Easter Dinner

EASTER D

INNER:

This Easter's dinner was inspired by the Peach Luster Fire King  dishes I have been collecting for many years. They have become a part of our Easter tradition as much as our menu, Easter baskets and church.

SG Weekly Menu March 28- April 4, 2010

SG WEEKLY MENU:

Greetings from beautiful Savannah GA! I am here enjoying a girl's getaway with my mother, daughter, sister-in-law and dear friend. We are having a wonderful time!

Today we walked the streets and toured the gorgeous historic homes as part of  The 75 Savannah Tour Of Homes And Gardens. The tour took us to the Ardsley Park area of Savannah. Established between 1900-1930, these mansions boast the best and most beautiful of their kind!  We were thrilled to be able to visit these wonderful homes today!

Tomorrow holds the promise of just as much fun and excitement as we are scheduled for the "Paula Deen" Tour', finishing with  a lunch at Uncle Buba's Oyster House. My daughter Jacqueline and I went on this tour last year and were so impressed that we want to share it with the rest of our group. We will spend the remainder of the day in Savannah's antique and interiour design district. This is heaven. I love southern style!

Then is is off to Blowin' Smoke for bar-b-que! Blowin' Smoke was recently featured in Southern Living. It is a marvelous place to eat! It will be a big day of eating, thankfully it will also be a big day of walking!

That's enough for now- I'll have some fun posts later.  Look for a recipe from tonights dinner at the Charter House- A parmesan crusted grooper topped with lump crab and served on a bed of smashed potatoes with a light sherry cream sauce. I'll try to reproduce it and get the recipe out to you!

Best Dishes From My Kitchen To Yours!... Paula

Monday:
Out to dinner

Tuesday:
Out to dinner

Wednesday:
Out to dinner

Thrusday:
Out to dinner

Friday:
Steaks on the Grill
Ceaser Salad
Roasted Potatoes and Onions

Saturday:
Out to dinner

Sunday: Easter Dinner
If I changed any part of this recipe my family would mutany. And that would be ugly on a Holy Day!

Fresh Field Greens, Strawberries, Bleu, Candied Pecans with Poppyseed Dressing
Honey Baked Spiral Ham
Potato Salad
Pineapple Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole
Homemade Rolls

Desserts are negotiable!
Strawberry Pies
Ice Box Cake (Upcoming  Foodie Friday- Part III Wow Factor Desserts)
Chocolate Truffles

MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED EASTER!
Yvonne

Sunday Scripture

SUNDAY SCRIPTURE:

Garden of Gethsemane, Mount of Olives Israel

They came with Jesus to a place called Gethsamane. And He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray".  And He took Peter with him and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be very sorrowful and heavy of heart.  Matt: 26:36-37

Sweet and Savory Palmiers

I was in a adventurous mood. I had planned to make little sweet palmiers (elephant ears) and got impatient while they were firming up in the frig.

 With one more sheet of pastry left I thought, "Why couldn't I make a savory version of palmiers?" 

Foraging in my frig I came up with three cheeses and some fresh chives. "Okay, good enough!" And the results were delicious...

Show Off Your Silver!

SHOW OFF YOUR SILVER:

Silver makes me swoon! It's beautiful reflective shine.The weight of it in my hand.  The refined  and formal feelings it evokes. Polishing away tarnish to reveal that unmistakable luster. Silver is jewelry for a table. And I love jewelry!

But not all silver is the same. And that is wonderful news. I have recently been treasure hunting in antique shops and flea markets and have found beautiful silver pieces at very reasonable prices...

SG Menu Plan March 22~ March 28, 2010

Weekly Menu:

Bloggers have the best recipes! It is inspiring to see the diverse and luscious dishes posted each week. I have been a better cook because of it!  This week I am trying two new recipes from some very creative blogging cooks.  Hope you will try them too!

One perfect example of a fabulous food blog full of mouthwatering pictures, recipes galore and lots of personality is Butter Yum. Don't you just love that name? And my friend Patricia can cook! She is celebrating her 1 year Anniversary in the blogging world and is having a generous giveaway. If you don't know what a Bouchon is you'll want  to find out. And if you already know I'm sure you are not even reading the end of this sentence-

She is giving away a Williams-Sonoma Silicone Bouchon Mold! Head on over to Butter Yum and enter to win! And she has posted a wonderul recipe and tutorial. Congratulations for bringing love in the form of food to our world!

Also, My dear friend Mrs. P at Faithfulness Farm is having a 100 post giveaway. She has posted 100 posts since July giving us a wealth of interesting and creative ideas, recipes and thoughts. One lucky person will get a wonderful bunch of goodies including one of her beautiful hand embroidered tea towel. I would love to have this! Go visit Faithfulness Farm for a chance to win a lovely prize and to send a big Kudos!

MONDAY:
Shrimp and Bow Tie Pasta In Lemony Garlic Sauce
Roasted Broccoli

Recipe: Shrimp and BowTie Pasta In Lemony Garlic Sauce
1 1/2 lbs. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tsp. olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp capers
1 TBS. butter, melted
1 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
2-3 TBS. fresh chopped parsley

Make bow tie pasta.
Preheat oven 425 degrees. Arrange shrimp in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Mix the rest of the ingredients, except parsley. Pour over shrimp. Bake for 10 minutes. Put shrimp and juice over bow tie pasta. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.

TUESDAY:
Not Just Another Chicken Casserole
Roasted Aspargus with Shaved Parmesan Cheese
Sauteed Rice

Recipe: Not Just Another Chicken Casserole
Sue at I Need Mom  has a fabulous casserole for chicken. I just had to give it a try. I think this one is company worthy, too! Sue and I met about 6 months ago when I started blogging. She also started at that time too. We find so many similarities in our lives and I have so enjoyed her friendship! Thank, Sue. Click HERE for this recipe.

WEDNESDAY:
Veal Picatta Over Whole Wheat Pasta
Greek Salad

Recipe Veal Picatta
This is a favorite here at StoneGable. I make it with chicken and veal. The recipe calls for chicken, but substitute veal scallopini. Click HERE for recipe.

THURSDAY:
Chili
Rice (from Tuesday)
Mexican Explosion Salad

Recipe: Sweet and Spicy Chili
2 lbs beef stew cubes
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 TBS. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 green pepper, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 l6 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 cup catsup
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup red wine
1 TBS chili powder
1/2 TBS ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt.
grated cheddar cheese
tortilla chips

In a rimmed plate mix flour, salt, pepper and chili powder. Dredge beef cubes in flour.
In a dutch oven, heat oil. When oil is hot, brown beef on all sides. Remove beef. Add onion and pepper and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Return beef to the pan and add kidney beans, canned tomatoes, catsup, chili sauce, red wine, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Bring to a simmer  and partially cover pan with lid. Simmer for 1- 1 1/2 hours until beef is tender and still flavorful. Serve in bowls. Sprinkle with grated cheese and top with crushed tortilla chips.

 FRIDAY:
Grilled Balsamic Marinaded Chicken
Roasted Potatoes and Carrots In Garlic Oil

Recipe: Grilled Balsamic Marinaded Chicken
1 1/2 lbs chicken tender strips

Balsamic Marinade: This is very yummy. I love to grill vegetables and pour a little of this marinade on them!
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
1 TBS worchestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic
1 TBS mustard
In a meduim bowl, whisk all ingredients together. 

Put chicken in a zip lock bag and pour marinade over it. Marinade for 30 minutes to 4 hours. Grill on hot grill until done. This chicken tastes great!

SATURDAY:
La Pasta di San Guiseppe
Ceaser Salad With Anchovies (YUM!)

This recipe came to me from my friend Pattie and her sweet daughter Allie (hi, Allie!). I love this blog (and these two ladies!). It is like being a part of a big Italian family. I feel like I know members of her family as she writes vivid, beautiful stories about them and their homeland. I am making this pasta in honor of Grandpa Joe! Click HERE for this recipe.

SUNDAY:
Dinner in Savannah, Ga!!!!!! Girl's getaway!
GOING TO SAVANNAH IS LIKE FINDING THE MOTHERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!

Have a wonderful week, and if you are in Savannah I'm the one with the camera- please say HI!

Sunday Scripture

SUNDAY SCRIPTURE:

Roman Aqueducts, Mediterranean Sea, Israel

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

And be kind to one another , tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.   Ephesians 4: 31-32

Pansies In Eggshell Pots

A Pink (And Purple) Tutorial:

Some of you have commented on these sweet pansies planted in an eggshell pot and asked me how I did it. So, here is a very easy tutorial to make these little pieces of springtime. To see this decoration  used in the tablescape "Pansies And The Girl's Breakfast", click HERE.

Crack an egg about 1/3 the distance from the pointy end.

Keep the egg for another use, and rinse out eggshell. If you feel the opening is too small, just chip it away by breaking little pieces off until the opening is satisfactory.

Using a teaspoon, fill just the bottom of eggshell with potting soil.  Take pansy out of pot and gently break away all soil and root hairs until you have just a small clump of dirt and the root- about the size of the egg.

Gently push pansy root into the egg. Dribble a few drop of water onto the soil to water.

Clean any dirt off eggshells and put in egg cups. I added a little hand twisted birch wreath around the base of the egg cups for interest.

You could also add moss to cover the dirt to give it a more polished look ( I chose not to do this, I like the earthy look). I added a small egg as an accent.

Your creation will last up to a week inside. When ready to plant outside, crack egg and repot the pansy.

I am joining Beverly for Pink Saturday at  How Sweet The Sound. Come on over and see all the creative pinkness!

Herbed Quiche Lorainne

This week I had some of my wonderful girlfriends for breakfast. I wanted to make an egg dish because I used egg shells as little pots for violas so I had eggs on hand.

To see post click HERE.

I have a love/hate relationship with quiche. It can be so delicious and full of great savory ingredients. But more times than not, the crust is soggy and the quiche tough. I really don't like tough quiche! Not appetizing!

So I went on a search to find a fluffy, light and spectular tasting quiche. I found a recipe that called for ricotta cheese and knew I was on to something. I adapted this recipe and used my girlfriends as guinnea pigs (figuratively girls... you are all so beautiful!).  This herbed quiche lorainne got enthusiastic thumbs up! Eveyone belonged to the clean plate club!

THIS IS A DEEP DISH QUICHE- YOU WILL NEED A DEEP DISH PIE PAN

Recipe: Fluffy Herbed Quiche Lorraine

1 pie crust- recipe follows

2 cups Swiss Cheese

1 cup cooked ham slice, finely diced

3/4 cup whole Ricotta cheese

9 eggs

1 1/2 cups light cream

2 TBS fresh dill, finely chopped

2 TBS fresh parsley, finely chopped

3 green onions, finely chopped using green too

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees:

Pie Dough Recipe: I use Martha Stewart's- It is the best I've ever used. It has a flakey buttery taste.

Click HERE for recipe.

Roll out dough and line deep dish pie plate.  Grate cheese and sprinkle in the bottom of the pie plate. Top with ham. Put the pie plate in the refrigerator until ready to fill.

In a blender, mix eggs, ricotta cheese, milk and process for 1 minutes.  Add herbs and salt and pepper and whizz for a couple of seconds to encorporate- do not overblend.

Take pie dough out of refrigerator and fill with egg mixture. Put pie plate on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes. (I was very surprised it took that long!) I at first put my timer on for 1 hour, then put it on in 10 minute increments. The quiche will be set and puff up quite high.

Remove from the oven and let cool for at LEAST 15 minutes. Cut in wedges.

 

Spring Table

Pansies And The Girls Breakfast:

What's not to love about pansies! They are pretty, happy flowers that welcome spring. And at StoneGable, pansies are the center of attention these days.  They are the first of this season's flowers to be planted... outdoors and in! I had the idea for this tablescape rolling around in my head for awhile and wanted to invite a few of my wonderful girlfriends over to have breakfast with the pansies.

 Little violas (small pansies) planted in egg shells was the inspiration for this table. 

 I saw a faux rendition at a gift shop and thought it would be so pretty to try and make real ones.  And actually it was so much fun! I will post a very easy tutorial on Saturday.

Simple white egg cups hold the violas in their egg pots.  A hand twisted birch wreath encircles the base of the egg cups.

The egg cups sit on a collection of mismatched white plates. The top plate is one I recently bought from a local antique shop with this table in mind...  A fanticiful purple floral transferware with a beautiful ruffled scallop edge. It is an engraving from an original 1830's drawing. Reproduced by Royal Staffordshire, this pattern is called Charlotte.

The edges of the plates give a feeling of ruffled petticoats!

To accent this mostly white and purple table I chose to use just a whisper of yellow. Vintage yellow cotton placemats with white floral detailing lay crisply on a vintage white damask tablecloth.

 A Napoleon Bee fork (Horchow)  rests on a matching napkins and brings another touch of this soft yellow to the table.

Purple and yellow pansies are planted in a white pedestal ironstone bowl. It's fluted shape and scallopped edges are reminiscent of the plates on the table. Green moss covers the dirt to give it a prettier finished look.

The centerpiece is given height with willow twigs. And to carry the egg theme to the centerpiece, little eggs are tucked in between the pansies.  Check back for a simple tutorial about planting the pansies on Saturday.

Little delicate porcelain cups have a leafy textured pattern. These were a recent find a a local antique shop.

White bubble goblets for water and grape colored ribbed flutes for a sherbert orange drink are waiting for my guests.

A white domed butter dish is edged in gold. (Vileroy and Bosch- Black Pearl)

Lavender pillar candles on tall ornate white candlesticks add height to the center of the table.

A frequent workhorse of my table are my Mikasa Italian Countryside salt and pepper shakers and cream and sugar bowl.

Breakfast is almost ready... Now all I need are my friends!

The Menu:

Pinapple Orange Juice with Rainbow Sherbert

Assorted Coffee & Teas

*Orange Cranberry Muffin with Stuffed Orange Marmalade Cream

*Fluffy Herbed Quiche Lorraine

Hash Browns

Kielbasa

Fresh Fruit and Royal Ann Cherries in Cherry Sauce

I will be posting recipes and pictures for the Orange Muffins and the Quiche tomorrow evening.  Also remember to look for a tutorial on planting pansies in eggs  on Saturday! 

I am participating in Tablescape Thursdays, hosted by the one and only Susan at Between Naps On The Porch. Go see all the creative tables, and you are sure to be inspired!