I have found some neat fall decor at the thrift store and I have a great natural linen tablecloth that I bought from Williams-Sonoma. (I have a wide table (42″) and it’s difficult to find cloths wide enough most places.) I also have some really cool neutral dishes that I have found at various thriftContinue reading “Neutral Fall Table”
Tag Archives: entertaining
Beef Stew and Bread by the Fire
We are having people over so I am preparing a make-ahead dinner that is easy to eat outside. This is a hearty beef stew with bacon, tomatoes, mixed vegetables, baby potatoes, and onions. I am making my recipe for Cheesy Grits bread that was published in Southern Living Magazine in 2005. You can find thatContinue reading “Beef Stew and Bread by the Fire”
Mike’s Favorite Meatloaf Dinner
My husband LOVES meatloaf. And when we have meatloaf, he always wants to have homemade garlic mashed potatoes, and peas (because we both like to mix our peas with our mashed potatoes.) So here we go. Aunt Josefa’s Mashed Potatoes–My dad’s youngest sister who lived in Chicago 4 lbs baking potatoes peeled and quartered 1/2Continue reading “Mike’s Favorite Meatloaf Dinner”
Planter’s Punch–a Delicious Cocktail that you can make mostly ahead
I made some homemade grenadine a while back. Here is a recipe for it: https://www.carolinescooking.com/homemade-grenadine/ It really is so easy to make and 50 times better than what you can buy most places which is cherry flavored syrup–and real grenadine is pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon. Anyway, when our son and his fiancee were here,Continue reading “Planter’s Punch–a Delicious Cocktail that you can make mostly ahead”
Out of town guests inspire some fun tables
My brother and his family visited with us last week from Germany. I ordered a bunch of sunflowers from Costco and I bought some Lemon Leaf from the grocery. For this table, I did my plain rimmed Villeroy and Boch dinner plates, and paper napkin with a leafy design and Pier One MacIntosh bowls forContinue reading “Out of town guests inspire some fun tables”
Greenery from the Grocery Elevates Garden Flowers
This year I planted a couple new varieties of Zinnias–Agave and Ballerina from Johnny’s Selected Seeds (I love their stuff–great quality.) They are really stunning and have some ENORMOUS Blooms. I wanted to do a statement arrangement for our peninsula when we had friends come in for the weekend. I wanted to use a largeContinue reading “Greenery from the Grocery Elevates Garden Flowers”
Blue and Yellow/Gold Table
This is a FUN table. I started with a navy blue and white tablecloth. I used my really neat yellow, blue, white, porcelain server; blue pitchers with sunflowers, lemon leaf, zinnias, and dill; and yellow bowls of lemons and limes. The place settings are my Wedgwood Maxa Dura service plates; Williams Sonoma napkins; white buffetContinue reading “Blue and Yellow/Gold Table”
A Versatile Quiche Base
I took a recipe from my mother in law and made a few modifications to make it a really adaptable filling for quiches. Quiche Filling (makes 3-9″ quiches or 2-10″ quiches) 1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise 6 tbsp flour 2 rounds of Boursin cheese 12 eggs 1 1/2 cups of milk Combine all ingredients inContinue reading “A Versatile Quiche Base”
Vegetarian Dinner Salad
We often have a hearty vegetarian salad for dinner. That’s what we did the other night. With the beans and the cheese, this salad has enough heft for a light dinner or lunch. You can substitute cannellini beans, navy beans, or garbanzo beans for the great northern beans–I just really like the texture of theContinue reading “Vegetarian Dinner Salad”
Getting Ready for Weekend Guests
We do a LOT of hosting around here, and I especially love having houseguests because everything feels less rushed and more homey. This weekend, we are hosting college friends and since I’ve done it a lot, I am going to share my tips on how to do it without running yourself ragged, and minimizing yourContinue reading “Getting Ready for Weekend Guests”
Cathy At Home on the River 