Friday, September 20, 2013

Remembering Summer

We've had such fun this summer, it's almost sad to see it end!   Gardening, visiting with friends and family, tablescaping, and starting this blog-writing adventure - so many  special memories!  Here's a recap of summer.


Gardening






 
 


 


 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Tablescaping
 
 
 



 

 
 
 
Great Times With Family and Friends
 

 
 
 
 
Our 25th Anniversary Celebration 
 




A Picnic we hosted for our bank friends 



Friends at the Lake of the Ozarks


 


Dining at home




 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And just enjoying the outdoors
 
 
 
 

 
 
 





 


Beautiful Wine Country




 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
Recalling great times this summer and looking forward to creating new fall memories.  What are your favorite summertime memories?



Linking to:

Seasonal Sunday
Amaze Me Monday
Inspire Me Tuesday
Tuesdays at Our Home





Thursday, September 19, 2013

Caprese Salad

We had some very hot weather the last several weeks and my garden has really suffered.  The other day, I was surprised to find all these small tomatoes.  What could I do with them?




CAPRESE SALAD!

 
I've seen several food shows make this salad but have never eaten it in a restaurant.  What a nice surprise to see how easy it is to make!  All it takes are tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper!  So easy!!
 
 
 
 
 
And how delicious is this?  Oh, my!  These flavors all work so well together! 
What a late summer treat!!
 
 
Your really don't need a recipe for this, but here's Ree Drummond's recipe (The Pioneer Woman).  She makes a balsamic vinegar reduction but I didn't take the time for that.  It sounds really good, though.  Yummm!
 
 

 

Caprese Salad      (Ree Drummond)

Prep Time:  
Cook Time: 
Difficulty:    Easy       
Servings:      8

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Balsamic Vinegar
  • 3 whole Ripe Tomatoes, Sliced Thick
  • 12 ounces, weight Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Thick
  • Fresh Basil Leaves
  • Olive Oil, For Drizzling
  • Kosher Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preparation Instructions

In a small saucepan, bring balsamic vinegar to a boil over medium-low heat. Cook for 10 to 20 minutes, or until balsamic has reduced to a thicker glaze. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl or cruet. Allow to cool.

When you're ready to serve, arrange tomato and mozzarella slices on a platter. Arrange basil leaves between the slices. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the salad, getting a little bit on each slice. Do the same with the balsamic reduction, making designs if you want. Store extra balsamic reduction in fridge for a later use.

End with a sprinkling of kosher salt and black pepper. Serve as a lunch, with crusty bread. Or serve alongside a beef main course for dinner.
 

Thursday, September 12, 2013

A Few Precious Heirlooms


A new tablescape with some old friends ...


It seems many of the ladies in my life were partial to the color pink.  My mother, my grandmother and my husband's grandmother all collected and used pink dishes.  Now, I have a few of their pieces in my collection.




I've added a few items from estate sales and elsewhere to finish this table.








Wonderful Hubby's grandmother had these lovely pink depression glass goblets.  My mother-in-law gave me four of them. 
 


Aren't they delicate?




She also had these precious two-toned cream and sugar dishes.




The unusually shaped pitcher in the back is from my grandmother.  It has four accompanying glasses, two of which are displayed at the table. 



I'm not sure when she acquired them or their story, but they are hand blown.  The pitcher is actually a little irregularly shaped at the top.  The glass is quite thin.

 
 
My mother had the basket weave cookie jar.  She really loved the color pink!   When I was very young, we ate off of pink Moderntone dishes.  (They were pretty old, I think!)  For the longest time, I thought those dishes only came in pink.  It was quite a surprise to see my mother-in-law's Moderntone collection years later!  Pink was only one of several pastel colors.  Mom told me she had traded her blue, yellow and green plates for all pink!  (Someday I'll set a retro table using the Moderntone Platonite dishes my mother-in-law gave me.)       :)
 
 
 
The plates are resale shop acquisitions!!   The flatware is from my great aunt and uncle, Jimmy and Edith.  He was my grandmother's brother.  The teapot is from a set I bought at an estate sale.   The cake stand is from Target, I think.  The pink berry ring is from All About Home, a wonderful home décor shop in my neighborhood.
 
 
How do you like the shutter screen???  This was one of my projects during July! 
 
 
 
These shutters came off of Wonderful Hubby's grandparents' home.  I've painted one side this cream color (left-over paint) and the other side is a dark green (close to the original color).   Thanks to WH and Favorite Son for reconfiguring the original hardware so they fit together!   I thought they would be great for backgrounds.  Sorry about the edge of the grill peeking out to the right.  I'm still working on my photography skills!
 
I hung a basket filled with some little flowers from my basement stash.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks for walking down memory lane again with me.  I think the ladies would have really liked this table. 
 

 
 
Linking to: