Pears and Bargains, Tablescape Thursday

     This week is Thanksgiving, as well as Tablescape Thursday. I wish you all a day filled with love, family and wonderful food. Please take some time today or tomorrow and visit our hostess Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch to get some great table setting ideas from  the other participants.

     I really planned on doing a holiday tablescape this week. Of course that was before I went to Cracker Barrel and found the fall tureen and ladle on sale for half price! It is my first soup tureen, but I'm sure it won't be my last. I never really wanted one, then I joined in with Tablescape Thursday.

As you can see, it is very detailed. What you can't see is the pear that is in the cornucopia, I forgot to take a picture of that side. I used a a branch with some sugared fruit and just a touch of holiday glitz.

The dark green plates are from Wal-Mart. The salad plates I bought last month for $1 each at TJ Maxx. The crystal I've had for several years, as well as the gold flatware. I remember buying it years ago and I never used it until I set this table. I forgot all about it until I started tablescaping. The tablecloth is vintage with leaves and of course my gold napkins.

Aren't these cute for $1?

Do You Need One More Thing On Your Menu?

You know those meals where you just need "one more thing" to fill in the menu...this is the salad for you. It takes only a few minutes to make and doesn't require a ton of ingredients. I've had this recipe for 30 years. It says that I got it from Carol Johnson. Who is Carol Johnson?

Cauliflower Salad Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, washed and broken into bite sized pieces

1 green pepper chopped

1 jar pimento drained (small or large jar-you can find this with the vegetables)

1 can pitted ripe olives drained (any size olives-these are medium)

optional-1 onion chopped (I don't use onions when I cook)

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

juice from 1 lemon or 2 T. bottled lemon juice

3 T. vinegar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Put cauliflower, pepper, pimento, olives and onion (optional) in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, sugar...pour on lemon juice, vinegar and oil. Toss to cover all the salad ingredients. You can serve immediately, but it is even better if it sits in the refrigerator for a while and marinates. It is very easy to double this recipe for a larger crowd.

The colors make this salad a nice addition to a Christmas meal. I like the leftovers as a meatless lunch. Enjoy!

My Favorite Gift...And It Didn't Cost Anything

     What is it? This was a Christmas Gift from my daughter a few years ago. It is a memory jar. It is something that I would grab on the way out of the door if the house was on fire. I actually made one for my parents a few years ago and a couple of years later, my daughter made one for me.

     You really only need a jar of some kind. It can be a decorative jar with a fancy bow, or a plain jar with a piece of ribbon around it. I promise you that the person you give it to will treasure the gift.

     All you need to do is spend a few days making a list of memories you share with the person/people you are giving it to. They can be good memories or even sad memories, the point is that they are special memories that will make the person who reads the note stop, smile and remember. Cut some small strips of paper (scrapbook paper is a good option, but computer paper works). Write a memory on each piece and fold it in half. Fill your jar. It is more difficult than you think, so allow a few days to really think about it. I went all the way back to my earliest memories with my parents, my daughter did the same...she just didn't have to remember as far back!

     The above note (I told my daughter what I was sharing) was in my jar. My daughter was very ill on a Disney vacation when she was 5. While our luggage was staying in an expensive Disney hotel...all four of us spent several days and nights at an Orlando hospital. I slept at the foot of my daughter's bed. She was fine, but it certainly is a memory for our family.

     My daughter is 25 and she moved to Orlando 2 1/2 years ago, to work for Disney. I guess the experience didn't ruin her opinion of WDW. She is a remarkable young woman and we have a very special relationship. In other words, I miss her like crazy...but, she is living her dream and that makes me very happy. On days when I'm really missing her, I just pull a little note from the jar and somehow she doesn't seem so far away.

Easy, Cheap and Impressive...Do I Have Your Attention Yet?

I didn't do much cooking this week, so my blog has lacked in food ideas. It has been one of those weeks where I kept doing things that left me on a heating pad...and not standing in the kitchen. I can't even blame "old age" on my injuries...just being a klutz. Finally, last night I made one of my "regular" recipes.

Nothing makes a house smell as good as homemade bread baking. It also makes a great gift when someone moves in next door or you want to do something special for someone. It doesn't cost much to bake bread and yet anyone you give it to will be impressed. I have a simple recipe that I use all the time. The great thing about this dough is that you can make a loaf of bread with it, or individual rolls, cinnamon rolls or even a slightly sweet pizza crust. It all depends on how you shape it.

You can mix this dough in a bowl by hand (which I did for many years) or you can prepare it in a bread machine, which I do now. I just make it in the machine at the "dough" setting, then remove it and do the rest by hand. I don't like my bread to be in a square like the machine makes it. I do find that the machine dough is smoother than anything I ever accomplished by hand, but it certainly isn't necessary for it to taste great.

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 T. olive oil
1 egg beaten with a fork
1 tsp. salt
6 1/2 Tablespoons honey
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. yeast (1 packet as shown) don't use fast rising

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

Place the ingredients in the bowl (or bread machine bowl) as listed, making a "well" in the flour for the yeast.

Either put the bread machine bowl into the bread machine and turn it on at the dough setting or mix the dough gently with a spatula, until well blended. Place on floured surface and knead the bread until smooth. The dough should look something like the picture below after you are done kneading it.

If you are using the machine, just let it run through the dough process and remove it at the end. Mine take 1 1/2 hours. If you are doing it by hand, once the dough is smooth, place it in a large bowl that has been coated with olive oil, flip it once so that all sides get a light coating of the oil. Cover with a clean dish towel and set it aside for 1 hour in the warmest part of your kitchen. It should rise to about double in size. Remove the dough from the bread machine or from the oiled bowl after it rises and place on floured surface.

This is when you will shape the bread however you want it. Last night, I just made loaves. I split the dough into 2 equal pieces and shaped out long loaves of bread. Place them on a greased and floured baking sheet, cover with a clean towel and let them rise again for about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes, start checking the bread as soon as you can smell it. It should be golden brown.

For rolls, I pinch the large ball of dough into two pieces, then pinch those two pieces in half and then all four pieces in half. This will make  8 large rolls that can serve as buns. Cut them in half again for small dinner rolls. Place on greased and floured baking sheet, cover with a clean towel and let rise about 30 mintues. Bake them at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes depending on the size...watch closely.

For cinnamon rolls, roll the dough out into a large rectangle (about 12 x 8). Melt a stick of butter and pour it over the rectangle. Make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar (I don't measure, but you want the sugar mixture to cover the rectangle. Start with a cup of sugar and 2 tsp. of cinnamon, make more if you like them to be very gooey) sprinkle the sugar mixture over the top of the butter, add nuts if you like and roll them up jelly roll style so that you have a 12 inch roll when you are done. Slice them into I inch slices (you should get 12 rolls) and place cut side down in a greased 9x13 pan. Cover with a clean towel and let rise 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown on the top. Frost with any buttercream frosting if you choose. Below is the dough after I shaped it into a loaf, before the 30 minute rising period.

Sometimes when you are making bread, it just doesn't work out. I made the above bread last night for us, very quickly. It turned out fine. Today I made another batch that I was going to give to someone. It didn't rise. I used a different brand of yeast (the store was out of my regular brand) so that may have been the problem. Sometimes yeast can be too old, never use it past the date...it won't work. Most of the time it turns out great, but I've been making this bread for 15 years and I still have some flops, so don't give up if you don't get it perfect the first time. Enjoy!

Winter is in the Air-Tablescape Thursday

Thursday, my favorite day of the week is here again and Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch is our hostess for another week of beautiful tables and clever ideas. Please check out some of the other tablescapes, you will be amazed at the talented bloggers in our midst.

I really had no idea until this morning which direction I was going to take my table this week. In truth, I'm tired of using my gold napkins and fall colors. I wasn't quite ready to take on Christmas, so I decided to try a casual winter theme in black and white.

I used a vintage tablecloth and topped it with black placemats from Kohls. Next came my square white plates and black salad plates (both from WalMart) topped with a cute little snowflake appetizer plate from Crate and Barrel. Glasses with black spots, everyday flatware and white napkins finish the look.

Instead of using napkin rings, I used "ice" frosted branches. I also added red votive candles in my 50 cent, lead crystal votive holders from a local thrift store. I thought the table needed a "pop" of color. 

In the center of the table, two sparkling trees, a sleigh music box that was one of my last gifts from my grandmother, a gilttering sea urchin.

A scattering of silver stars.

I added a few black and white ornaments from my black and white tree of a few years ago. I dimmed the lights, lit the candles and enjoyed a winter wonderland.