Thanksgiving Tables

Before I get knee deep in decorating for Christmas I realized I had not shared my tables for Thanksgiving. This year we had the whole family celebrating Thanksgiving and we do have so very much to be thankful. With so many of us we needed two tables.

Watching over all my kitchen activities were Mildred and Milton.

 

Having a red dining room I am often carefull about colors of tablecloths. This year I stepped outside the box, for me anyway and decided to use an orange tablecloth mixed with some napkins with pumpkins and bordered in the red on the walls, who knew it would work?

Always using my Spode dinnerware for Thanksgiving. The stemware is also Spode and I use them often in the Fall.

 

 

My acorn napkin rings I found in an antique shop while on a trip to Blowing Rock, NC with a dear friend.

 

 



 

 

These adorable little salad bowls were a purchase last year at Pottery Barn while in Atlanta.

 

 

 

I always use seasonal pumpkins, squash and assorted gourds for my table arrangement in an antique dough bowl.

 

 

The dining room opens to our screened porch and this year even after having some very chilly weather I was able to set up the children's table. With the French doors open the children, the grands with the exception of the high chair crowd, they feel like they are right next to the grown ups. Fortunately it was a warm enough day to do that.

 

 

Special placemats for the grands that were purchased last year from Pottery Barn Kids.

 

 

 

These Turkey napkin rings are very special to me, my mother made them for me many years ago. When I take them out from my sideboard every year it brings back some fond memories.

 

 

 

We truly have so much to be thankful for in view of all of the sadness around the world. What more does one need but family and those precious grands. A good time was had by all.

 

 



 

I am linking this post to Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

 

Fall and Halloween Decorations

Over the past few weeks I have been busily trying to get out all my Fall decorations and a few Halloween decorations. I now limit my Halloween decorations but I have a collection of some really special pieces that I have collected over the years that I feel need to be enjoyed. My Fall decorations remain out until after Thanksgiving.

This is at my front entrance, this scary pumpkin I use to put my trick o treat candy in on Halloween evening. It is part of a collection I have that are made of paper mache'.

 

 

This scary guy is another of the paper mache' collection and sits at the end of my island in the kitchen. He sets the mood in the room that I spend most of my day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This witch is very special to me since she was handmade by a very dear lady and friend. She is also in my kitchen sitting right next to my favorite tea set, a handmade set by an American potter, Frances Palmer. My witch that I named Glynda watches over all of my kitchen activities.

 



In the Reading Room/Breakfast Room I have a newly acquired piece, I went to my Garden Circle meeting last week and our guest speaker made this for demonstration purposes. As she talked about how she put it together I signaled to her that I wanted to buy that piece. I didn't want anyone else to walk away with it since I had a perfect spot for it.

 

 

The wreath hung on the mirror I have had for a long time and it has held up well. It is made from corn husks and dyed. Below is the new piece that I bought and worked so well in the center of my mantle.

 

 

 

I just loved the little birds coming out of the gourd and the loosely woven natural ribbon worked so well with this whole piece. I also finessed my French Guinea Hens on the mantle too, they tied in the color of the candle holders that I recently ordered from Pottery Barn.

 

My Breakfast Room table, a Fitz and Floyd soup tureen.

 

 

 

 



A few others all through the house.

 

Another pumpkin sitting on my antique French Pastry Table at the end of my kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At my back entrance where guests are best and I always try to have a welcoming entrance.

 

 

These on this table are part of a Lizzie High collection.

 

 

 

 

A few more in our Family Room.

 





 

 

 

 

This is another piece from my Lizzie High collection.

 

 



 

 

And most often this time of year there is a soup or stew bubbling away on my stove. I like to think they taste better when made in my Pumpkin Staub pot.

 



 

I hope you have enjoyed some of my Fall and Halloween decorations. I am sharing this post at Marty's blogging party, Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll thru Life. For more decorating inspiration you can click HERE.

New York Style Cheesecake

Several weeks ago I was cruising a few of my favorite blogs and found this recipe for New York Style Cheesecake. Unfortunately I forgot where I found this and would really like to give credit where credit is due.

I have been making my own cheesecake for as long as I can remember and it is a crustless cheesecake but this one is absolutely amazing. I loved the addition of the orange zest, lemon zest and bourbon. This BTW put it over the top in my opinion.

New York Style Cheesecake

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1 1/2 cups
2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped from inside of pod and reserved
1 teaspoon bourbon or brandy
Strawberry sauce, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan, In a mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and mix well. Press onto bottom of spring form pan and bake until golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. When completely cooled, butter the sides of the pan.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

In a larage mixing bowl with an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups sugar, zests and vanilla and beat until light and creamy. Add the flour, then the eggs and yolks 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the sour cream, vanilla bean seeds and bourbon or brandy and mix until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Wrap the pan in foil and place in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to come half way up the sides of the pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Transfer cake to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate cake overnight before serving. Cut into wedges and top with strawberry sauce.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Strawberry Sauce

2 pints fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
Reserved vanilla bean
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons kirsch or brandy

Combine berries, sugar, water, reserved vanilla bean and zest and cook until berries are soft and the liquid is thick, about 10 minutes. Stir in the kirsch or brandy and cook for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and let cool. Spoon on top of the cheesecake and serve.
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It sounds like a really boozy cheesecake but it really isn't. It is quite simpley DELICIOUS!!!! Often I serve cheesecake with Ina Garten's Raspberry Sauce which is also excellent. For the holidays I will definitely be making this cheesecake again with Ina's Raspberry Sauce.

 

 



It's Friday and I am shring my post on Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollum.

Have a great weekend to all and with the holidays coming up WOW your guests with this delightful cheesecake.

Tarragon Chicken

A blogging friend had shared with me that she was enjoying Laura Caulder's program, French Food at Home which comes on the TV every day about 12:30 EST. Since I am not usually home at that time I have begun taping the program and watching in the evening when there is absolutely nothing of interest on the TV which is quite often. I too have come to really enjoy Laura's program and purchased one of her books by the same name as the program, French Food at Home.

Like many of us I am always looking for new and different ways of preparing chicken and this book had a wonderful recipe for Tarragon Chicken, typically French but oh so easy to prepare. This book was published in 2003 and I believe she has since published another book by the same name which follows her program. This was the first of Laura's books that I have bought and it is an excellent book.

 

 

 

 

Tarragon Chicken

 

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 chicken (about 3 pounds/1.4 kg), cut into 8 pieces

Salt and pepper

About 3/4 cup/175 ml white wine

1 shallot, finely chopped

About 1 cup/250 ml heavy cream

2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

Lemon juice to taste

 

Melt the butter with the oil in a large skillet over quite high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and fry in batches until well browned, about 5 minutes per side. Put all the chicken back in the pan, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm.

 

Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up the good bits on the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the shallot, and boil until the wine has reduced with the cooking juices to make a thickish sauce, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and half the tarragon. Boil down again to thick sauce consistency, 3 to 5 minutes.

 

Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Squeeze in lemon juice to taste. Put the chicken pieces back in and turn to coat, then transfer to a platter, scraping the sauce over the chicken. Scatter over the remaining tarragon, and serve.

 

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In her book, Laura says, that "this is certainly a bistro dish in it's simple execution and appearance, but somehow tarragon, with it's refreshing anise scent, raises the whole thing to a higher level". This is certainly true and since I do grow tarragon in my herb garden and I dearly love this herb it was a perfect dish for me. I did use only 1 whole chicken breast, halved which was perfect for my husband and myself but did make the same amount of sauce. I chose to serve it over a bed of fettuccine and the sauce was amazing. The addition of the lemon juice gave it an added freshness along with the fresh sprinkling of tarragon.

 

 

I used this Le Crueset which has a tight fitting cover and this is a perfect size that I use often. You gotta love Le Crueset, I don't know what I ever did without them.

 

 

 

 

 



This is a recipe that I will make over and over again, a REAL keeper that was absolutely delicious and the sauce was heavenly. If you try this dish you will not be disappointed and I pared it with a simple garden salad.

French food does not have to be difficult or time consuming. It's a Good Thing. It's Friday and once again I am sharing this recipe at Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday, a weekly recipe exchange. There are some excellent recipes shared and you can access them by clicking HERE.

What to do with all those Summer Tomatoes

I was gifted recently with quite a few heirloom tomatoes. Now I dearly love heirloom tomatoes after having success growing them the past couple of years. This year I didn't get them planted and have missed dearly having them at my disposable. When I received this wonderful gift of many different heirloom tomatoes I remembered going  to one of my most favorite blogs, Once Upon a Plate. Mari had also been gifted with some heirloom tomatoes and had done a post of a soup she had prepared for Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup. An Ina Garten recipe that Mari had tweaked to her own liking but it sounded delicious and when I received this fabulous gift it immediately brought to mind Mari's blog post. Now I have all of Ina Garten's cookbooks but had never prepared this recipe. What was I thinking?????

Here's what you do with wonderful and tasty Heirloom Tomato's besides making a Caprese Salad which is also delicious but this soup is quite honestly amazing. Now this soup can be made with any tomatoes but I think that the taste of Heirloom Tomatoes are so much more flavorful. Just my opinion???

Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup
serves 5 or 6

3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped red onions (2 onions)
2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
4 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, coarsely chopped (5 large)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup packed chopped fresh basil leaves
3 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
Julienned fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Parmesan Toasts (recipe follows) or croutons

Heat the olive oil in a large. heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute' for about 10 minutes, until very tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste, basil, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and stir well. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tomatoes are very tender.

Add the cream to the soup and process it through a food mill into a bowl, discarding only the dry pulp that's left. Reheat the soup over low heat just until hot and serve with julienned basil leaves and/or Parmesan toasts.

Parmesan toasts

1 French Baguette
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the baguette diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Make as many slices as you like to serve with the soup.

Place the slices on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle a thick layer of grated Parmesan on the toasts and bake for 5 to 10 minutes, until the toasts are lightly browned. Cool to room temperature.
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Now I didn't make the Parmesan toasts for my garnish but I will the next time I prepare this delicious soup.

I think it is always important when preparing a recipe to gather all your ingredients and prep each ingredient before beginning.

 

 

These tomatoes looked and smelled soooooooo yummy as they were cooking.

 

 

Pared with my homemade Pimento Cheese sandwiches it made for a simple dinner for two.

 

 

 

 

I took Mari's lead on this and since I had it in my herb garden I did add some thyme to the recipe. And since I was serving the soup with a sandwich I chose to top the soup with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of Black Truffle Oil instead of the Parmesan Toasts or croutons as Ina suggests. The Black Truffle Oil put this soup over the top IMO.

 

 

 

If you have access to some Heirloom Tomatoes I highly recommend this recipe. It is quite simply delicious.

 





It's Friday and time for Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollum. Thank you for visiting my blog and please do come again. If you try this recipe you won't be disappointed.

Farmer's Market Frittata

I often peruse my collection of cookbooks to prepare my grocery list for the week. Often I am looking for quick, easy but yet delicious recipes for dinner when I have had an unusually busy day. This recipe was just what I was looking for and it comes form one of my favorite cookbooks, Farm to Fork, cooking local, cooking fresh by Emeril Lagasse.

This frittata can be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or even a lighter dinner. It is simply delicious using the freshest of ingredients. Substitutes of course, can be made cup for cup depending on your personal preference but this recipe will not disappoint. This time of year we have a wealth of fresh vegetables so why not use them but in different ways.

You will need a pan that can go from cook top to oven and in this case I used my trusty cast iron pan.

Farmer's Market Frittata
Farm to Fork by Emeril Lagassee

8 eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup thinly sliced onions
1 cup thinly sliced yellow, red, or orange bell peppers, or a mix
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms (about 4 ounces)
1 cup fresh corn kernels
1 cup diced smoked ham
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as chives, basil, thyme, parsley, oregano, or your favorite mixture
1 cup grated Swiss cheese (about 4 ounces)

Set a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the broiler.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, salt and pepper together until combined.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a 10-inch oven proof saute' pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook, stirring as needed, until soft, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms and corn and cook for 2 minutes. Add the ham and cook until warmed through, 1 minute. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, and when it has melted, add the egg mixture. Sprinkle the fresh herbs over the eggs, and top with the grated cheese. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the eggs, undisturbed, for 3 minutes, or until the surface begins to bubble and the bottom starts to set.

Immediately place the saute' pan in the oven and broil until golden brown on top, 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the frittata from the sides of the pan. Tilt the pan and gently slide the frittata onto a platter. Serve hot or warm.

Serves 6
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My Notes: I used baby portobello mushrooms because I think they have more flavor and I also used a good imported Gruyere cheese.

 

 

The fresh herbs are essential to this dish and if you don't have an herb garden grow them in pots. Herbs make even the most mundane recipe just pop with flavor. With this frittata I used Sage, Thyme, and Basil.

 

 

 

This dish is just loaded with deliciousness and pared with a simple side salad it makes for a light but yet satisfying dinner.

 

I am linking this post to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.