What’s in YOUR Cookie Jar?

Here is mine…

and it’s filled with mouthwatering, ooey-gooey chocolately goodness!  As my daughter was walking out the door for school this morning, she asked me to bake some chocolate chip cookies. 

Although she would never turn down a chocolate chip cookie, she loves Nestle Toll House cookies the best.  This is such a classic recipe that I really feel silly posting a link for it…but just in case someone has been living on Mars for the last few decades, the recipe can be found here.  LOL!!

How long has it been since you had a chocolate chip cookie warm from the oven?  That long???  Well, come on in…I’ve got a plate of them right here.  I’ll brew a pot of tea to enjoy with our cookies and we’ll have a fine visit.

I’m joining Miz Helen for Full Plate Thursday and Gollum for Foodie Friday.

I’m so glad you decided to visit with me today!  I hope you’ll come back again soon.

DG

Jewels of the Sea

It’s that time again – Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is hosting Tablescape Thursday.  I’m joining in this week and hope to see you there!

I’m also joining up over at A Musing Potpourri for the  End of Summer Celebration.

Although you can’t tell by the temperature where I live, Autumn will soon be here.  I wanted to do at least one more summery table setting before it arrives.  I haven’t used my seashell plates since last summer, so I decided to use them for this setting.  It’s very similar to the one I did last year…just a few changes here and there.

I began with a white tablecloth over which I layered turquoise straw placemats.  A silver charger held white dinner plates that are trimmed with platinum and seashell salad plates. 

 

The salad plates featuring seashells and a starfish…

An oval bread and butter plate was topped with a butter pat also trimmed with silver.  I found these cute butter spreaders that have a blue fish on them several years ago at a thrift store. 

The goblets I added to the setting are one of my favorite sets.  I love how the blue glass fades into green at the bottom.

I added creamy white beaded napkin rings to the plaid napkins.

At each place setting, I placed a glass votive cup that I filled with sand.  Then I added a white candle and a seashell to each one.

The centerpiece was made using turquoise blue pillar candles with seashells embedded in them.  I also scattered seashells around the candles. 

It’s been a few weeks since I had played around with a table setting…and it’s been a busy few weeks!  After my decision to begin decluttering my life and home, I’ve been going through closets and drawers and getting rid of stuff. 

My dish pantry was such a jumbled up mess with tons of dishes and it was always a job just to find whatever I was looking for.  After paring WAY down on the amount of dishes I had, I organized what I decided to keep…and now I can actually find things when I want to do a table setting!  My dish pantry is now so organized, it’s really scary!  LOL 

My mother-in-law and I had a yard sale this past weekend and I managed to sell a good bit of the items I had.  I was determined that what I didn’t sell was not coming back home with me…so I donated what was left to a local thrift store after the yard sale was over.  I’m far from finished, but I’ve made a great start!

Thanks so much for visiting with me today.  I hope you’ll come back again very soon!

DG

Blueberry Cobbler

My wonderful husband has a constant sweet tooth…he loves desserts and really thinks I don’t make them often enough.  If he had his way, I’d be making a dessert every day! 

I’ve sort of been having a cobbler craving and it’s been a while since I made a dessert, so I decided to go to Food.com for a new recipe to try.  I usually make peach cobbler, but I had some blueberries in my freezer…I thought this recipe for Blueberry Cobbler sounded perfect.

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/2 c sugar

1/4 t salt

1 1/2 t baking powder

3/4 c milk

1/3 c butter

2 c blueberries

1/3 c sugar

1 t vanilla

Combine the flour, 1/2 c sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl.  Add the milk and butter; mix well.  Spread in a greased 8” square baking dish.  Sprinkle blueberries evenly over the batter.  Sprinkle the 1/3 c sugar over the batter and drizzle with vanilla.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

The cobbler was super easy to make and the aroma as it baked was heavenly!  Now if I can just stay out of it until after dinner tonight! 

I’ll be joining up with Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.  Thanks so much for visiting with me today!

DG

 

Candlelit Sunflowers (better known as enough is enough)

My tablescape today is a very basic, simple setting  and sort of reflects how I want my life to be in the future. 

For several weeks now, I’ve been reading posts on blogs about the reality of our lives.  Well, my reality is that I’ve realized enough is enough.  In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about…it’s STUFF.  All the stuff that is cluttering up my life and home. 

Do I really need all this stuff that fills my home?  How many sets of dishes does one family need?  How many sets of glassware…silverware…accessories to use on the table?  How many decorative items do I need to have around the house so I can share them in a blog party? 

The dishes I used in this week’s setting is really the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.  I found them at a thrift store a while back, brought them home…and then wondered where in the world I was going to put them.

When is it ever enough?  Well for me, I’ve reached that point.  I have a 24 square foot pantry packed with dishes, glassware, flatware, tablescaping items.  There is so much stuff packed in the pantry that half of the time I can’t even find what I’m looking for!  Then there is the closet in a small bedroom that holds even more stuff.  Not to mention the pie safe that contains dishes, the bottom of the buffet, the china cabinet…and the list goes on and on. 

I have box after box after box filled with Easter stuff, patriotic stuff, valentine stuff, halloween stuff…Well, no more!  No more going to a store to buy items just so I can come here and post about a new table setting or participate in a blog party.  No more digging around the house to find things and then have to pack it all back up when it’s all over. 

You’ve heard about “keeping up with the Joneses”…well my reality is that I can’t and I don’t want to try anymore.  I’ve been unemployed for almost 2 years with no job prospects in sight.  So not only can I not afford to buy any more stuff, but I simply don’t have space for it. 

I’m going to begin decluttering my home starting with my pantry and moving on to the rest of the house.  I’m having a huge yard sale in about a month and, if I don’t sell everything, it’s not coming back in my house. 

I’m honestly not trying to slam anyone who participates in blog parties with my post and truly hope no one takes it that way.  In many ways, this has been painful for me to write and life has given me some hard knocks lately.  It’s made me realize I need to make some changes for myself. 

I do hope to be able to continue to participate in blog parties occasionally…but you might see many of the same items being used and not really any new stuff.  

I’m joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

DG    

New Valances and an Old Chandelier

Last year, we had a kitchen makeover…new cabinet doors were made and the walls got a fresh coat of paint.  This is what the area above my sink looked like after we finished painting.

What I wouldn’t give to be able to get rid of the air conditioner in the window…unfortunately, I live in an older home and we don’t have central heating and cooling.  One good thing about it though…when the hot flashes hit, it sure is wonderful to walk in front of the air conditioner and feel all that cold air!

After the painting was finished, the hunt began for new window treatments!

My countertop is pink and it’s about 20 years old.  I love it just as much today as I did when I picked it out many years ago.  My husband tried to talk me into a new countertop last year when we painted, but nope…I told him no new countertop until I could find one the same color pink!  I admit it, I’m obsessed with the color pink and believe you can never have too much of it! 

I wanted to find valances that would work with the countertop and finally found the perfect ones last week on eBay.  Of course, they’re pink too!

This vintage chandelier was also an eBay find many years ago and hung in my living room until we replaced it with a ceiling fan.  I know many people don’t like ceiling fans, but here in the South, they sure do help when it’s so hot!  It’s been packed in my closet for months and I finally pulled it out and decided to give it a facelift too.

 

After removing all the prisms, I spray painted it with primer.  Then it got two coats of Rustoleum paint in Satin White.  Imagine my sweet husband’s face when he came in that afternoon and saw the chandelier hanging from a tree branch in the front yard so I could paint it!

When it was dry, I brought it in the house and mixed pink and cream paints together for a very soft pink color.  This was handpainted on the flower rosettes.  I hung it from a coat hanger to completely dry overnight.

You can see the pink rosettes here.

Now imagine the look on my husband’s face when I asked him to hang the chandelier over my kitchen sink!  He gave me this look like I had lost my mind!  He kept trying to tell me that it was too big and I would constantly bang my head on it when I’m working at the sink.

Well, he finally agreed to hang it for me…he’s such a sweetie!  So the area over my sink received a little mini makeover this past weekend…new valances and a new (old) chandelier.

I love all the extra light in my kitchen now!

In fact, I’m just “tickled pink” with my new valances and the chandelier!

Oh, and so far…I haven’t hit it once when I’ve been standing at the sink!  Told you I wouldn’t honey!

I’m joining up with these parties:

Rhonda at Blue Creek Home for Treasure Hunt Thursday

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday

Thanks so much for visiting!  I hope you’ll come back soon.

DG

Patriotic Tablescape

I hope all of my blogging friends had a wonderful Fourth of July holiday! 

Our day was filled with way too much food!  We got together with my husband’s family for lunch.  Instead of grilling, we decided to have fried catfish for lunch.  To go with the fish, we had cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans, cheese grits, hush puppies, Cajun cake, banana pudding, cherry cheesecake, and pound cake.  After lunch, we were fit for nothing but lazing around the house! 

This is a simple tablesetting that I did for our Fourth of July dinner tonight.  After that very heavy lunch, it was chicken salad sandwiches and salad for dinner…not that any of us was really very hungry. 

I started with a white tablecloth and red beaded placemats.  Next I added white dinner plates and blue glass salad plates.

Red, white and blue star napkins were gathered with white napkin rings topped with a flag.

Cobalt blue iced tea glasses and red acrylic handled flatware completed the place settings.

For the centerpiece, I started with a glass cake plate.  I filled the top of it with white candles, red roses, white carnations, curling ribbon and star garland.

Two small red, white and blue candles and two flag candles, all in glass votive holders, were placed around the cake plate.

I love this Blue Hour shot!  Almost time for dinner.

Time to light the candles…another shot showing the Blue Hour.

Thanks so much for visiting me today…gotta run for now, it’s almost time for fireworks!

I’m joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday.  I’m also joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

DG

 

Thrift Store Treasures

For several weeks now, I’ve enjoyed visiting all the blogs who participate in Treasure Hunt Thursday at Blue Creek Home.  So for the first time, I’m joining in with a couple of goodies I found.

While browsing my favorite thrift store last week, I came across these silver pretties.  The bottom of them is open, so I’m sure they originally had some kind of insert. 

I wish I could have found a set of four, but there were only two.  I couldn’t find any markings on either of them, so I don’t know who made them.  They’re probably silverplated.

I love the scalloped edges at the top.

Designs are embossed all around the holders.

Pyramids and palm trees can be seen in the design on the front.

Even the handle is decorated.

After leaving that thrift store, I decided to stop in at my favorite antique shop where I found these two glasses.

The top of the glasses are a smokey black color with a pretty silver scrolling design all around the glasses.

They are a perfect fit for the silver holders!

I can’t wait to plan a dinner for two using these!  I’ve been wanting to make a black and silver tablesetting, so this is a perfect excuse!

I’m so glad you stopped by!  Hope to see you again soon!

DG