Welcome to our last party of August and our last week of summer 2018! It has been a great summer with awesome fresh vegetable recipes, great adventures with old and new friends. We are featuring our Top Ten post from last week in our feature section this week, including our new Kids Corner. Be sure and stop by to look at these great blogs and tell them hello! I am so happy that you are here today and can hardly wait to see what you will be sharing with us today!

Zucchini is plentiful in the garden right now, we have been having some great squash this season. I love to develop recipes that use fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden to the table. This recipe is packed with flavor from fresh zucchini, banana's and kicked up with some chocolate and toffee. A very moist and delicious cake that can be served for any occasion. I sent it to work with my husband the other day and he said it was gone in less than 5 minutes, so be sure and get your piece first!

I think that being a vegetarian would be so easy for me in the summer, because there are so many wonderful fresh vegetables that I love. This Veggie Tostada recipe is filled with fresh from the garden vegetables with just a little Mexican spice that just put's this one over the top. We have topped it off with a fantastic Mango Salsa that is always a winner. You don't want to miss this combination!

Where did it go, the summer that is, here we are at the last week of summer. I find that summer is shorter every year, because I love the things of summer and never want them to end, except the extreme heat in August of course. I am going to enjoy planning the meal plan for this busy week coming up here at the cottage. We will be having a couple of day trips this week so my meal plan will have to take all that into consideration, sure am glad I can make the plan that helps the week run smooth.

I am so glad to see you today. We are all so excited that we got some rain in our area, no storms thank goodness, just nice gentle rain. Some of the garden may be saved after all. We had a great party last week with lots of delicious dishes and we have some of them featured today. I hope you can take the time to visit some of the outstanding blogs that we have featured! Each one of you are so special to me and I look forward to seeing you every Thursday when we gather here to share your amazing post!

Mango Salsa is delicious served as an appetizer with some chips or as a topper for meat, fish, poultry or just about any kind of Mexican food. The Mango's have been beautiful at my local Farmers Market and I just couldn't resist bringing some home to make our favorite recipe for Mango Salsa. This is the same recipe that I printed in my cookbook in early 2010, so if  you have one of those cookbooks the recipe is in the book. For those of you who did not get a book before it's last printing, the recipe is right here.

When old friends are coming to visit us here at the cottage we will often times ask them what special recipe they would like to have. My friend Molly recently asked for her favorite, a Brown Butter Custard Pie. I was so happy to make it for her it is a very simple pie with a great custard flavor. This is a very old recipe that has been handed down to me. It is very creamy on the inside with very warm flavors. I will often times garnish it with a little fruit that is in season.

We finally got some rain and are so grateful for it. Our Granddaughter who lives in Conklin, NY got so much rain it flooded their basement and her husband had to be rescued from the roof of the barn. Thank God everyone is safe, and we thank all those that were praying with us for their safety. I am headed out to the garden, although there isn't much left of it for this year, most of it just burned up. We will have some garden vegetables that will come to the table to make great meal for the family this week. Hug your kids and Grandbabies when you can, life is full of bumps in the road.

The middle of August already, its like the 2 minute warning in the game, just a few weeks of summer before fall is here. There is almost a scramble to get in as many fresh fruits and vegetables while the season is still here. We have some awesome features from last week that I hope you can stop by and say hello to these talented bloggers!  School has already started for some of you and for others it will be in the next two weeks, wow we are all very busy people. I sure appreciate you taking the time to come to the country today to spend time with all of our friends at Full Plate Thursday!

We grow different varies of squash in our garden each summer and I love making fresh casseroles of squash for a meal. I have been making this recipe for years and through those years I have changed it in different ways, but the combination of ingredients that I am sharing with you today is one of my favorites. This Squash Casserole has a very rich creamy inside and a buttery crunchy topping, it is just delicious!

This recipe is for one of those days when you need something fabulous to put on the table and not to long to do it in. Our Salsa Pork Chop Skillet is easy to put together and will be on your table in no time. The great flavor of these chops is seared in and then allowed to simmer with a flavorful salsa. This recipe can feed a large or small family, for supper or dinner which ever the event.

We are praying for rain here, when I walk across parts of my grass it is just like powder. We have completely lost parts of our garden we just didn't have enough water to keep it alive. We are heading to the grill and the slow cooker this week and looking for a lot of flavor in the meal plans. I may have to visit a Farmers Market for some of my vegetables, but we have a great market near by. I am headed out to take the inventories of garden vegetables, freezer foods so we can get started with out meal plans.

I am so happy you could bring your favorite's to Full Plate Thursday today! Wednesday and Thursday are really special days to me because on Wednesday we take a look at all the wonderful features from last week and on Thursday you bring all your new recipes and post. We have a wonderful community of Food Bloggers here and I am honored to be a part of your community!

We really enjoy our melon's in the summer time. There is nothing better than a Black Diamond Watermelon form central Texas or a Cantaloupe from the valley of Texas. Both of these melons are delicious all on their own but they make a great dish when mixed together. Our Basil made from the fresh Basil in our herb garden make this Melon Salad a very special side dish for any meal.

We love peach season and the wonderful recipes that we can create from the delicious peaches. This is a recipe that is made with fresh or frozen peaches so that you can enjoy these tasty treats the year round. We have enjoyed these bars at family gatherings, church pot luck dinners and around our table, they are a delicious treat. The flavor of these bars bring me back to my Grandmothers table when she would bring these bars in to serve at a family dinner, great food memories, I can still see that smile on her face. She loved to cook special treats for her family and friends, and so do I.

We have had the hottest temperatures with no rain to set a historical weather record. I am not outdoors today but rather sitting in my cozy office under the cooler and so grateful for cool air. When I think about making a meal plan, I just want it to be something easy and cool. My Micro Wave is a combination Confection Oven and in these hot times it really comes in handy, so I can bake without the heat in the kitchen. What are some of the shortcuts that you look for in hot weather?

August is here already, my goodness! There was a time when August meant the last month before school starts now it means in a couple of weeks school starts and summer fun comes to an end. We enjoy our last of summer garden vegetables, back to school menus and meals, and just delicious family meals. We have some fantastic features for you this week that will give you lots of great suggestions for all of the last of summer plans. I always look forward to Thursday and all the wonderful post that you share, lets have a great party!