For Mom With Love (T)

Mother's Day Brunch

 I'll start with these beautiful roses- love the two tone coloring.  I selected them because they have the same vibrant red color that is found in the floral part of the placemats used with today's tablescape.

 Next I am showing the two sides of the butterfly placemats that I decided to use.

 I wanted this to be cheerful and Mom loves blue so I made sure there was plenty of blue on the table! 

 I used a semi-transparent white glass dish to elevate the dinner and salad plates.

 Mom has always liked a casual country look in the kitchen so that was what I wanted to create.  I'll start with some cut up pieces of strawberries and melons chunks.  Then we can have the Creme' Brulee French Toast (recipe below) that I've made a few times.  I'll add some bacon (mom loves) and sausages.  Orange juice and coffee (we love coffee).

 I like the look of both sides of the placemats and part way through creating this tablescape I decided to switch to two of each showing.

A pair of birds dropped in to see if there are any leftover crumbs!

This vase is hand blown and I love the ruffled edge.

The narrow neck of the vase helps keep flowers standing tall.  I used the baby's breath that came with the roses as a filler along the ruffled edge.

I like to put the napkins in the drinking glass because of how it adds some drama and draws your eyes up. 

Can you see how the tealights are glowing through the glass at the bottom of the vase!  I didn't really need tealights for this table but I like the special affects they add!

  

Well- that's a wrap!

 For Mom With Love

 Thank you for joining me and I am

Wishing You All a Happy Mother's Day

I'll be joining:
Tablescape Thursday 

Today's players:

Blue dishes- Devon Cottage by Johnson Brothers

White salad plate-  no brand label- only says Made in Portugal- from One King's Lane

White semi-opaque glass dishes found at T.J. Maxx 2 years ago

Flatware called Baroque found at Neiman Marcus several years ago- discontinued

Placemats from Kohl's

Stemware-  Napoleonic Bee Wine Glass by LaRochere

Glass Vase from One King's Lane several years ago

Tablecloth- Tommy Hillfiger found at Home Goods a while back

 Printable version from my Google recipe page: Creme Brulee French Toast

Note:This is a rich sweet recipe- you don't need additional syrup since it forms a sugary layer at the bottom when it bakes.  Don't underbake otherwise it can be mushy.  Use a bakery style loaf of bread not a standard bread loaf.

Crème Brûlée French Toast

Ingredients

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• an 8- to 9-inch round loaf country-style bread
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

In a small heavy saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and corn syrup over moderate heat, stirring, until smooth and pour into a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking dish. Cut six 1-inch thick slices from center portion of bread, reserving ends for another use, and trim crusts. Arrange bread slices in one layer in baking dish, squeezing them slightly to fit.

In a bowl whisk together eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, Grand Marnier, and salt until combined well and pour evenly over bread. Chill bread mixture, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 350° F. and bring bread to room temperature.

Bake bread mixture, uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed and edges are pale golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve hot French toast immediately.

Originally found here and can be printed from this link: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Creme-Brulee-French-Toast-15213#ixzz17gKmZrGS

Wintry Country Morning Breakfast

Well winter has placed her firm grip on us up north here and I am officially calling this "deep winter" now!  Any of you who would like to have snow just take a peak at my pictures and you can pretend!

My little jingle bells poinsettia is still going strong.  After doing some cleaning up in my office I found this basket that had been forgotten about so I place the plant in there and surrounded it with moss.  I wanted to keep the table setting kind of countrified so this is how I started.

I also wanted to still keep the blue coloring going in this area so I dug out my Johnson Brothers Devon Cottage dishes.  I've used these staged on the plate rack as in "here" "here"  and "here" with another tablescape.

I used this tablecloth to keep the design plain and added the red napkins to compliment the poinsettia.

The wicker chargers draw on the color of the moss adding some organic tones and keep country feeling going.

I adore this cow creamer made by Polish Pottery and my new glasses were perfect for this setting.

I'm using my tripod and have the camera on a manual setting because it's just not all that bright out.  We received about 15" of snow in the past 5 days.

See the bird feeders out there?  We keep them filled all winter and as you can see there's a lot of snow on them!  The tops were empty of snow only last Friday.

They like the tray feeder and empty it first.  The bottom left one holds suet.  The hang on from the bottom to feed.  My regular visitors are Cardinals, Chickadees, Nuthatches and various woodpeckers. Sometimes the finches show up but not consistently until spring.  If you have one feeder and want to know what to use just put out black sunflower seeds.  Don't buy the wild bird mixes because they usually have a lot of seed that only a few birds want.  It ends up getting kicked out on the ground.

I crave color in the winter.  Though there is really only the two of us it looks nicer to set the table for 4!

 The tablecloth is something I bought from One King's Lane several years ago.  It's one of my favorites.  It has a nice weight to it and I love the soft red striping.  They called it "Classic Stripe Tablecloth Red" by French Laundry.  They still offer it in a pillow but not the tablecloth.

Last Sunday I made these scrumptious pancakes that my sister shared with me.   Turns out the recipe is from Trisha Yearwood on the Food Network.  It makes a lot of pancakes so next time I might try half the recipe for hubby and myself.  I failed to take pictures but trust me they're delicious! 

Blueberry Pancakes

by Trisha Yearwood

This is the "link" to the recipe but I also copied it and dropped it on the page below here.  I added one little change regarding the butter.  They should have said "divided" for the stick of butter because you only use a 1/2 stick in the recipe and the other half was simply for cooking.  I didn't have blueberries or lemon zest so I made it without and they were still very good!  

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk, plus more if needed
1 cup sour cream
1 stick butter, melted (divided)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

I will be joining the following parties:

Have a Cup With Mrs. Olson

for

Share Your Cup

Ivy and Elephants 

for

What's It Wednesday 

Between Naps on the Porch

for 

Tablescape Tuesday

Rattlebridge Farm

for

Foodie Friday and Everything Else

Rustic and Refined
for
Table It 

A Stroll Thru Life
for
Inspire Me Tuesday

Kitchen Dining Plate Rack Mid Summer

I've been dragging my feet on doing things indoors lately.  Doesn't that seem to be the way it goes in the summer!  

I was staring at the plate rack thinking I'd like to spruce up the top area a bit so I did the "shopping my own house" routine and put this together.

The milk bottle came from Michael's a few months ago. My husband was raised on a dairy farm and they had Holstein cows so this had extra meaning for purchasing it.  Holstein cows produce the highest yield of milk and therefore are the most widely used for dairy production.

  

 I tucked the blue vase just behind the white cow vase so it looks good from this side and the blue picks up on the plates as well as my giant blue vase that's just below the rooster.  After studying my pictures I've decided I'm going to paint the red basket that's on the wall black.  It will look more cohesive and better with the clock that's above it.   I'm working on hubby to add the beadboard wainscoting that I've wanted for years.

The dishes I've used several times are called Devon Cottage by Johnson Brothers.

Stop by my garden blog if you have a minute-

that's where my heart is during the summer months!

Click the link below!

 It's Lily Time!

 I'm joining
Share Your Style #22

Simple Summertime Dining

When our son married a few years ago the colors chosen by the bride were cobalt blue with accents of beautiful sunflowers. I posted about it "here"

I fell in love with the color combo. 

As we are in the last 1/3 of summer beautiful colors like sunflowers are appearing.  My little kitchen dining nook is the only place I showcase any blue and I'm adding some sunflowers to embrace this time of year.

This was an impromptu table I set using a faux sunflower in the simple brown bottle along with some real flowers called Browallia that are a pretty shade of blue/purple.  In the flower world there is no "true blue" but there are some flowers that get pretty close!

The little picket fence candle holder is a new favorite of mine and it fit in with this casual dining setting.  The little bud vase was from Pottery Barn a few years ago.  See how blue those flowers look here!  The cobalt blue stemware was a lucky clearance find at Pier 1 a little while back.

 The dishes are called Devon Cottage by Johnson Brothers which I placed in some willow chargers and the blue cobalt flatware from Horchow anchors the color some more.  The chargers and napkin rings were both from One King's Lane.

I added a bottle of Riesling from a local winery called Bry's Estate

The French Laundry tablecloth was also from One King's Lane.  

The whole time I was prepping this table I was being chased and played with by my new kitten Teddy.  I posted about him last Friday but I don't think many people saw it.  I forgot how much fun a kitten can be (and sometimes challenging)!  I love him to pieces :-)

Simple summertime dining

There's still plenty of summer left, let's enjoy the beauty it offers!  I know a lot of people are saying summer is over, but I disagree wholeheartedly!  I think it's because in some areas kids are going back to school already, but come on summer goes through September 22nd!

Cuisine Kathleen has announced an End of Summer party to be held August 27th

(no fall themes)

I'm joining Between Naps on the Porch 

for Tablescape Thursday

Got My Blue Back On The Plate Rack

Well- I attempted to have just white dishes on my plate rack for a different look, but after a few days it was just to bland for me.

 I also wanted to get away from the Americana look I had started because I was veering off track from my Tuscan and French deco.

  I fussed around a bit and used a mix of 

items to create a new look.

I have to admit I love a country cupboard look and even though this is a narrow plate rack is I think I achieved what I was goaling for.

This plate rack would be cute with doors that have chicken wire on them. 

Sunflower pitcher by Maxcera, Pottery Barn Moo Cow creamer, Milkhouse Creamery Candle

Bordallo Pinheiro Rooster Pitcher

Devon Cottage pattern by Johnson Bros.

 

 I loaded up my big cobalt blue vase with wheat and I stuck pine cones in my antique salt glazed bowl.

I snatched a picture off another wall to see what a portrait style frame would look like next to the plate rack and I like it.  

 I have this print of a rooster that I'm thinking of framing to go where the sunflower picture is so I can put that back where it was. 

Now I want to paint the walls a different color!  I'll wait a little while longer to bring that up with the hubs!

I'll be joining

Between Naps on the Porch

for

Metamorphosis Monday

Twiggs Studio

for

Show Off Sunday

The Dedicated House
Make I Pretty Monday

Dwellings-The Heart of your Home
Amaze Me Monday

A Stroll Thru Life
for
200th Inspire Me Tuesday 

French Country Cottage
for
Feathered Nest Friday