Thursday, February 28, 2013

Going on a vacation.....and a packing tip

We are cruising the West Indies for the next 10 days....we are anxious for sun and fresh air, lots of scrumptious food, fabulous entertainment and we might even squeeze in some relaxation!


 I came across this great "packing" idea on Pinterest.  


Use a super large pill box to pack your earrings and rings:


Til next week....






Pin It

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

What's so good about winter?

Today, as I was packing for my Caribbean cruise, I was trying to think of one reason why I like winter in Central NY - This was a time consuming activity and the only thing I could come up with was the food, "winter food", such as beef stew:

and pulled pork:


and chili:


To me, these are winter foods.  And other than a dusting of snow on a sunny morning, I can't come up with anything else I like about our winters!
Pin It

Monday, February 25, 2013

Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Wine

When girlfriends get together, it is easy to come up with quick ideas for sweet treats!

I often dip strawberries in chocolate, but this time I decided to  slice the berries and drizzle chocolate over the slices in a criss-cross pattern:


and they are best served with a variety of New York wines:


or even these:



 Wine, strawberries and chocolate - it doesn't get any better!

Sharing with:
Make the Scene Monday @ Alderberry Hill
Mix it up Monday @ Flour Me With Love

Pin It

Saturday, February 23, 2013

An easy pedestal dish and Oreo Trash

I wanted to turn one of my milk glass dishes into a pedestal dish.  I bought some HandiTak and pulled a piece into a long thin strip.  I laid the strip along the top edge of a sherbet bowl and adhered it to the bottom of the dish.  I was surprised at how secure this was!


It was easy to remove, too.  I just gave the sherbet bowl a slight twist to brake the seal.


"Why did I need this?" you ask?  I made some Oreo Trash and desserts always look great on a pedestal!

I spread a bit of white chocolate on parchment paper and on top of it I tossed broken Oreos, Cheerios and broken pretzels, pressing them slightly into the white chocolate:


I then drizzled some more white chocolate on top and then sprinkled mini M&Ms and heart shaped sprinkles on top of that!

Once set, I cut it into pieces and placed them into paper cups, serving them on my new "pedestal dish":


Sharing with:

Pin It

Milk Glass Tablesetting

I love milk glass, especially the Indiana Harvest grape pattern and Fenton Hobnail.  I have been lucky to collect 21 of the Indiana dinner dishes in which I found in local antique stores and flea markets.  

I have set my table for two using some of my favorite pieces of milk glass. I am using the Fenton vases for a small serving of shrimp cocktail:


This bowl (which might be Westmoreland?) will hold the pasta.  The silver spoon was my mother's.


I used a Fenton epergne as a centerpiece to hold a few yellow flowers.  This was also my mother's and she used it during holidays, filling the bowl with candy and each individual vase with flowers:


As for the condiments and cocktail sauce for the shrimp cocktail, they will be placed in a small Fenton bowl and the yellow floral bowl from Sur La Table will be for parmesan cheese:


A simple setting for 2:


The extra shrimp cocktail will be served in a larger Fenton pedestal bowl and I am using Lenox stemware:


The smaller forks for the shrimp are really plastic disposable forks!


The zebra chargers are from Hobby Lobby:


I have also found more Indiana pieces to match the dishes, my favorite being a large platter and small sherbet bowls.  I am always on the hunt for more pieces!

Sharing with:

Pin It

Friday, February 22, 2013

Shake and Pour...it couldn't be easier!

Have you seen this?  All you do is add water, shake and pour!





And when you are lazy, you can forget the "sticks" and make "cake balls".   Just dip the tops into Wilton Lime Chocolate Melts, add a few sprinkles and place them into mini paper cups:


Sharing with:
Weekend WrapUp Party @ Tatertots and Jello 


Pin It

Friday, February 15, 2013

Using my mother's china....

A few weeks ago, Cherry Kay from Entertaining Women posed the question: What can we do to make the "good stuff" suitable for use any time of the day?  This got me thinking about my mother's china.  This is Fukigama china, in a wheat pattern, that my father brought her back from Japan during the Korean War:

I decided to take the challenge and try to make it suitable for an every day dinner. I stacked the soup bowl on top of the dinner plate, and those on top of a gold charger.   I stacked the luncheon dish with a 222 Fifth Bella Vista dish for a bread plate:


I also used the same side dish for salt and pepper cellars:


This sweet little spoon was recently purchased in a local antique shop.  I love the heart shape on the handle:


I also chose to use my mother's depression wine glasses, placed on leaf coasters and the centerpiece was an PB artificial plant in a hand painted M-C Parchment-style check:


Because I was serving a garden salad, I used bowls matching the smaller dishes, stacked on op of the china bowls (which would later hold a beef stew).


The  Waverly napkins were purchased after Christmas at the Christmas Tree Shop for $.25ea and I rolled them into a Pottery Barn napkin ring:


My favorite thing about this china is that it is very plain and simple.


The matching soup toureen will hold the stew for the two of us:


At each place setting I placed a small tea light for a little romance.  These were purchased from the MacKenzie-Childs Barn Sale, part of their compliment line.  Have you seen their new Aurora Enamelware?  A few pieces are already on my wish list.  They can also be used with this china, for a more "every day" feeling.


I think I have met the challenge of using my china in a more relaxed and comfortable way:


Something I should probably do more often!

Sharing with:
Seasonal Sunday


Pin It