for something pretty on the porch, but the pollen and weather are not cooperating. I was too impatient to wait, so tonight we dined on new thrifty finds in the kitchen.


Oh, where to start?


Well, the bargain on the table is the sherberts. I found them on eBay for less than $1 a piece! I can't even believe I almost passed them up! 

And the china was another eBay find. It is the Carlotta pattern made by Eternal Stone.  While it wasn't quite the deal of a $1 per piece, it was still a bargain. 

There is some crazing on a few pieces, but I adore the pattern and the two shades of blue. It is at least 75 years old and so chic! I love, love, love the way it looks with the sherberts and blue in the tablecloth! 

I could kick myself for not buying napkins in Homegoods that would have matched! I am one of those shoppers who (sometimes but not often enough) walks around with all the things I want, and gradually put most of them back only to regret it later! Do you do that, too?


The tablecloth is a good example of that very thing. I found four placemats and a runner in this same pattern at a TJ Maxx in Atlanta, walked around with them, and decided I didn't want just four placements. I left them there only to find the tablecloth in a different TJ Maxx a week later. This time, leaving the first stash behind was a good decision!

The Azaleas in the ice bucket are from the yard. I have one plant with a few flowers. The rest are still budding. The other green comes from camellia and honeysuckle leaves.

So, what's the menu?


Cocktail Shrimp


Frozen and thawed from the supermarket (easy recipe, huh?)
Serve with dipping sauces


Mandarin Orange Salad


Salad:
1 head of lettuce, washed and torn
4-5 green onions, chopped fine
3 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 11oz can mandarin oranges
Combine and chill.


Dressing:
1/4 vegetable oil
1 T white vinegar
5 drops hot sauce
2 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper


Topping:
1/2 c slivered almonds
2-3T sugar
Caramelize on stove. Spread on wax paper to dry. Can be stored in an airtight container for a snack.


Combine salad and dressing. Toss. Top with almonds. Mmmmm. :)


Easiest Poppyseed Chicken



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Casserole:
1-2 lb of shredded or cut up chicken, whatever you have on hand
1 can of mushroom soup (10 3/4 oz)
8 oz sour cream
1/4 c. milk
Combine so that the chicken is covered, even if just barely.


Topping:
Place 1-2 stacks of Ritz crackers in a freezer bag and crush
add 1 stick of melted butter or margarine
add 2 T poppy seeds (if you have them)
Shake.


Spread over chicken mixture.


Bake until bubbly, (about 30 minutes).


Easy Rice Pilaf


Prepare 3 c. quick rice.


Melt a tablespoon or so of butter in a large skillet.
Add 1/2 c. green onions (chopped), 1/3 c. slivered almonds,  and 1 crushed clove of garlic.


When almonds are lightly browned (3-5 minutes), add rice and seasonings to taste such as salt, pepper, thyme, etc. Blend and serve.




I also served a can of corn. Another easy recipe. :)


Enjoy!
-Andrea

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If Andy Warhol Can Do It... (Recipes to Follow)

Food as decoration - I do it all the time! And not just on the plate!


Valentine's has been gone long enough, and I was in the mood for some red. Maybe it is because Sunday was cold enough to get one last wear out of winter clothes.

Also, I really do try to use each tablescape for a real meal, and this was thrown together for supper. Pardon the lighting, but it was nearly dark outside.

I grabbed the nearest things handy:

Shelf 1

More red books. Some are cookbooks, some are just filling in for color.

Shelf 2

Campell's soup cans. I love popart. This was the first decision I made. I knew I was making a couscous for dinner, so the table was already set with individual soup tureens (soup terrines). These nifty little items were $2 at BigLots. They are in stores where we live right now.

The rooster plates are from a thrift store in Stockbridge, GA. The plates are a pattern by Maxcera. They say, "Bonjour," "Buenos Días," and "Good Morning!" around the rim. They were $3.03 each. I wonder who priced them at $3.03. Why not $3.00? Or $3.05? Strange.

For depth, I used small glass liqueur glasses in different colors that I picked up at an antique show as a teen. (I guess they are liqueur classes. Or very tiny flower vases. :) )

Shelf 3

My fancy $2 red salad plates from Dillard's. The shape is really unusual and they were reduced from $15. 

The foreign phrases in the rooster plates got me thinking about travel souvenirs. Along with the popart them, I added the Coca-Cola bottles in Arabic from Morocco.

And I added Emma's little camel. A man we met in the street in Tethouan was so charmed with her that he came and found us again later in the day and gave it to her as a gift.

Emma in Morocco, April, 2006

  

On the ends, I added red heart-shaped glass votives. But because they are on a high shelf, you can't tell they are hearts.

Top

I added a red glass candy dish and vintage bowl.

For color, I took a plate off of my children's art shelf.  Emma made this plate at a friend's birthday party in first grade. And luckily, her kindergarten graduation picture has a red background. The Russian nesting dolls were a gift from my grandmother-in-law, Irene.

On the table, I added a Pier 1 pitcher filled with garden greenery with red placemats and napkins. The white dinner plates are my Dollar Tree specials, and the crystal is Longchamp by Durand. I bought these glasses at Dillard's years ago, but this crystal is very common and inexpensive. You can find a ton of it on eBay.

For dinner, I made a very quick 10-minute couscous. Using some of the left over lemons from my mom's Travelscape this week, I also made some hummus, pita chips, and steamed broccoli.  Delish!

10-minute Couscous

Box of pre-flavored couscous

OR 

Box of plain couscous

1 can chicken broth

AND

1 can sweet corn and/or miscellaneous veggies you have on hand

1/2 cup of feta (if on hand)

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (if on hand)

Ready-to-eat grilled chicken (if on hand)

Cook couscous as directed, adding about 2 T. butter or olive oil if the box doesn't tell you to.

While the couscous cooks (in about 5 minutes), open a can of corn, combine it with the chicken, and heat it in the microwave for about 2 minutes.

Rinse and cut up the sundried tomatoes. I actually prefer one of those hand choppers or a food processor.

Combine the corn, couscous, tomatoes, and cheese. At this point, I usually heat it all in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to soften the cheese, but you can top the warm mixture with the cold feta if you prefer.

This recipe is perfectly fine with just the corn. But the more you add, the yummier. 

Fast Hummus

1-3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped fine OR garlic salt to taste

juice of 1-2 lemons

1-2 cans chick peas (garbanzo beans)

olive oil for consistency

salt to taste

I start with the garlic in the food processor. I add the garbanzo beans and a tablespoon or two of olive oil. I squeeze the lemons separately. (First, I roll them with all of my weight on the counter top. Then, I cut them in half and squeeze. It's much easier that way.) I add the lemon juice.  I salt to taste.  I like to cut up fresh red pepper and other veggies for serving , though my family also likes melba toast and tortilla chips. Tonight, they were stuck with pita chips, which I love and they tolerate. Hummus is also good on hard bread sandwiches with chicken and lettuce. 

Enjoy!

-Andrea

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Travelscape! (with recipe)

Our family loves traveling almost as much as tablescaping. Summer will be here soon and it is time to plan vacations. I invited my daughter and two granddaughters to lunch for a surprise discussion of our next travel adventure.

The table was set. Then, I added some black and white photos to remind us of our past travels.

Paris

New York

Morocco

Berlin

I used some square “cities” plates that I had bought many years ago at TJ Maxx. I had always intended to put them on the wall of one of my bedrooms, but never got around to hanging them. Each one has scenes of a different world city – Paris, London, Rome and New York.

Paris

London

Rome

New York

I decided to use yellow with the black and white, so I added some lemons to a black wire basket from TJ Maxx. Maybe, I will use them later to make my mother's lemon cheese cake (recipe at the end).

The Sunflower Yellow Fiesta tablecloth was purchased on Amazon.com.

Fiesta Solid Color 60 Round Tablecloth, Sunflower

I ordered the black and white napkins from an online linen store.

The napkin rings were made from flowers that I bought at Michael’s. The yellow centers were the inspiration for the black, white and yellow color scheme.

Target was the source for the black flatware and placemats.

The glasses are from Mikasa.

The stemware charms that I have had for years almost matched the plates perfectly. They include the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Of course, the leaning tower is not in Rome, but it is in Italy, at least!

Our trip last summer was to London and Paris, so I guess those cities will be eliminated from the list of possibilities for this year. I do love to shop in England for china, though - the first time that I ever visited one of the China Reject shops, I was overwhelmed. Of course, shopping at Harrod's in the tabletop department is not bad either!


Time to decide on a destination. Collectively, we have been to most of the countries in Europe. However, none of us has been to South America. Maybe, it is time to learn to dance the Tango - Argentina, anyone????






Lemon Cheese Cake

Cake


8 egg whites
2 cups sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup butter
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 1/4 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Sift flour and baking powder together four times.
Cream butter and sugar together. Add flour and milk alternately, mixing after each addition.
Beat eggs whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter. Add vanilla.
Pour into three greased and floured cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees, until layers are done (the recipe reads 45 minutes, but my layers were done after 20-25 minutes).


Lemon Cheese Filling


1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
juice of 3 lemons


Cook together in the top of a double boiler, until thick. Refrigerate, until cool.


Seven Minute Icing


2 egg whites
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla


Combine the first 5 ingredients in the top of a double boiler. With hand mixer, beat for one minute to combine. Then, over boiling water, beat on high for seven minutes. Beat in vanilla.


To assemble the cake:


After removing the warm cake layers from the pan, spread cooled filling over the bottom two layers. Place the three layers together and spread seven minute frosting on sides and top of cake. Enjoy!


Diane

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Our First Giveaway Comes With a Little Story

(Winner announced here!)


Do you know what prompted this blog to come into being? A very sick little girl.

Spring, 2010

Emma, my daughter and fellow blogger, has been home sick with a bone infection since October of last year. Emma and I, (Andrea), have certainly spent a lot of time in hospitals, at doctors' offices, and at home together and with my mom, Diane. There are only so many entertaining things to do day after day, and that is one reason Emma became more interested in the passion we have for table goodies.  When my mom and I spend any time at all together, the conversation inevitably turns to household treasures. It was a good distraction between consultations and treatments. Emma couldn't escape, bless her heart! She has a passion for HGTV, interior design, architecture, and writing, and being able to create and write a little has been good for her. You have certainly given her a big boost in your appreciation for her creations, so we are thinking it's time to give back to you a little. 

Based on the feedback on a recent optimistic post, "Outdated Kitchens Can Be Pretty, Too," we decided to expand on that theme. I wanted to show you another lovely look in the same kitchen (my kitchen) with the outdated décor. I am so in love with my outdated kitchen now that I know how to work with it. And guess what! Four of these dinner plates will go to our lucky giveaway winner!  I hope to share with you how something that might appear to be very limiting is full of possibilities!

Let's start with the fantastic plates! Noritake made so many different pieces in this pattern, Lineage, including flatware! The dinner plates normally sell for around $20/each on the major websites that sell vintage china, so four of them have a value of around $80. (The giveaway rules are at the very bottom of the page.) These plates have so many beautiful colors, but the green is dominant. Later in the post, I will show you how I could have picked any color to emphasize in these plates, making it easy for me. They go with anything! Blue, red, yellow...even purple! (Pics at the bottom of the post.) But I thought the green would be a challenge in my kitchen. Plus, St. Patrick's Day is this week! So I went with it!

The design reminds me a little of Indian Tree motifs, and the birds are such a great plus! I love that they are oven, microwave and dishwasher safe. Many of my vintage patterns can only be hand-washed, so I don't use them everyday. But this is durable enough for enjoying with my little ones!

These plates were part of a huge vintage set I bought at a local Goodwill. I love them! Can you imagine them in the kitchen from the earlier post? 

In the advice from the earlier post, I recommended changing out accessories to give a new look. The first thing I did was change out everything in the cupboard to emphasize the green in the plates. I tried putting in more green than this, but adding other colors helped. I used the oranges to tie it to the peach in the wallpaper. The brown pieces and the pottery were other good accents with the wood in the room.

The little turtle in the front is from one of my children. I have their art all over the house as decoration. They are my favorite pieces. 

A few other examples:

But I digress...

The oranges emphasize the oranges and yellows in the plates. And the large ceramic platter was a great TJ Maxx find that I found a while back. 

I like the narrow dish which allowed me to add depth. But I have a secret...it's Holiday by Lenox. I placed it on a high shelf and the oranges hide the pattern.

One of the other things I recommended was using flowers as a color focal point. These are certainly a good match!

Are you ready to see the whole table?

I think the changes worked! By the way, the reverseable placemats here are the same ones from the prior post with the pink glass plates. $1.50 each at Big Lots and two great looks!

Do you think these plates would work in your kitchen? In your dining room? Here are some examples of the plates on different placemats of mine.

Yes, that one is actually a mulberry/pink placemat.

Really was surprised the green and purple one worked so well.

I hope you like them as much as I do!

And now for the Giveaway Rules:

The giveaway is for these four dinner plates. Click any of the Amazon links below and and find a great product to go with these plates on your dinner table. It can be flatware, goblets, linens, a centerpiece, etc.

Search Amazon.com

In the comment section below, leave a description and a link to what you found. You can leave one comment a day from Saturday, March 12 at 6pm EST to Sunday, March 20, 12pm EST.  Each comment will equal one entry. We will use a random number generator to select the winning entry. (My doctoral program was in statistics, so I think it's a pretty good system!) The winner will be announced no later than March 21 along with a posted email for you to send us your shipping address.

Have fun and Good Luck! Happy St. Patrick's Day! (My mother, Diane, created a very pretty Irish tablescape for St. Patrick's Day here.)

-Andrea

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