Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, come on back to the garden patio, we are carving up some fun pumpkins today. Have you started to carve pumpkins yet, it is sure that time of the fall. We are beginning to see pumpkins and goblins everywhere, I just love to watch the little ones get so excited about picking our their very own pumpkin to carve or (help carve). We have some great features today from last weeks party, be sure and take a look at them, these are great blogs! I am excited to see what you will be sharing with us today, find your spot at the table and lets get started!

Apple Nut Cake is one of those "go to" recipes for me here at the cottage. It is a delicious dessert cake that can fit in with any occasion. The spicy apples bring an unexpected flavor to the cake and helps to make it a family favorite. I like to keep this recipe pantry ready as it is one of those recipes that can be made at the last minute and comes out like you have been working on it all day.

We are so excited to welcome October and the wonderful festival and fall foods of the season. Although the fall festivals will be a little different this year some are still having them while staying within the health guidelines of our county and state. I am planning a couple of our very favorite fall recipes for this weeks meal plan. I just got back from taking my inventory of food I have in the storage bins in the barn. We have very little production in the garden this time of the year. I am hopinig that I have enough on hand that I don't have to go to the village to the market this week.

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday and our Top Ten Features Week! We are having a great week here at the cottage, I am able to unpack some of the boxes from the storage where the construction has been completed, it just like Christmas! The Ranch House Soup that I served last week is posted on the blog this week if you would like to have the recipe. We have a great Top Ten Features List which is put together from your page views. We present the Top Ten on the last post of the month, every month and it is so much fun! Thanks so much for coming today, it is great to see you here!

I love these little individual pizza's, I have made them up for many different functions and they are always a hit. The pizza's that I have made today are coming from an abundance of basil in our herb garden, there is nothing better than picking a basket of fresh basil and having it on a great pizza. This pizza is easy to assemble and you can be serving your guest in no time. The Italian flavors are great with the fresh basil!

Our Ranch House Soup is a soup that could be found in a lot of ranch houses around our part of the country when we were growing up. My husband grew up on a cattle ranch and he remembers a soup like this that his Mom would make for all the ranch hands, he said that it would just be simmering away on the burner of the stove and you could smell it the minute you came in the door. The soup is full of wonderful hearty vegetables with a full range of Tex-Mex flavors. One bowl of this soup is never enough.

Fall arrived here at the cottage with a nice chilly rain and a feeling that the season was changing. We are about half way through with our construction project so I am still looking for recipes that I can cook in a small space and still be delicious. Actually my kitchen here at the cottage is very small, so I am used to cooking in a small space. That is the fun part of meal planning meeting the challenge that life brings to us and still making great meals for our family.

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday and Welcome Fall! We are having cooler temperatures with nice rain, the colors are just beginning to turn and I have a pot of Ranch House Soup (posting soon) on the simmer. I can't wait to see what you have been cooking up for this fall weather, keeping us warm and cozy. We have some great features this week and hope you will enjoy them, stop by and say hi to the very talented bloggers. Come on in to the cottage get a bowl of soup and we will sit back visit and enjoy our food, thanks so much for coming to the party today!

Our Tex-Mex Enchilada Bake is a great recipe to serve for a family dinner or take to a covered dish event. A well seasoned beef and vegetable casserole covered in gooey cheese and a nice salad on top. A complete meal all in one baking dish and ready to serve a crowd. This recipe is so easy to put together and in no time it can be on the table to serve the hungry folks. 

The first day of Autumn is this week and we are ready for it here at the cottage. The leaves on our pear trees are already beginning to turn and some are falling. Each week our meal plan reflects a little more of fall as we ease into this beautiful time of the year. I love taking the time to look through recipes and find just the right recipe for a special day or event. We are kicking fall off this weekend with a great Roast Pan Chicken Dinner, I can't wait!

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, fall is definetly in the air and it is very welcome!We are in the middle of a construction project here at the cottage so we are in a mess, but it will be great when finished. I still have a tiny space in the kitchen that I can do some cooking and enjoy some of the great recipes that you share every week. We have some great features from last weeks party that I am sure you will want to stop by and visit. Thanks so much for coming to the party today,I always look forward to seeing you here!

We recently roasted a chicken with vegetables in a large roasting pan and when I made that meal I had planned leftovers to make this casserole. What a great way to save time in cooking, I just love making enough food in one meal to get at least one more meal. This casserole is pure comfort and absolutely delicious, roasted chicken with roasted vegetables in a creamy crust that will have you coming back for seconds. Our Roasted Chicken & Vegetable Casserole is easy to put together and will be on the dinner table in no time, hope you enjoy it!

Our Roast Pan Chicken will give us a great meal with a flavorful roasted chicken and tender vegetables. In addition to the great meal from the pan, there will be enough for a very special chicken casserole the next day with the planned left overs. I love using my roasting pan for a nice chicken dinner where I can elevate the chicken over the vegetables to catch all the flavor from the roasting chicken, with space enough to have some planned left overs. This is a great meal plan with 2 in one and we love a great meal plan like this.

We are so busy here at the cottage getting ready for a construction project that requires us to pack up the breakables, oh my what a job. I am going to be making meal plans around the construction project that will  be going on for the next two weeks. No matter what is going on in our life we still have to eat and I am so happy to get it planned out ahead of time. I am making my shopping list and checking it twice, I won't be having time to run to the store,for that one must have ingredient.