~~~A Late Summer Breakfast~~~

 GOOD Monday morning, my friends!!!! I hope you had a beautiful weekend. I am praying for our friends in Fl. and the gulf states that Isacc will not harm anyone. One day last week I FINALLY had a chance to have breakfast on the deck.

 I usually enjoy this ritual ALL summer long but this year has been TOO HOT!

 I just had a very simple, light breakfast that day. My usual fare is cereal with fruit on it. I know, BORING!! I decided I wanted some yogurt and fruit. How adventurous am I?????:):) I stacked 2 outdoor placemats to bring in the aqua color of the plates

 The scallop shell plate is glass but colored aqua also. My little frog tealite holder JUMPED right up onto my plate. I think he may have been hungry too:)

 This is the design on the other plate. I have 6 of these with different shells on them.

 I also have these shell toothpicks, left over from my daugter's bridal shower:) So, I threaded some fruit on them for a mini fruit kabob.

 It was peach yogurt with strawberries and blueberries. I ran out of granola so didn't add that but missed it:)

 I do not like plain orange juice so always mix it with cranberry juice. I think the combo is delicious!

 I love these napkins, but forget where I got them now.

 The colors seemed very complimentary to the plates. For a napkin ring I used a candle ring.

 Took this shot to show you the BEES on the juice glass. Love these glasses.

 This is my view while eating out side. I WILL MISS THIS!!!!!! BUT, not in the Fall and Spring when the LEAVES are a nightmare to clean up!

 This is the glass my yogurt was in. It is the only thing I have that was my Grandmother's. I love the design on them, sadly I only have 2.

Thanks so much for stopping by and for all of your sweet birthday wishes. I will be joining these fun parties. Please visit some for some amazing INSPIRATION!!!!!!!!!:

Little Red House for Mosaic Monday~

Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish!~

StoneGable for Tutorials Tips and Tidbits~

A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday~

Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday~

2805 for Potpourri Friday~

Wow Us Wednesday

Savvy Southern Style

Feathered Nest Friday

French Country Cottage

Seasonal Sundays

The Tablescaper

XO, Pinky

~~Yummy Asparagus Roll Ups!!~~~

Good Saturday  evening! I wanted to share an appetizer that I made for a birthday dinner last night. There are many variations of these roll ups, and this one is different from ones I have made in the past. These were VERY delicious!

 You will see in the recipe that you take regular sandwich bread, cut the crusts off, and roll it flat with a rolling pin!!!

 Then the cream cheese mixture is spread onto the bread.

 Next you sprinkle the bacon bits onto the bread.

 I decided to sprinkle them onto the 2 sides of the bread so that when  cut them in half it made it easier, and the bread didn't tear.

 Here they are all rolled up. I forgot to get a picture of them cut in half and the out of the oven. But, they were a big hit, and very easy to assemble so I would highly recommend them for your next party!

ere is the recipe:
Asparagus Roll-Ups Recipe photo by Taste of HomeAsparagus Roll-Ups Recipe
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Asparagus Roll-Ups Recipe

• Prep/Total Time: 30 min.
• Yield: 10 Servings

20 10 30

Ingredients

• 16 fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 16 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 2 tablespoons minced chives
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

• In a large saucepan, bring 1/2 in. of water to a boil. Add asparagus; cover and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and immediately place asparagus in ice water. Drain and pat dry. Set aside.
• Flatten bread with a rolling pin. Combine the cream cheese, bacon and chives; spread 1 tablespoonful on each slice of bread. Top with an asparagus spear. Roll up tightly; place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Brush with butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
• Cut roll-ups in half. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 mins or til lighlt browned. Yield 32 appetizers. NOTE: there were 20pieces of adparagus in my bunch and I used almost a full loaf of bread.

I am joining these parties:
StoneGable for Tutorials Tips and Tidbits~
2805 for Potpourri Friday~
Metamorphous Monday
Cowgirl Up
Wow-Us-Wednesdays
What's it Wednesday

Feathered Nest Friday

Show and Tell Friday

~~~Arugula, Watermelon and Feta salad!!!!~~~

 Good Monday morning everyone!!! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had a BUSY weekend. Went to a Blue Rocks baseball game on Fri. night with our daughter and SIL, went to our dinner group dinner on Sat. night and then to another dinner on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FEEL FAT:):) But, I did want to share this recipe with you. This is the salad we had at the dinner I hosted 2 weeks ago. It was so yummy  could have eaten the whole bowl myself:)

 The dressing is DELICIOUS!! I hope you will try this salad, it is delish!

Here is the recipe for you:

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 1/4 cup minced shallots (1 large)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cups baby arugula, washed and spun dry
• 1/8th seedless watermelon, rind removed, and cut in 1-inch cubes
• 12 ounces good feta cheese, 1/2-inch diced
• 1 cup (4 ounces) whole fresh mint leaves, julienned

Directions

Whisk together the orange juice, lemon juice, shallots, honey, salt, and pepper. Slowly pour in the olive oil, whisking constantly, to form an emulsion. If not using within an hour, store the vinaigrette covered in the refrigerator.

Place the arugula, watermelon, feta, and mint in a large bowl. Drizzle with enough vinaigrette to coat the greens lightly and toss well. Taste for seasonings and serve immediately.

I will be joining these great parties:
On The Menu Monday-StoneGable
Menu Plan Monday-I'm An Organizing Junky
Foodie Friday-Designs by Gollum

~~~Dinner With The Crafty Ladies!!!~~~

 HI everyone!!! I hope you are trying to keep COOL in this crazy heat! Last night I hosted 4 ladies for a dinner. We call ourselves The Crafy Ladies, because we started out getting together to do a craft. We still do but last night was just dinner. I wanted to have them since it might be the last time I could have them in this house! My colors were chosen because I wanted to use my hydrangeas that are now turning a beautiful green! 2 years ago we used my hydrangeas for the centerpieces for our daughter's wedding!!!! SO, since Black and White with a touch of green is a favorite color combo of mine, that is what I did.

 I found these great PEAR candles a few years ago at Home Goods so I placed fresh pears in the bowls. I love to use fresh flowers and fruits. The pears don't LOOK to great but were the ONLY ones at the grocery and they TASTE wonderful!!!!

 Aren't the candles pretty!?

 I used a white tablecloth for a cool background, a green and white placemat, a rustic rattan charger, a green dinner plate, solid white dessert plate, black and white scroll salad plate and the bowl on top.

 The print of the salad plate matches very well with the npkins! The wire nest votive holders gave another touch of casualness to the table.

 This was our entree, Monterey Chicken. I will share the recipe this week. It was DELICIOUS!!!!

 Baked squash was our vegetable. I will be sharing all of these recipes since they all were great!!!!

 and this sald of arugula, watermelon, feta and mint was outstanding!!!

 Oh honey! I could have eaten that whole bowl:)

 It was served with this wonderful, citrus dressing. In my cabbage gravy boat that I found recently at....Home Goods!!!! Yes, I do practically live there:):)

 At the end of the table, I placed the dessert dishes, along with the forks, on a cake plate. They are ready to be used at the end of our meal.

 While I was doing the table and before I cut the hydrangeas I put my faux arrangement on the table so I knew what size I wanted. I used a green goblet and a clear goblet for our drinks.

 See how lovely the napkin is with the plate?

 My frog S and P joined us at the table.

 Thanks once again for your visit. I will be playing at these parties too:

Tablescape Thursday-BNOTP
Full Plate Thursday-Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Show and Tell Friday-My Romantic Home
Inspiration Friday-At The Picket Fence

Sunday Favorites-Happy to Design

Seasonal Sundays-The Tablescaper

Metamorphosis Monday-BNOTP

Motivate Me Monday-Keeping it Simple

Tabletop Tuesday-A Stroll Thru Life

Cowgirl Up-Cedar Hill Ranch

Let's Dish-Cuisine Kathleen

Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits-StoneGable

 XOXO, Pinky

~~~Monterey Chicken~~~~

 Good Sunday evening. Last week I promised I would share the  recipes from the dinner I hosted for my crafty lady friends. I didn't get pictures while I was making this but it is pretty self explanatory.

Here is the recipe:

MONTEREY CHICKEN

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c. bar-b-que sauce ( I use Bull's Eye)
1/4 c. real bacon bits
1 c. colby and jack cheese, shredded
1 14 oz. can Rotel tomatoes, drained (canned with green chilies added)
sliced green onions
pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pound out chicken breasts to flatten. Season with pepper. Grill chicken until no long pink (we used our George Foreman grill) and place on baking sheet covered with foil. Top each chicken breast with one tablespoon bar-b-que sauce, 1/4 c. cheese, 1/4 c. tomatoes, green onions and one tablespoon of bacon bits. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).

This is the recipe as I found it. I did not use a George Forman, I grilled the chicken on our outdoor grill. I also would use a little more cheese on each breast.  Maybe eve putting etra cheese on TOP of the breasts for the last few minutes. We all LOVED this dish and I hope you do too!!! I will join :

On The Menu Monday-StoneGable

Foodie Friday-Designs by Gollum

Show and Tell Friday-My Romantic Home

Thanks for your visit. XO, Pinky