Tuesday's Tablescape

A friend recently shared a few hostess pieces of Pope Gosser china with me. Previously unfamiliar with the name, I decided to do a little research. First manufactured in 1903, it was made in Ohio by an Englishman, Mr. Pope, and a jeweler from Ohio, Mr. Gosser, when they combined forces. It was known for its quality and was in production until the late 1950s. An article I found outlined how the markings changed throughout the years and using that as my guide, I was able to date these items from the 1940s.

Don't you love the little rosebud on the lid?

I think this pretty pattern looks like summer on the patio, so I decided to use it for today's tablescape. I tossed on a lace tablecloth and found some mismatched rose pieces from my dining room display for the individual place settings.

This dinner plate is from my maternal grandparents' side of the family. The luncheon plate atop is a replica of the Grand Hotel china (Mackinac Island). We bought this single plate as a keepsake on one of our stays there since it is a very favorite destination for us!

This plate was on display on my plate shelf and came from a sale, I think. While it holds no sentimental value, it is vintage. I used a clear plate on it so that the rose design of the dinner plate could be appreciated. Due to the morning sun, there is a bad shadow problem.

This plate was a high school graduation gift from a very dear, close friend. We have been friends since we were preteens and  her grandmother hand-painted it. I treasure it! The little dish is a Wedgewood piece from my great aunt and uncle. They gave it to me for a birthday when I was growing up.

This shell-shaped snack set is a family piece, which belonged to my paternal grandmother's side of the family. I just rested it on an everyday white plate. Again, the morning created some unavoidable shadowing.

Of course, I had to finish the table with a few freshly-cut pink roses from the yard. They, along with  the hostess set which inspired this entire creation, worked well for the centerpiece.

If you're reading this, I wish you could join us for a meal on the patio! Which place setting would you pick?

Memorial Day

As we celebrate Memorial Day,

let's take time to remember those who

bravely fought for our country's freedom.

These cuties hope that your long

weekend is dog-gone wonderful!

 

Unkept Josephs

Do you like sloppy joes? When I was growing up, our pastor used to call them "unkept Josephs" and I thought that was so funny! Here is a little twist on the old classic, which I originally found in my Taste of Home magazine last year.  Add some baked potato wedges and a salad and you're set for a quick meal. 

Greek Sloppy Joes

1 pound lean ground beef

2 garlic cloves, minced

onion powder
salt to taste

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 can tomato soup
(**the recipe calls for tomato sauce, but soup results in a better consistency and flavor)

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Cook and crumble meat, garlic and onion powder. Drain and then add oregano and soup. Simmer until warm and well blended. Serve on a split roll. Sprinkle top of meat with crumbled feta cheese just before adding the bun "lid".

By the way, I added additional cheese after the photo was taken because it seemed a little skimpy!

Maybe you'd like to try it sometime...

Spectacular Sunset

I had to share a picture of last night's spectacular sunset.
Isn't it a lovely combination of colors?

  

Peace

is seeing a sunset

and knowing who to

thank.

                   (author unknown)

Tuesday's Tablescape

Can you believe it's almost Memorial Day? Today's patriotic table is in honor of this holiday and displays some new dishes.  I know! I know! Several weeks ago, our church hosted a colossal garage sale as a fund raiser for missions. I ran to church late in the afternoon the day before to drop-off fresh cookies, brownies and cinnamon rolls that I had prepared for the bake sale portion. My friend, Bonnie, had spent hours and hours pricing items and preparing for the event and I happened to see her on the way in the door. She casually mentioned that there were lots of dishes in the garage sale. Maybe I should take a look? I figured I would just take a little peek...quickly...just for fun. I saw lots of lovely sets, but showed enormous self-restraint. Then, just as I was leaving, my eyes looked down and I spotted a cardboard box with these cuties.

Before I knew what was happening, my mind was already arranging patriotic tablescapes and I had the service for four under my arm. Since prices were marked and presales were accepted, I bought them on the spot and they came home with me. Aren't they unique? Aren't they perfect for summer fun?

The early morning light wasn't cooperating too well for these pictures. The tablecloth looks washed-out in the above photo, but it's really a match to the cobalt napkins. I also was getting some glare on the plates.

While I am very happy with my little purchase and excited to know that I will have fun using this service on many occasions, I'm thrilled to realize what the sales meant to our church. Between the garage sale and bake sale, we raised over $5,200 for missions and that is a blessing!

Finished Porch

The weather cooperated so I was able to finish the porch this weekend. Look at the little uninvited helper, though! This black rat snake was found on the front porch attempting to slither up the house in an effort to make his way into the swag. Obviously, he knows the nests are up there (he must read the blog!) and wanted to help himself to some eggs. With the help of a broom, we encouraged him to go elsewhere.

Randy and I spent most of Saturday working outside on various tasks. The porch railings, siding, shutters and furniture received a spring scrubbing and the buntings were washed and hung (you'll note I needed to adjust the end of the closest bunting, which I have since done!).

 

The patriotic doormat went down and the door, itself, got cleaned. The house windows, however, remain in need of attention. I never address them until after the spring pollen season, so now it's time. Due to my schedule and rain, however, I haven't gotten to them yet.

While we were at it, we retired our old flag and put up a new one that we had ready to go.

Would you like to sit on the porch with me?

Here is a little uninvited guest I found climbing the house. :(  He, obviously, knows the nests are up there and was determined to help himself to the eggs. When I discovered him, he was about two feet up the siding. We encouraged him (with a broom) to go the opposite direction and he slithered up under the wicker loveseat so that he was hidden beneath the seat. Yikes! He eventually left the  porch altogether.

Now that it's all ready, it seems a shame that there isn't enough to time to spend much time sitting and relaxing out there!

Paper Stars

Something about my mantel has been bothering me ever since I finished it. It was lacking something and I could envision an improvement by adding two more small stars on the end with the lantern.

I'm not a shopper, but whenever I was out on errands I would take a look to see if I could find some 3 dimensional stars. Yesterday I happened to stumble upon this star at Walmart when I was getting cleaning supplies. It seemed the right size and was under $4, so I threw it in the cart.

I still needed a little one, though, so I decided I would make what I needed. I found an online template for 3-D stars, printed them and began folding! Craft paper was too thick, so I used regular copy paper and then gave them a light mist of silver spray paint. In the end, I only had a spot for one.

I am satisfied now!  By the way, look at these cute patriotic kitchen towels that my sister-in-law gave me last night. They will be just the right touch!

My stars! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Cauliflower Salad

This is a good salad recipe that I have been preparing for a long time. Although it's tasty any time of year, I think we're getting into the best salad season. Soon it will be summer and fresh-from-the-garden produce makes for superior ingredients!

Please note that I substituted a red pepper for the green today because that's what I had on hand. I also have shown the crumbled bacon set aside because I prefer to stir-in this last ingredient at serving time.

Cauliflower Salad
Combine and set aside:
1 cup mayonnaise
(scant) 1/4 cup sugar

Prepare:
1 small head of cauliflower, raw, washed and broken into little pieces

3/4 pound cooked bacon, crumbled
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate. It tastes better after it has blended several hours in the refrigerator.

You know how everything has to have a story with me, so I will share how I acquired this recipe. As a college student, I worked part time at preschool close to campus. One of the mothers brought this dish for the teachers and we all loved it! She gave us the recipe and it's been a favorite ever since. I am a little dismayed when I stop to think how many years ago that was! I was just preparing for my career at that point and, as a matter of fact, today is the last day of school in the district in which I taught. That means it's been  a year of retirement for me. That also means I have had this recipe for just about 35 years. Wow! Where does the time go?!

I hope you enjoy this simple salad!

Front Door Swag

We have a grapevine-base swag around our front door. Four times a year, I change the floral/greenery display (maintaining the same network) to match the seasons. It's time to switch from springtime to summer, so that's been on my list for several days. The weather hasn't cooperated, though. After a string of very rainy days, the sun is out today and so I decided to tackle the job! Away went the daffodils, forsythia and tulips and up went the geraniums, peonies, lilies, daisies and poppies.

The job was not without obstacles, though. When I climbed up the ladder, this is what I found ...

That's right! Not one, but two nests full of eggs. Each year this happens and, in fact, last year I had to postpone the job because the babies had already hatched. I discovered them after I set-up the ladder and was just about to begin the job. Sigh. I told them I would give them a few weeks to mature and move on before I changed my swag and that's exactly what I did. These two mothers were very perturbed with me and flew into the nearby Magnolia to scold me. I promised them I would work quickly so that they could get back to warming the eggs and I did! In record time, I completed the task and got out of the way. I am curious, though, why they would opt for the swag when they could use one of these trees in the backyard forest (or even one of the many out in front)!

At least the door is finished. Now I need to wash the wicker furniture, get out the cushions, hang the patriotic buntings and change the doormat. Then the porch will be officially ready for summer. I look forward to that, but I think the poor birds have had enough trauma for today! Stay tuned for part two in the near future!

Tuesday's Tablescape

Today's tablescape shows some new dishes and glasses. No, they are not mine! We gave them to my mother for Mother's Day as she, too, loves seasonal dishes! Although she has several place settings of this new pattern, we put down the table leaves to create a setting for two. She found the orange placemats, which I think are a perfect match.

Don't the vibrant flowers lend themselves well to summer fun?

It's dreary and damp and cold today, but at least this table is bright and cheery!

I wish you a bright and cheery day!

Soda King

Last summer my parents gave me an old wooden Coca Cola crate (which was stored in their basement) after I had seen decorating ideas using them. It's part of a display in Randy's office. With it, though,  came an old Soda King crate so I decided to use it for a patriotic vignette in the kitchen. We think the crates are from the 60s and although I tried to get some history on "Soda King", I wasn't able to learn much.

I pilfered through my stashes to find what I wanted. The cobalt ware (both the plate and the covered butter dish) came from Cracker Barrel years ago and were Christmas gifts. I have always loved them since I have a fondness for this color combination. I think the little red transferware plate was a garage sale find eons ago and I had the white one. The linen napkins, flag and boxwood ball were also on hand.

I figured an old Soda King crate had to contain some beverage bottles, so I pulled out the vintage Coca-Cola, Sprite and Pokagon vessels from where I had them on display in a glass-front kitchen cupboard.

By the way, Pokagon was a small company in northeastern IN that made many different flavors of soda pop (that's how IN refers to it). It's been out of business since I was little, but when my cousin unearthed this old bottle in his yard about 20 years ago, he thought of me! Thank goodness! He and his family reside in the lake house my grandparents built in that region of IN and I am positive lots of cold Pokagon soda pop was enjoyed  on hot summer days there over the years.

I hope you enjoy your day!

Show and Tell

I have a little "show and tell" for you this fine Friday! Since I am using star accents in my seasonal patriotic decorations, I've shopped the house for items that I could use. Then I remembered this little antique lamp at my parents' house. Hmmm...wouldn't that fit in perfectly?

Aren't those cute little red stars on the milk glass shade? This lamp was a gift to my mother's parents when they were married 80 years ago. We're not positive at what point my mother was given it, but I know that it's been part of our household since I was little. My mother remembers rewiring it years ago and it's been casting its soft glow ever since. When I got my new French Provincial bedroom set in third grade, this was the lamp on my desk. When our family moved to the house in which my parents still live, it went in the guest room on the bedside table. It's currently in their family room, but I get to borrow it for the summer since it fits my decorating theme! We'll, very carefully, wrap it, bring it here and put it in the perfect spot that I have in mind.

Have a bright and happy weekend!

Meatball Sauce

This is my favorite meatball sauce because it's so flavorful. It's my mother's recipe, so we've been eating it for years. I happen to be preparing it for our dinner this evening, so thought I would share it with you.

Meatball Sauce

garlic powder--2 shakes

1/2 T butter

1/4 cup catsup

1/4 cup chili sauce

1 T brown sugar

1/2 T mustard

1/2 tsp. celery seed

1/8 tsp. salt

hot sauce--few drops (or to your liking)

lemon juice--few drops

(You will probably want to double the recipe.)
Add cooked meatballs to this sauce so that they are coated and then serve on hotdog buns. You can drizzle a little sauce over the top. These sandwiches go well with baked fries (or potato wedges) and Cole slaw.

Bon  Appetit!

Kitchen Vignette

I quickly put together a patriotic vignette while I was home. I just used my antique scale, a stack of my star dishes and a pitcher to go in the corner on the kitchen counter.

Here is a close-up of the glass pitcher, which my parents gave me a few years ago. It's from Pier 1 and I love the cobalt flowers! It's the perfect size to be functional, too.

I wanted a touch of red, so I tied the bow to the handle of the

plate stand.

Have a good rest of the day!