1st Anniversary for Once Upon a Plate!

It is difficult for me to believe it has already been a year since I began blogging!

Thank you everyone for stopping by to visit and leave comments, and for teaching me so much .

It has been a fun and rewarding journey. :)

No, I haven't fallen off the healthy eating lifestyle. *grin*

These "cupcakes" are actually Bath Fizzies!

(With the most wonderful Fresh-Cut-Roses scent)

Absolutely heavenly.

Much appreciation is being sent to you loyal followers.

xoxo ~m.

April in Paris ~ The Darling Bakers and Foodie Friday ~

Welcome to The Darling Bakers "April in Paris" event, in honor of our Darling Baker,

Cathy from Wives with Knives

~ who will be leaving for Paris shortly!

AND FOODIE FRIDAY ~

Hosted by our Darling Baker, Michael Lee West, on her delightful blog Designs By Gollum!

(Please click on the link to see Michael's post and the other Foodie Friday participants.)

The Darling Bakers decided to have a French Bistro menu at my house ~ please pull up a chair and enjoy!

For starters, (store bought) Pâté.

Served with the traditional cornichon pickles, and toasted baguette slices.

Next an amuse-bouche; a highly flavored French Onion Soup.

Followed by a take on the traditional salad Salade Tiède aux Oeuf; comprised of frisée, a warm poached egg, lardons (crisp bacon), and toasted croutons.

Instead of serving the egg on the croutons, I sprinkled them over, and used baby Spring greens.

For color, some fresh pansies, violas and snipped chives from the garden.

And for dessert ~ Crêpes à l'orange.

For a snack later, with coffee ~ a GIANT Eiffel Tower cookie to share. I bought the copper cookie cutter from Sur la Table some years ago as a decorative piece for my kitchen, but this seemed like the perfect time to use it.

I would like to thank, Jain (Once in a Blue Moon) for hosting our event!

And I would also like to wish Cathy Bon Voyage, and a wonderful and enjoyable, long visit to the City of Lights!

And thank YOU so very much, for stopping by!

xo~m.

Darling Bakers ~ Spring Fling!

Welcome to our ...

Event!

It's a beautifully sunny Spring day ~ so ~

We've set the table on the back lawn area for cake and

Strawberry Italian Soda ~

I have a number of extra tables that I like to bring out for

different occasions/

This drop-leaf is one that I bought from an old florist shop in town

several years ago. It is chippy & distressed from years of use;

it has a lot of age on it, which I love.

In the winter I use it around, inside the house ~

when the weather begins to warm I bring it outside.

I always look forward to the colorful flowers of spring each year.

I made an Almond Bundt cake with a thick lemon-cream glaze

in the little Bee Hive cake pan. Although I have the old Martha Stewart

Bee Hive cake pan, I much prefer this one for it's more manageable size.

Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Beehive Cake Pan

Click to learn more.

The beverage is simply Italian Strawberry syrup stirred

into sparkling water, and served well chilled.

I prefer this beverage to any punch ~ and you can make it as sweet (or not) as you like.

The table topper is vintage from Germany,

hand cross-stitched on linen.

The cake/pie server is silverplate, I purchased it several years ago from Neiman Marcus.

The serrated knife is French; a gift from a dear friend in France.

Faux eggs ~ with a French Salt mill,

just table decorations. :)

Vintage Imperial Glass, Candlewick design ~

(also known as Boopie.)

Vintage Desert Rose, the ever popular old pattern by Franciscan.

Thank you for coming by!

I hope your Spring is wonderful in every way.

Spring Party ~ Hosted by Cielo at The House in the Roses

Welcome to my Garden.

It's the newest garden on the property, and to welcome Spring ~

we're having tea on the terrace!

With Great Thanks to delightful Cielo at The House in the Roses Blog

for hosting the Chocolate Cookies Spring Party!

The daffodils are just blooming now, the rose arches are filling in with new growth; I'm anticipating lots of blooms a little later this year.

I thought a mix of pink dishes (some old, some new), on a vintage tablecloth

would go well for our tea today.

Would you care for some lemon for your tea?

I made some buttery Chocolate Cookies with Droste Cocoa, and Kaluha

with White and Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips ~

I hope you like them; they are almost addictive.

I'm always happy to share recipes ~ you can CLICK HERE

to go to the recipe on my recipe blog.

I hope you'll enjoy your little tour on the pathways of this garden, only the very earliest of the season Daffodils are blooming right now.

More will be emerging in the coming days~

And I'll be posting more photo as those come forth.

I think the rear view is just as endearing.

You are invited to come back a little later in the season when the other daffodils, and the tulip blooms are bursting and the garden is full of color.

I know some of you are collectors, like me ~ so I wanted to share one of my favorite vintage, hand-painted trays.

I love this one because it's huge, about 30-inches long ~ and can serve as a butler's tray on a collapsible wooden butler's stand that I have. I love things that can serve multi-purposes, don't you?

Thank you so much for coming ~ I hope you enjoyed your visit!