Author Archives: cathyboettner

I have college friends visiting this week and we are planning to spend a lot of time floating in the river. This table feels appropriate for a fun summer dinner with friends. I started with a very summery (and watery) feeling table cloth, aqua and black lanterns, a bowl full of lemons, and some cosmosContinue reading “Summer of Fun Table 4”

Raspberries are a little later than normal this year (usually ripe around mid-May or so), but they are ripe now. I went to Morris Vineyard to pick them this morning and was greeted by this view. This is truly one of the prettiest places in Bradley County. The views are fantastic. I got myself aContinue reading “Raspberry Picking!”

When we go to our favorite Greek/Italian recipe in town, you can pretty much count on my ordering a chicken souvlaki wrap with extra sauce and extra tomato. Now that we live even further out than before, I have come up with my own recipe. First gather your ingredients: fresh lemon, olive oil, cumin, garlicContinue reading “Great Grilling Recipe–Chicken (or Pork) Souvlaki”

I just remembered that I have a really cute table cloth with a major fifties vibe, and it is totally summery. I paired it with the pink and purple dahlias in small glass vases, a neat vintage covered casserole, Fiestaware serving pieces, Fiestaware turquoise dishes and aqua napkins. Really cute.

This is a very different look from what I normally do for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, but I needed to work with the colors of the flowers from the garden. I just love the verdigris frog and the ceramic fish (I got it at the Museum Center at 5ive Points in Cleveland, TN–I thinkContinue reading “Table Two from the Summer of Fun!”

If you have been following this blog for a while, you know that I love flowers and gardening. And what I love even more is flowers FROM the garden. My dahlias started blooming in earnest just in time for the Memorial Day weekend and I made a couple of arrangements with them. The first oneContinue reading “Floral Arrangements from the Garden!”

It is the start of the full-on grilling season. We are having pulled pork for Memorial Day, so I checked how much rub we had left–not enough. So I whipped up a batch of the one that I always make–I make an extra large batch so I have it on hand at all times. GatherContinue reading “Basic BBQ Rub”

My friend Liz asked me to figure out how to make a Lynchburg Lemonade years ago. Here is what I came up with (when I had less money and time): 1 part whiskey 1 part triple sec 2 parts sweet and sour mix 3 parts lemon-lime soda (I have since switched to Fresca) Combine allContinue reading “Drink for the Dock!”

Pineapple has been on sale at our Aldi for the past two weeks. I bought two more this week and plan to cube it up and soak it in Malibu Rum and Dark Rum, and serve it on skewers. Please pull us back to shore if you see us floating in the main channel! 2Continue reading “Boat Drinks on a Skewer”

We had pork tenderloin the other night and intentionally made extra so that we would have plenty to make Cuban sandwiches. Here’s how we make them: 1 lb. thinly sliced roasted pork–I prefer the loin or tenderloin for this purpose 1 lb. deli ham 16 slices cheese–Havarti, Gouda, or Emmenthaler Dill pickle slices (we useContinue reading “Cuban Sandwiches–a Family Favorite”