St. Patty's Day Tablescape and Irish Dinner

We have never done leprechaun traps or other kidsy St. Patrick's Day traditions at our house, but every year I make an Irish meal and some sort of green dessert to celebrate the holiday. Instead of doing corned beef, I typically do pork and I always make Irish soda bread!

Irish Bacon and Cabbage

boneless pork roast
red potatoes
carrots
cabbage
salt

The night before cooking, place the roast into a big bowl of cold water and add lots of salt... about a cupful. Let it sit in the fridge overnight. The next morning, place the drained meat in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots. Add a bit of water. Let cook on low all day. 30 minutes before serving add the cabbage, cut into chunks.

Irish Soda Bread

4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 to 1 ½ c buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425. Mix together dry ingredients. Gradually add buttermilk, mixing with a large spoon until dough is firm enough to be gathered into a large ball. If the dough is crumbly, add some more buttermilk, a tablespoonful at a time, until it all adheres to the ball. Place on a lightly floured board. Pat and shape it into a flat circular loaf, about 8 inches around and 1 ½ inches thick. Set on a floured baking sheet. With the tip of a knife, cut a ½ inch deep cross into the dough, dividing it into quarters. Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and wrap in a clean dish cloth. Let cool about 20 minutes.

Of course in an LDS home we have root beer with our St. Patty's Day dinner!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Thanksgiving Tablescape

Every November I get sad that I don't have "turkey plates" for my Thanksgiving tablescape.  They're SO expensive though and in all my years of thrifting I've never found even a single turkey plate second-hand.  This week I found a stack of 17 turkey plates at a thrift store for $25!!!  The worker said they had just come out and I grabbed them up.  They're in brand new condition and usually it would cost $25 (or more!) for just one plate!

I am the happiest girl this Thanksgiving!  It's a Thanksgiving dream come true!

 

I don't dare let the kiddos use the turkey plates, but they still have a fancy table.

Happy Thanksgiving 2014!!!

Feminine Friday: Vintage Valentine's Tablescape

I love love love vintage china!  I sell a lot of it, and lately I've been collecting a bit more as well.  I've been working on a collection of mismatched pretty feminine plates, because apparently having several matching sets of china isn't enough in my world.

Everything about these vintage plates is feminine!  The shape is feminine, the size is feminine, the flowers are feminine... I love looking at feminine china and I really love using it!  I don't understand the point of collecting dishes you don't use, so I make it a point to use mine often!

The dishes are feminine, but so is the very act of setting a pretty table and having friends over for a dinner party.

Instead of fighting the crowds on Valentine's Day I decided to host a dinner party with three other couples.  It was so much fun!  I was able to use my pretty mismatched china and even though some of the men might have thought I was odd, the ladies appreciated it!

 There are so many pretty plates out there, a mismatched set is the perfect way to enjoy them all!  Plus it's so much easier to find plates when you don't limit yourself to one pattern.  Maybe someday I'll have a hundred mismatched plates!
I already tell my kids that as soon as Nina moves out I'm making a bedroom into a dish room, so hundreds of dishes is a real possibility! *grin*

The centerpiece was pulled together with odds and ends from around my house and placed on a vintage mirrored vanity tray that is heading to market.  It looked so feminine and perfect for Valentine's Day!

I love hosting dinner parties and I've made it one of my goals this year to host more!

Playing hostess makes me feel feminine, which I love!

Wonderland Tea Party

Alyssa loves Alice in Wonderland, so a Mad Hatter Tea Party was the perfect theme for her 14th birthday!

Alyssa and Caleb have never outgrown playing dress up and I hope they never will!  Costumes are so much fun!

Chocolate-covered strawberries had to be on the menu!  They're such a big hit every time I make them!

I found these candy As at our local candy factory.  The cookies were on the discount rack at the grocery store.  I drizzled the cookies with some of the chocolate I had leftover from the strawberries, added an A and they looked fancy and quirky... perfect for Wonderland!

Milk glass punch cups made the perfect container for jello!

Pickles are always a hit at a tea party for kids or teenagers!  Baby dills were cut into bite-sized chunks and the toothpicks came from the dollar store.

You can't have a tea party without little sandwiches!  I did a cucumber filling and a cheese filling.  Every last one was gobbled up!

I had the cupcake papers and picks leftover from another party and I thought they added interest to the sandwiches.

Cucumber sandwiches are a favorite of my girls!  I make mine with cream cheese, finely diced cucumbers, shredded cheddar and dill.

The cheese filling is just cream cheese and shredded cheese.  It's always a hit! The cheese filling is  good with finely diced pickles added as well.

It took me about a month of checking thrift stores to find perfectly mismatched Wonderland type dishes.  I have A LOT of dishes, but the things we used for Alyssa's party are totally not my style!  It was fun to gather them and see how it all came together.  The cups were all different sizes and colors and it was such a fun colorful table!

My sister made the Cheshire Cat cake!  It came out so cute and perfectly fit with the tablescape.  This was such a fun and easy party to throw!  The kids had their tea party and then watched Alice in Wonderland!  I love that Alyssa still has me throw her birthday parties!  I love seeing her happy face when it all comes together.

Lasagna Roll-ups & a Vintage Tablescape

I have a passion for Homer Laughlin china!  I just love it!  I purchased this china set during the summer for a great price, but this is the first time I've used it.  Nina and her friends were going to the Preference dance, where the girls ask the boys and the theme was The Great Gatsby.  I told her I'd make their "fancy" dinner before the dance!  It gave me a chance to use this beautiful 1940's china!

 I love Italian food almost as much as I love vintage dishes!  I knew I had to make an Italian menu for the night!  Caesar salad is my ultimate favorite salad.  I'm not sure why, but I love it.

Lasagna roll-ups are one of my favorite dinners!  Since Nina is a vegetarian they made a great main dish choice for the night!  These always come out great, can be made ahead and freeze fabulously before they're cooked, plus they're fancy enough for company!  This makes a large batch, so you can freeze half if you don't need them all now.

Lasagna Roll-ups

16 oz package of lasagna noodles, cooked & cooled

32 oz small curd cottage cheese
3 eggs
4 c. loosely packed chopped fresh spinach
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 c. shredded Italian cheese mix

Mix filling ingredients well and spread some filling onto each noodle.  Roll up carefully and place in a pan seam down.  You should be able to fill 15-18 noodles depending on how full you make them.  If you are making these ahead of time, this is the point where you'd freeze or refrigerate them.  To freeze, place carefully in a ziplock bag and freeze, then you can pull out how many you need.  To refrigerate, cover your pan and place in fridge up to a day in advance.  I top the roll-ups with a jar of spaghetti sauce before baking, but you could use any pasta sauce or no sauce at all if you prefer.  You can also add more cheese to the top.  Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.  If they are frozen they will take longer to bake.  Let cool a few minutes before serving.  These are great leftover and I have to admit I've had them for breakfast more than once!

 Nina decided to wear a vintage cream colored lace dress that I've had since I was younger than her!  She looked beautiful!

I don't know if I've shared it yet, but she cut her hair off!  She's had waist-length hair for years, but she chopped it to her shoulders, got layers and dyed it all black!  It looks great on her!

 The kids enjoyed their formal dinner and I enjoyed making it for them!

Along with the lasagna roll-ups and caesar salad I also made homemade loaves of french bread and served it with balsamic vinegar and oil.  The oil and vinegar went into teacups!  They had sparkling cider and ice water in crystal goblets to drink.  I pulled out the gold flatware and the linen napkins.  Fancy dinners are so much fun!

Dessert was chocolate cream cheese roll cake and vanilla ice cream!

I miss doing nice tablescapes on a regular basis!  I'm making a goal to do them more often!

Old Fashioned Family Dinner Tablescape w/Roll Recipe

Homemade Dinner Rolls

4 1/2 - 5 1/2 c. white flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 T yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 c. milk (I used skim)
1/2 c. water
1 T butter
2 eggs


Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt.  Heat the milk, water and butter to warm.  Add to dry ingredients.  Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.  Add 2 eggs and beat on high for 2 minutes.  Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured counter or cutting board and knead for 6-8 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top of the dough.  Cover and let rise until double.  Punch dough down.  Turn onto floured surface.  Divide into 24 balls of dough and place in 2 greased 9x13 pans.  Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise until double.  Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Brush with melted butter while still hot.

Cherry Jam has quickly become a favorite at our house!  I've made several batches this summer!

The crockpot dinner was a medley of ham, red skinned potatoes. baby carrots and corn in a broth of water and bacon salt.

Adorable Bunny Napkins

My poor kids never know what task they'll be given when they hear, "Hey guys... Will you come up here?  I have a job for you."

Last year as part of an Easter tablescape preparation I set a pile of cloth napkins on the table and said, "I need you guys to fold these into bunnies for me."

I received a bunch of blank stares at first but then Alyssa and Caleb got excited and grabbed my laptop for some instructions.

The youtube video we found moved quickly, but they watched it over and over until they had all eight bunnies folded.  I think they turned out adorable!

These napkin bunnies are a fun addition to any Easter table!

Wine Glass Paper Shades: How cute are these?

I made my first set of these shades years ago and just realized I never blogged about them.  I'm on a kick of brainstorming cute but inexpensive table decorations and thought I'd try my hand at them again.  The ones I did years ago were plain white vellum and I still have them somewhere.  I remember seeing them when I was packing.

These shades are so fun!  (I'm trying to include the word fun in more posting because Nina says she always uses the word "fun" in all her google image searches because you get better results.  Yes, I take blogging tips from a 13 year old! haha!)

Paper shades are very versatile and I can think of all sorts of events they could be used on tablescapes for!  They could be centerpieces or used on serving tables.  BBQs, wedding receptions, casual or formal dinners, inside or out... you can use whatever paper you like to fit your event and your theme.  Tea light candles fit perfectly inside and you can either light them (no the paper doesn't catch on fire) or use battery operated tea lights.  The dollar store usually carries the battery operated ones.

The red would be great at a bbq or a patriotic themed event!

This was .05 clearance vellum.  You can see how I punched heart shaped holes in these ones.

Yes, I know these aren't wine glasses, but I bought patriotic gummy candies and put them in canning jars on my table which explains the next picture.

The round gummies must be yummier than the bears because they went first leaving me with an empty vintage jar right in my view when I was playing around with the shades.  I love these funny shaped jars, and the shades fit perfectly on them as well!

This is a simple but romantic paper shade.  I can picture these at a wedding reception, romantic dinner or on a tray full of breakfast.  Beautiful!

Tips:
~When you light the candle inside it will shine through the paper, which means be aware of things like bar codes on the back of your paper.
~The more sheer your paper is, the more the light will shine through, but they make an impact either way.
~I just used the super cheap Ikea wine glasses we use to drink out of on "fancy" occasions.  I don't see a need to buy glasses just for this project, use what you have, unless you are going to be drinking out of your wine glasses at the same event, but that may be stemmed glassware overkill.
~You can use votive candles, but keep the wick trimmed very short.  When the melted wax cools it can be popped right out of the glass.
~You can get one shade from 8 1/2 x 11 paper or two from 12 x 12 paper.  Print the pattern onto paper or cardstock and trace.

Click on the pic to enlarge, right click to save and print :)