Tablescape Times Three: Recipes

Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts

Friday, November 29, 2013

A Thanksgiving to Be Thankful For

Our home has become the gathering place now every Thanksgiving - and we love it. I have to say, we were more ambitious than last year, but somehow, the prep work, cooking, and cleaning were much easier. When your helper actually lives in the same house, it makes for much more effective teamwork.

Being a "Southern" family, our traditional foods are things like turkey, ham, dressing/stuffing, sweet potato casserole, pistachio-gelatin salad (with marshmallows and pecans), roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes, copper carrots, green beans, etc. That being said, we did something a little different this year. I decided to change the recipes a little and then make some very traditional dishes that even predate the era of "company chicken" and the "Seven Layer Salad." Everyone who asked what they could bring was assigned a dessert except for my aunt. I asked her to find good (not soupy) Brunswick stew. And she delivered!

Green beans, creamed mushrooms with lemon and tarragon, Steve's maple amaretto agave carrots, and black-eyed peas

Brunswick stew, broccoli salad, curried fruit, and a ginger beer and lime gelatin fruit salad

Turkey, cured and baked hams, three sauces, and gravy

Steve's delicious lemon turkey

Green bean casserole - but made with all fresh ingredients - no cans were opened for this dish

Sweet potatoes in a shallot and white wine sauce with bacon and parsley

Traditional broccoli salad

From scratch cranberry sauce with not much sugar - red grapes add the sweetness

Four cheese mac-n-cheese, sharp cheddar, Gruyère, parmesan, and Fontina - with a hint of nutmeg

My favorite dish - cornbread dressing with sausage, apple, pear, raisins and walnuts. Holy cow, this was good!

Corn pudding

Desserts brought included a caramel cake, traditional pecan pie, brownies, and sugared cereal like White Trash, but with chocolate. YUMMY!

I went with a brown toile pattern last year, J & G Meakin's Americana:

So this year, seating 16 in the dining room, breakfast nook, and library, I went with Royal Stafford's black toile Blacksmith's Forge in the dining room and Churchill Blue Willow in the nook and library:

I used Mikasa Richelieu iced beverage glasses everywhere and all manner of sterling patterns, depending on purpose and location. Sir Christopher by Wallace framed the settings in the dining room and nook. Old Master by Towle complemented the lower key space of the library. Both were using for serving dishes, and they were augmented by pieces in Francis I by Reed & Barton, Apollo by Alvin, Old Atlanta by Wallace, and Imperial Queen by Whiting.

My breakfast today included a piece of the sausage-fruit dressing and curried fruit.

Will share recipes in subsequent posts! They are worth it! I lucked out with my choices, and even though it's only one day later, the leftovers are almost gone!

Andrea, Steve, and family

Sharing at:

http://www.betweennapsontheporch.net

http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

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

Sunday, March 13, 2011

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