Winner of Nakano Vinegar & $25. Gift Card Give Away!

Hi everyone ~ Family activities (all good!) prevented me from picking the winner earlier as I had planned. So without further ado~

I'm pleased to announce

Sue (Someone's Mom) of "Help, I need Mom!" blog

is our winner of the Nakano Vinegar and $25. American Express Gift Card give away.

Congratulations Sue! I hope you enjoy your gifts. ~ Please drop me an email with your name and address so I can have the company send your goodies to you.

Thank you all for entering the contest!

Please stay tuned, we'll have another Give Away coming up soon.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

~Mari

Tablescape Thursday ~ A tête-à-tête in the Cool Shade

Hello, and thank you for stopping by!

I have lots of pictures to share this Tablescape Thursday, so thank you for your patience if they take a moment to load.

Also... It is not too late to enter Once Upon a Plate's current Give Away.

See sidebar (or click HERE) for details.

~ *~*~*~

Fall is officially just around the corner ~ our days remain warm; 70's to 80's. Just perfect for sipping a cool drink, having a little sweet nibble and visiting on one of the garden pathways.

This is actually an elevated wooden path, it is 'hugged' on each side by mature Douglas Fir trees, fern, rhododendrons, azaleas, columbine and fragrant lilies (all have completed their bloom cycle for this year, so things look a little ragged but it is very cool and comfortable in this spot.)

Memories linger here ...

Mosaic tray ~ HomeGoods, Wine decanter ~ Pottery Barn

Quilt used as tablecloth ~ Neiman Marcus/Horchow.

(All from a year or three ago.)

Plates and Latte/Cereal Bowls ~ POSH Chicago

Silverplate flatware ~Fidelio by Christofle, Paris

3 tier wire basket ~ from a local shop a couple of years ago

Vintage French Olive Oil Bottle

And because I like to play :D ...

~ a colored pencil effect image filter

Tiny cupcake for a sweet bite.

~*~

Small pedestal, upturned, Nell Hill's

Glass domes... Oops, I forgot where they came from.

Old chippy garden chairs from the 1950's

From a local antique/collectible store ~ we purchased the chairs and a matching leaf-motive table a few years ago. This time I just placed them around a small, round, wooden Bistro table.

Vintage English Luncheon Plates, rosebud pattern ~

Wine Glasses La Rochere (a la The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten.)

Antique Postcards

Full-Blown "Double Delight" rose

Napkins ~ Jacquard pattern by April Cornell

Waterford Crystal "Alana" Napkin Rings

The roses have nearly finished blooming for the season, the last flush is happening right now.

Cool Shade in late afternoon.

Thank you for coming by to visit ~ please come back often.

Please visit Susan's blog "Between Naps on the Porch" to see more entries for

Tablescape Thursday.

Spinach Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash, Bacon, Walnuts and Maple Vinaigrette

The usual late summer/early fall weather is upon us ~ very warm days, and cool evenings.

Butternut Squash is plentiful in the market, but it's not quite chilly enough for soups or heavier meals. Instead of a hot meal I put together this healthful (if you don't take into account the bacon) salad for dinner recently.

You can serve the salad at room temperature, but I really like it best when the squash and dressing are still warm. With each bite you'll get a taste of creamy ( roasted squash), crunchy (toasted walnuts) and crispy (salty- smoky bacon), and the sweet-tangy maple dressing brings the spinach and other ingredients together beautifully.

It's very good when accompanied with warm cornbread or toasted and buttered sourdough slices.

There are many Maple Viniagrette dressing recipes out there, but I make mine a little differently than most ~ I reduce the maple syrup by about half (in a small pan, stovetop over medium heat) before whisking it with Sherry Vinegar (you can also use apple cider vinegar, but it is generally a bit stronger so beware and adjust amount to suit your taste.) Then just whisk in a small amount of Dijon mustard, some olive or grapeseed oil and salt and pepper then taste for seasonings. When making vinaigrettes I usually use quite a bit less oil than most recipes call for, just a personal preference.

If you would like a printable copy of the recipe, you can find it on my recipe blog by clicking HERE.

This is my entry for Tuesday Twister ~ Click Logo to find out more.

Enjoy~ and thank you for stopping by, friends!

Chicken Cakes (Spicy or Not) with Sweet Chilli Drizzle

We haven't been eating beef for a few months now; so if we want burgers I look for alternatives and this is one of my favorites.


Juicy and flavorful, yet low in fat I devised this one from bits and pieces of 3 other recipes.


If you've been disappointed with chicken or turkey burgers which are dry and flavorless ~ you should give this one a try. I have a couple of tips to assure your cakes will remain appetizingly moist and juicy.



One of the secrets of these low fat and moist cakes is to chop your own meat using your food processor rather than buying already-ground chicken or turkey.Please don't let this extra step deter you; these just won't come out the same with store ground chicken, plus it's so easy!It makes all the difference in the final dish.
This way you know just what goes into the mix; there is virtually no fat and the larger chunks you can achieve by doing it at home keep the patties/cakes more juicy when cooked. I much prefer this method over ground chicken or turkey from the market for this recipe.




The other secret is to quickly brown them for just a couple of minutes on each side on the stove top, then transfer to the oven for a few more minutes to cook through. This technique give no-fail delicious results every time.

I usually make them mini-size and serve them as an appetizer, or as a component of a salad on arugula (rocket/roquet), baby spinach leaves, or a combination of both greens. You can make them larger and serve on buns or in pita bread if you prefer.




Most often I use skinless chicken breasts, but you can use turkey, prawn meat, or fish, too.

If you're looking for a lower-fat and very flavorful alternative you might want to give this recipe a try; it may become one of your favorites ~ as it is at my house.

For a printable copy of the recipe you can find it on my recipe blog by clicking HERE.

Thank you for stopping by today ~ I would love to hear from you, please leave me a comment!. :)

Peanut-Peanut Butter Cookies with Fleur de Sel

(GIVE AWAY: Details of current Give Away is at bottom of this post and also on sidebar. Best of luck to all who enter!)

My Mom's Peanut Butter cookies were the best I have ever tasted, she and my grandmother used the same recipe for as far back as I can remember. And if your mother, aunt, or grandmother baked peanut butter cookies it is probably is the same recipe you had while growing up.

~Dirty Little Secret~

Since I live with a grown-up Cookie Monster (Mr. OUaP) I usually bake cookies every other week to keep the cookie jar ~ a fixture on the kitchen island~ filled:

Happiness is a full Cookie Jar?! Who knew?

I still make Mom's recipe for Peanut Butter cookies, except I've made them a wee bit more nutritious by subbing some of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour, adding some non-fat dry milk to the mix, and using an old-fashioned peanut butter (non-hydrogenated.)

And I use all-butter rather than half butter & half solid shortening.

They are delicious ~ but I wanted to try something different this time.

This recipe (click) from allrecipes.com captured my attention because of the number of positive reviews it received.

I wanted to try them so I mixed up the dough according to the recipe and baked off one tray of cookies. Hmmm. To be honest, they were very good, but they didn't knock my socks off. I believe the liquid milk in the recipe slightly dulls the peanut butter flavor. However the milk is needed to achieve the proper dough consistency.

To amp up the flavor a bit I scooped the remainder of the dough onto baking sheets with a medium-size ice cream/cookie scoop, then sprinkled and pressed some chopped, lightly salted peanuts on the surface of each, flattening the cookies slightly at the same time (instead of pressing them with a fork.) I also sprinkled the very center of each cookie with a teeny bit of Fleur de Sel (flaky French sea salt.)

Ooh-la-la!!! Viva la difference! :D

Thumbs up, all the way around at my house, the slightly salty accent made the peanut flavor sing.

These probably won't replace (my slightly healthier version of) Mom's Peanut Butter cookies, but they are an interesting change. I may try Mom's recipe using the same method, I'll certainly share the results here if I do.

If you try them this way, I hope you love them.

Also ~ If you haven't entered my current Give Away it is not too late!

Click HERE for details.

Cut off for entering is Saturday, September 18th at 9PM Pacific time.

Please click logo to learn more about Foodie Friday.