The Novel Bakers ~ Gathering in the Garden ~ Part I

This time the Novel Bakers are cooking from "Gathering in the Garden", a cute book written by Shelley Snow and Elaine Husband.
Shelley and Elaine have been lifelong friends from the time they were young girls, growing up in much simpler times. If you're a baby boomer, you will easily identify with these two delightful women and some of  their experiences.
They had much in common then, (as we learn through the book),  and are still best friends some 50+ years later.
They and their families live in Tennessee ~  both women are recognized watercolorist;  their artwork is featured throughout the book.
This fun little gem of a book is filled with ideas for themed parties for today, and is interspersed with memories (at times hilarious) of their time growing up together.
~*~*~*~*~

I must say, this assignment has been a bit of a challenge for me since the forest fires around here drastically cut into the time we were able to spend outdoors ~ so this post was put together rather hastily (yesterday) on one of the first clear (ash free) and cooler days since the fires began in late July.

Ahem. I think I'm not so good at following 'themes' sometimes (that's just me...) So I skipped around and chose recipes from the book that fit in with what we normally eat.  I fudged a little and tweaked the recipes to suit our tastes. 



Not many cherry tomatoes this year, so I picked other tomatoes from the garden and made the Pickled Shrimp recipe (I omitted the olives and substituted sliced baby cucumbers from the garden.) 



Cover painting "Still Life with Blue Goblet" by co-author Shelley Snow. (watercolor)





I took some liberties and made a Roasted Bell Pepper and Crab Bisque,  because it complements the shrimp (though the soup recipe is not in the book.)  You can serve it hot or cold.




We're relishing the last few days of summer  here . . .




I served the soup with some slices of Asiago cheese bread.

Roasted Red Pepper soup with Crabmeat, garnished with Cilantro.





Tomato Salad from the garden harvest, drizzled with herb vinaigrette and served with Pickled Shrimp. I used the same vinaigrette for both the tomatoes and the shrimp... (see below.)

I love the fresh  colors of summer on a plate . . .




Fishy ~  Crate and Barrel glass tumblers from years ago.



 Zebra striped green tomatoes ~ one of my favorite varieties, very sweet and mild.






Savoring every fresh vine ripened tomato from the garden . . .








. . . because soon they will be gone. 
We won't be able to enjoy these treasures until next year.





Okay.
Truth in recipes . . . 
I didn't use the bottled dressing as the authors' recipe instructed.   I made my old tried and true simple dressing/marinade for the cooked shrimp:

Your favorite minced herbs  (I used fresh parsley and chives from the garden),  minced garlic if you want ~ a bit of oil, your favorite vinegar,  salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar or  other sweetener  just to mellow it a bit. 

You can't beat it ~ it's FRESH. And the bonus is, no synthetic taste, no chemicals or preservatives  (and costs only pennies.)





You can serve a few shrimp on the tomato salad . . .





. . .  or serve each person a bowl of shrimp.  :)





I hope you, too, are enjoying these last days of summer for this year.
Thank you for coming by to visit!


Please stop by Wednesday for the next post from our featured book.

And please do check the other Novel Bakers to see their fabulous impressions of  "Gathering in the Garden"

Unlike me, I'm sure they followed the rules . . .  ;-)



a quiet life blog
Rattlebridge Farm
Home is Where the Boat is

Bon Appétit!

Retro 40's ~ Ice Cold Milk and Cinnamon Roll Cookies!

Welcome !

I'm so happy you've stopped by for a visit ~ pull up a chair and help yourself to some icy milk and cookies fresh from the oven.

This week for Tablescape Thursday we're taking a trip in the Way-Back Machine.

Afternoon Milk and Cookies as may have been in the 1940's

Cinnamon Roll Cookies ~   

The taste and texture is very similar big cinnamon rolls ~ lots of cinnamon-sugar  filling, a crisp edge on the outside of the roll, tender center and a slight crackle from the glaze.   A tiny bit lighter in calories for 2011 ~ some of the butter has been replaced with applesauce.

Some of the last roses from the gardens ~ plucked yesterday, just in time as we had our first freeze of the season last night, so we'll say goodbye to the roses until late next spring.

Most of these are David Austin Heirloom, English Climbing roses; fragrant, prolific bloomers, dependable and hearty. *heart*

Of course the milk has to be chilled in a vintage glass milk bottle.

This one happened to be a lucky find recently at a local antique store.

Imagine my surprise when I spotted it on the very last aisle,  on my way out of the shop.

Yippee! A bottle from our hometown dairy in the San Francisco Bay Area. 


The same dairy products my sis, brother and I grew up with ~ delivered right to the porch by our friendly milkman.  You can probably imagine how my heart skipped a beat when I spotted this little prize. :)

From back in the day when there were dairy cows grazing the hills surrounding the Stanford University campus. 

(Note that both those hunky Stanford U. athletes as well

as little growing boys loved their Piers Dairy ice cream, as advertised on the back of the bottle.)

This one predates me; I barely remember the switch to brown glass milk bottles.


 The change from clear glass to brown occurred after it was discovered that milk develops flavor changes and nutrient loss ~ riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin A (particularly in added vitamin A), vitamin C, and added vitamin D when exposed to light.

As long as we're taking a trip down memory lane, I decided put the apples in a vintage Homer-Lauglin "Sunrise Brand" Dinnerware serving bowl, sold exclusively through Sears Roebuck as "first quality china", from the mid 1920's to early 40's. 


As much as I love the clean lines of modern, as well as old world, country-style rustic, I really like the detail on the older everyday US dishware.  

I acquired this one on the secondary market ~ I wonder what stories it could tell us . . .

The fluted luncheon dishes are vintage Staffordshire~ 
Manufactured by Myott the pattern is "Olde Chelsea" England.  


The rose is a David Austin English Heirloom, climber (Abraham Darby), intensely fragrant, prolific bloomer, and virtually disease free. I absolutely love David Austin Roses!

The tablecloth is vintage mid 40's - early 50's.

April Cornell napkins

Flower vases are vintage English stoneware Marmalade jugs

Swirl glasses are European "no name"

If you would like the recipe for the delicious Cinnamon Roll Cookies, you'll find them on Once Upon Plate the Recipes site ~ click HERE.

Thank you for visiting today!

I'm linking to Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

and

Foodie Friday @  Designs by Gollum

A Simple Country Christmas Tablescape

Welcome Friends, please come in and make yourselves at home.

Lots of pictures, and few words this time ~ the page may take a few moments to load. So thank you for your patience.

. 

This time I've set a simple country table ~ comfortable and not at all fussy.

It didn't feel right to me to overdress the table, knowing there are some who are going without this year.

My thoughts are especially with those who have endured the loss of loved ones this year, those who have lost their homes, as well as those who have lost their jobs.

I thought this would be a good time to set a comfortable, cozy table ~ a place to draw loved ones near to celebrate what is truly important in life.

For the centerpiece I simply plunked some candy canes in a thin, plain beverage glass [CB2], placed it on a Barley twist pedestal [Southern Living at Home, from some years back.]


I clipped a few fragrant Douglas Fir branches from the property and placed them around, then placed a special vintage-style Christmas card from my dear friend,  Linda  and placed a glass cloche over all.

I covered the round walnut table with a tablecloth from Williams-Sonoma, and instead of place mats, I placed a snowy-white vintage German hand worked square linen table topper over the cloth.

In keeping with the theme of simplicity, I gathered just two of my favorite things to place on the table ~

this Limoges hand-painted Christmas ornament box . . . and an old, old brass-framed print I found in an antique store a few years ago.  I love the print; usually it is on the dresser in my bedroom.

For the place settings (from the tabletop - up) ~  I used round Czech platters for chargers [Nell Hill's several years ago], "Merry Christmas" plates, I believe those were from Home Depot a couple of years ago.

Next, my everyday white salad plates [Apilco-France, Williams-Sonoma].

Poinsettia plates [Williams-Sonoma, this season].

Vintage milk-glass compotes to finish the place settings. 

Flatware ~ Pottery Barn from the Savant Collection.

Napkins ~ Neiman-Marcus/Horchow.

My first set of crystal from my newlywed days, many, many years ago ~ by Rogaska; 'Gallia'

 

To dress the chairs up a bit I draped the extra, matching crochet-trimmed napkins over the tops.

The little cast iron elf candle holders are from CB2, last year's collection. 

A closer look at the Madonna framed print ~

as we remember the Reason for the Season.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. 

 To all who celebrate,
I wish you a most cherished and blessed Christmas from our home to yours.

Please visit Between Naps on the Porch to find a list of all who are participating in Tablescape Thursday this week.