Food

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Independence Day Tablescape Featuring Liberty Hall by Staffordshire



Happy Fourth of July friends! Thanks for stopping by. Thursday has arrived again and brought with it Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Make sure you stop by and see all the wonderful tablescapes.




These are my new dishes, Independence Hall by Staffordshire. I just love them so much. They are the first blue in my collection. What a great way to start!



I layered them with my white Gibson Claremont plates and gold chargers from my Christmas stash. I think a bit of gold sets the red white and blue off perfectly. It represents the gold stars.



The blue wine goblets are from the Dollar Tree. They are so pretty a perfect match to the Independence Hall. I love mixing it all.



I used my tried and true red place mats and Oneida's Brooch flatware.



Here are a few candlelit shots. Please for give me for scrambling the order of the pictures. Not sure how that happened. It's been a while, I guess I'm rusty.




Here is a shot peeking through the wine glass that I am using as a water goblet. Is that breaking any rules? Never quite acquired the taste for wine, but I love the glasses.


A close up of these new treasures. I just love the blue and the detail. It's so great to be back with a tablescape post. I have really missed it.

Have a safe and wonderful 4th! A special thanks to all of our soldiers and their families past and present. As we all know, their sacrifices have built the wonderful country!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Zucchini Brownies with Chocolate Buttermilk Drizzle

Good afternoon everyone! Hope everyone is having great gardening and tablescaping adventures this week. I have been in the garden and taking my baked goods to the farmer's market each Saturday. I have been so busy that I have been neglecting my dishes and blogging. Whats been keeping you busy? I can't wait to get caught up on all my blog reading. I have missed everyone.





It has been so long since I posted a recipe. After all I did start this as a blog for my baking. So I better get to posting about all the baking that goes on around here. My zucchini's are not producing yet, as a matter of fact I just found the first of the blooms today. But I have found some wonderful zucchini's from other gardeners.

I thought this would be a perfect recipe to share with you all.

Zucchini Brownies


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish

11/2 cups sugar
3/4 cups canola oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups flour
1/3 cup of cocoa
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt

Whisk sugar,oil,vanilla and zucchini till blended. Stir in remaining ingredients and spread into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool brownies.

Glaze
3 Tablespoons melted butter
3 Tablespoons cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons of buttermilk
pinch of salt
Stir together cocoa and butter. Add powdered sugar beat till smooth while adding buttermilk then add pinch of salt. Drizzle over brownies. Enjoy the amazingness!

These are so super easy to make and if you are not a zucchini lover you will be surprised how chewy and cakey these are with out a taste of the zucchini. The kids can not get enough of these. They still don't believe I put zucchini in them. They are very popular at the market also.

I hope you will give them a try, you will not be sorry!

Have a wonderful week and I can't wait to stop in and see what all you bloggers have been up to!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Harvest Monday With Peas



Happy Monday! Today I am going to link up with one of the most amazing gardeners and bloggers, Daphne over at Daphne's Dandelions. Make sure you hop on over there and see what all the gardening bloggers are harvesting this week. Thank you again Daphne for hosting, I look forward to every Monday!

My Asian snow peas have finally pulled out of their dilemma and are producing. These guys were left a bit to long before harvest, got a bit busy and almost forgot them. Never the less they are crunchy and sweet, I cant wait to get them in a stir fry. They are a bit curled, not sure why. This is the first time I have had this happen. It was very hot, dry and windy. If anyone know what's up with them I would appreciate any feedback. They were suffering some ailment. I treated them with a solution of milk and water and baking soda. It seemed to work.

I have finally harvested all my greens. I am sad to see them go but we will have salads for another week or two. I will  just support my other local gardeners and buy my greens at the market. How's things going in your garden?

Have a wonderful week! See you all next Monday!