Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 659 ! Fall has officially arrived and we are having some beautiful fall weather. I am so excited to present our features to you today from last weeks awesome party, I sure hope you enjoy them. We are so honored each week with the talented bloggers that come to our party. We have been so busy here at the cottage, having made a decision to plant a fall and winter garden. The garden preparation and planting is underway, we will be sharing our garden post along the way. I can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today, and want you to  know how much we appreciate you coming to the party!

  Our Apple Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze is a very special welcome to the fall and winter season. This cake recipe is so easy to make and delicious to eat. We are using a wonderful spice batter for the cake and adding fresh apple with chopped pecans. We are topping it with a creamy caramel glaze and more chopped pecans. I recently got this recipe from an old friend and I am so happy to share it with all of you! Thanks so much for the recipe Mary, we all loved it!

Hello everyone from the screen porch today and I am watching it rain. Yes we have been getting some wonderful much needed rain. We have been so encouraged that we may get busy and plant a fall and winter garden. I notice every week on our  Full Plate Thursday, 658 , that we have more and more warm and cozy fall recipes at our party. I have been going through my fall recipe file and they all look so good, it is hard to choose. Lets get busy here and see what kind of a delicious meal plan we can come with for this week.

Welcome to Full Plate  Thursday, 658 I am so excited to see you today! Come on back to the garden patio, fall is here along with much cooler temperatures. We are actually considering a fall garden again, and we are looking forward to all of those fall and winter vegetables. We sure had a great party filled with fall dishes and get tips for fall food last week. We have some great features from that party that I sure hope you enjoy! Thanks so much for coming to the party today, I can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us.

  Our Mushroom Burger Casserole was developed from a Mushroom Burger that I made for one of my sons when he was growing up. As the family grew we developed the recipe into a casserole which will feed a lot more folks at one time plus it is delicious! A combination of fresh mushrooms, ground chuck, with a fantastic sauce and added pasta. Oh my it is a comfort deluxe casserole!

I am determined to get this meal plan out today. After some technical delays we are up and running again. We are so grateful to report that we got some rain and it even dropped the temperatures just a bit. With any luck I will  be able to get this posted today so you can have it for your meal plan ideas for the week. I have got some great recipes to post and I know my husband is going to love them.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 657 and at last welcome September! Hope all of you had a fantastic Labor Day Holiday weekend. Labor Day here at the lake always marked the end of summer fun and the beginning of the fall season. I am so excited to see the foods of fall start to appear on our table. We had a great party last week and are featured here today, I sure hope you enjoy the features! Come on back to the patio, we will enjoy being outdoors today and we are saving you a spot at the table. Thanks so much for coming today, I can't wait to see what you will be sharing!

  This country corn, potato and sausage chowder could be found in my grandmothers kitchen just about anytime the corn was harvested.  It is packed with fresh corn, potatoes, onions and spicy sausage, a delicious stick to your ribs chowder that our family loves. Slow cooked with fresh herbs makes this chowder a winner every time. This chowder can be frozen for up to 3 months.

What's In Season and How Do I Use It September is a great month for fresh foods and the season invites us to turn to more fall like recipes. If the temperatures are normal with the normal amount of rain, our area will produce a full line up of the fruits and vegetables. What I really look at in September are the foods that will not be producing that much longer and I turn to the preserving and canning of those predominantly spring and summer products. 

  Hi y'all, I am so glad to see you today and hope you are having a fantastic Labor Day Weekend! The Labor Day Weekend here at the lake is always a bittersweet time because it ends another wonderful summer season for playtime at the lake. We are happy to walk away from this very hot summer that we have had and perhaps put all the high temperatures behind us for a season. We will have friends and family in and out throughout the weekend so we are planning on lots of great food to enjoy. To All Our Friends On The Gulf Coast  You Are In Our Thoughts and Prayers As You Begin The Recovery Journey From The Horrible Storm

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 655, Labor Day Weekend and our Top Ten feature party! I am so happy to see you today here at the party! I am so excited to tell you that we have had cooler temperatures and RAIN, we are so grateful for the cool weather and rain. We are featuring the Top Ten Views from last weeks party that you looked at the most. I am sure excited to present them to you and hope you enjoy the links.  Come on in the cottage and find your place at the table, of course we saved you a seat. Thanks so much for coming to the party today, you are an important part of our community. Hope you have a great Labor Day Weekend, stay safe and come back to see us real soon!

It is always nice when you can walk out to your garden and bring in some fresh squash to cook for the evening meal. We don't really eat that many fried foods, but fried squash is one of our favorites. I had a young homemaker contact me the other day and asked for a squash recipe that would be close to what her Grandmother used to make for their family. After she made the recipe she told me that it brought back so many memories for her and her family. It sure brought some for me as well and we sure enjoyed this platter of fried squash!

This Mini Blueberry Jam Muffins recipe is so easy to put together and these great mini muffins are ready to go in no time. I love having these mini muffins for a grab and go breakfast or a great snack anytime of the day. The flavor of these muffins is so delicious with the jam plus some fresh blueberries, it doesn't get much better than this for a muffin!

Hello everyone, it sure is good to see you today. I sure hope that all of you are staying cool in this August temperature, our hope is that September is coming!  Well folks there is no garden left here, it all just fried in the hot sun, no matter how much water we poured on it. We will be looking to our canned, frozen and our pantry staples to make this meal plan. Even some of my favorite Farmers Markets have closed for the season already. It will be interesting to see what we come up with today. I know from the numbers that there are a good number of you out there and you have been faithful to come here through the years, Thanks to all of you for supporting us through the years. I would really love to hear from you so leave me a comment.

  Welcome to Full Plate  Thursday, 655, we are so excited to see you here today!  I would love to tell you that it is cool outside today, but guess what the heat goes on. We are all looking for new ways to stay cool and comfortable in this on-going challenge. We have many great features from our party last week that I sure hope you will enjoy! Find a cool spot in the cottage, we have saved a place for you at the table. Thanks so much for coming today, we appreciate you so much!

Creamy Pesto Chicken Skillet with Pasta recipe was developed around my homemade preserved garden Pesto. I make the Pesto every summer and use it in recipes just like this the year round. This recipe is delicious and deserves your attention when you plate it. Each bite is filled with creamy goodness that has layers of flavor, with tender chicken, pasta and even spinach. You can serve it right out of the skillet or a pretty serving dish, either way the flavor is amazing!

  Hello everyone, I sure am glad to be making meal plans with you today. The garden is done for this summer, so we are dependant on other sources for our fresh vegetables. We have canned a lot of vegetables this season and have potatoes and onions in the barn cold bin. Food is so expensive today that I am very careful to be budget minded with my food dollars, and from the mail that I receive every week I know that you are looking to economize as well. Our schools have started here, so lots of folks are back into a regular routine now that the summer vacation time has come to an end. Meal planning is an important part of life and the ability to plan will affect every area of our life. 

  Hello everyone, I am so happy to see all of you today. Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 654 and a cool day, which we are so grateful for. Come on to the patio to enjoy some of the great outdoors while we are having just a break in the hot weather pattern that we have been stuck in all summer. We had a great party last week and some great features from that party for you to enjoy! We have saved you a spot at the table and sure hope you enjoy the party, thanks so much for coming!

Blueberry Jello Pie has been the hit of the summer. It is cold, refreshing and full of flavor. Just take it out of the refrigerator and it is ready to serve. This is a very easy recipe to make ahead of time and keep for a few days to serve for dessert or afternoon treats. We have had a bumper crop of blueberries so this is a perfect recipe to use the harvest of the berries.

  Our Rancher Pot Pie is a recipe that could be coming out of any Ranch House oven. It is a very easy pot pie and is so simple to put together. I took a very old Ranch House recipe and brought it up to date using some short cuts that save time, but certainly did not loose any flavor. This is a delicious pot pie to serve the family for a great weeknight supper. 

  Hello everyone from another 105 degree day. The heat this year is relentless and is really beginning to wear us down. We are doing everything that we can to keep as much water on our plants to keep them alive. We are grateful that we still have  water here and are not rationed. Many area's are out of water and at least we still have water. I am looking through my recipes to see what we can make next week to help keep us cool. I am headed to the barn to see what my inventory looks like and then back to the cool cottage to make this meal plan for the week.

  Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 653! Come on into the cool cottage and find a spot at the table we have some sweet tea and lemonade to help cool you as we begin to enjoy our party. We have some great features from last weeks party that are featured today and we sure hope you enjoy them. Thanks so much for coming to the party today, we always look forward  to seeing you here and we can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today. Lets get this party started!

The Jalapeno Honey Butter Corn is a recipe that we have really enjoyed. It is so full of the honey sweetness with the spice and heat of the jalapeno. The corn is slowly bathed in butter, honey and jalapeno, making this a very delicious recipe for fresh or frozen corn on the cob. This is a great garden to table recipe that we have added to our favorites! 

  What's In Season and How Do I Use It? August in Texas is hot and sometimes dry. Often times our gardens really suffer from the heat, but there are some vegetables that continue to produce during this time. This year we have experienced very high temperatures in the 3 digits for over a month. The gardens are not doing very well, but the farmers markets are packed out with wonderful selections of fruits and vegetables. We are still getting some of the all time summer producers, like tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons. We do have some great vegetables that are in season for the month of August.

Welcome to August folks, oh my goodness, it is hot outside. We are going to be looking at 105 to 107 degrees all next week. I am looking at the recipes to see what kind of meals we can put together that will be cool and appetizing in this kind of heat. I feel for all of my educator friends and students who will be going back to school next week. Some of the teachers were putting their classrooms together in buildings that were not fully air conditioned yet. We are praying for a break in the temperature and some rain. I am off to go through recipes, lets see what I come up with for these special circumstances.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 652, and August! Yes it is August and we are having unseasonable temperatures, starting with right now it is 107 degrees! Although we have fought the heat all summer we have managed to have a great garden harvest. I invite you to   The Summer Garden Tour 2023 . We had a great party last week and these great bloggers featured today brought amazing post from last week. I sure hope you are staying cool and hydrated in this heat. We have a cool spot just for you at the table today and we can't wait to see what you are sharing for the party! Thanks so much for coming, you are very important to us!

Our recipe for Old Fashioned Cucumber Salad is a summertime favorite for me. The recipe is so classic to our family that it may appear the year round for any family event. We have an abundance of cucumbers and it is a great time to enjoy this old family favorite. This recipe is so simple, just slice some cucumbers and red onion. Make a delicious sauce out of sour cream, mayonnaise,and a few herbs. Then it goes in the refrigerator to get really cold before serving. Be sure and make enough, the bowl will be empty.

This salad comes out of the refrigerator ice cold and packed with flavor. It is a one stop meal, just add some toasted garlic bread and it is ready for the table. Our Basil Chicken and Pasta Salad  with Honey Lemon Dressing has fresh garden vegetables and herbs, and is topped off with a special dressing and Feta cheese. The chicken was grilled at another time and frozen in recipe size bags, ready to go in the freezer for just this kind of recipe. I have  taken this salad to several pot lucks, and family dinners it is always a  hit.

Hello everyone and welcome to the last Sunday and Monday of July, then on into August. Yes it is here already, the heat and the realization that spring has definitely left us for this year. We have been enjoying the summer, having lots of fun with house guest and trying to make cooler meals to keep the kitchen heat down low. This week is certainly going along those lines for simple and cool meal plans. I love this time of the year for fresh fruits and vegetables, which I love to have on my meal plans.

  Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 651. This is our Top Ten Features week from last weeks party! It is always a fun party to feature the Top Ten post that the readers choose with their views. I look forward to seeing what you are looking at and hungry for. Come on in the party and find something cold to drink, it is hot outside. We are saving you a place at the table today and can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today. 

Spring arrived with lots of rain this year and made us a little behind in our planting. After we  finally got everything in the ground then here came the blast furnace. What a gardening year here in our part of Texas. We had to do some initiative things to get the plants to sustain in the heat and then produce. Once the harvest was ready it was so important to get it out of the ground before it was destroyed by the heat. Our highest heat this summer has been 111 degrees and that is hot!! These different weather patterns are one of the challenge's that gardening brings. When we are able to meet the challenge and bring in a harvest, then it has been a success. Although it is not the biggest harvest we have had, we like to say it is a success, we brought it to the table!

  Come on in and enjoy the celebration! I am celebrating 13 years of publishing my blog and this meal plan this week. I am also celebrating my 84th Birthday this weekend with family, I am going to have so much fun! For all of you who have  been here from the beginning and all of you have come along though the years, thank you so much for your support and being a  beautiful part of this blogging community! I hold each of you dear to my heart, and count you among my many blessings!

Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 650! Wow 650 weeks without fail, Full Plate Thursday has been posted and the amazing food that has been placed on this table through the years. Some of you have  been here from the very beginning or came shortly thereafter and it is because of folks like you whom I have become friends with through the years that this party has been become a favorite for food bloggers! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, you are the greatest!

  This recipe for Grilled Honey Pork  Chops is packed with flavor and so easy to prepare. The chops go into a honey based marinate for a short time, then on to the grill for perfection. Grill them on a grill in the great outdoors or in your cool house with your grill pan, either way these chops are winners! This is one of our go to recipes for pork chops that our whole family enjoys.

  Hello everyone we are keeping real busy try to keep up with the summer heat. Today we are placing an umbrella over the air conditioners to help keep the air conditioner cool to give us better service. We are breaking heat records everyday. When I think of preparing meal plans for this weather I am thinking fresh and cool. I am off to the garden to harvest what is available for this week. I will also be doing an inventory in the freezer, at least that will be a cool job. What are you and your family doing in this hot weather, what kind of meal plans are you making? 

  Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 649! I am so happy to see you here today, come on back to the back patio, we will sit under the shade and enjoy a  Watermelon Lemonade Float , yum! We had some great post last week and we have some amazing features from that party that are posted here today. I sure hope that you will enjoy each one of them. Every week we post the features to our Features Page on Pinterest and feature some of your post on our  Whats For Dinner Next Week   I can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today, thanks so much for coming to the party today!

What's In Season and How Do I Use It? July is here with its parades, fireworks and great fresh foods. Many of the foods that we have had in our basket for the past two months are still producing and can be found at many of the farmers markets. Some of the foods this month are produced here in the south, however my granddaughter that lives in New York can often times find some of them. Some of the recipes that I will share with you this month have been passed down in our family for generations, I hope you enjoy them.

I remember when my Mother would make this budget friendly Bologna Spread. She would grind the bologna with the food grinder, food processor's were not available in that day and time. I remember her putting the mix in the ice box, there was no refrigerator in our home at that time. She would place the container of spread as close to the ice block as she could get it, so it would get nice and cold. When we finally got to eat it as a snack or on a sandwich, it was delicious. When I placed my container in the refrigerator for this recipe, I had so many wonderful memories about the Old Fashioned Bologna Spread.

Hello everyone, so glad to see you here on the screen porch with me today. We sure had a great 4th of July with lots of activities. It is good to sit with you for a bit and plan some awesome meal plans for the week. We are in full swing of vegetable season and I am loving all the fruits and vegetables that we enjoy this time of the year. We have had great garden production this year to preserve and enjoy at the table. I love being able to go to the garden and bring the harvest into my kitchen and then to the table. We are truly blessed!

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 648 and July heat! Wow what a 4th of July celebration we had here in our area and our little community. I hope that all of you had awesome celebrations or great summer weekends with friends and  family. We had a  great party here last week with some very talented bloggers and I sure appreciate all of you coming to the party and sharing. You are sure part of the reason we have a great blogging community here at Full Plate Thursday each week.  Each week, we share the features on our special board on Pinterest and some of your post I share on my  Whats For Dinner Next Week .  Thanks so much for coming to the party today!

  These amazing Apple Puff's were created by our daughter Melody who is visiting us. She decided to treat us with a night off in the kitchen and made these delicious Apple Puff's. Like any blogger, I said hang on a minute let me get my camera, I want to do a blog post on the recipe. She is a great cook and we love seeing her when she is able to come home for a visit. She also made us a delicious Shephard's Pie. Melody, thanks so much for an awesome night off and a great new recipe! 

Welcome to July and the special week of July 4th! It is so much fun to live in our community during this time of the year. There is such an energy in and around all the lake and community activities. There will be traditional and new foods on our meal plan for this week. We will be having friends and family here this week to enjoy the festivities with us. Our little community will have the 4th of July parade, with a country store to follow, not to mention all the lake and water activities.

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 647 and our week for the Top Ten Features from last weeks party. We will be celebrating the 4th of July this coming week so the cottage is all a buzz. We are planning our annual 4th of July cook-out and celebration, looking forward to spending time with friends and family! I sure am excited to see you today and can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us. Come on in the party and enjoy yourself, we saved you a place at the table.  Each week, we share the features on our special board on Pinterest and some of your post I share on my  Whats For Dinner Next Week .  Thanks so much for coming to the party today and enjoy your 4th of July!

We love being in the great outdoors and grilling a nice steak. Our grilled balsamic sirloin with BBQ sauce recipe is one of our favorites. We make up the sauce and brush it all over the steak and let it marinate for a while. Then we put it on a hot grill and enjoy a ice cold glass of tea while it is cooking. When it is just the right internal temperature for our liking then it is on the platter with a side of the sauce. This steak is delicious and has an amazing balsamic flavor. We love the sauce and use it with many other cuts of meat, including chicken.

Summer is in full swing here and I just love making meal plans around the outdoor grill and fresh garden vegetables. We have had a fantastic garden harvest so we have lots of fresh veggies to use on our meal plan. We have had high temperatures that usually don't come until later in the year, which keeps us in doors under the cool air in the afternoon, but come evening we are back out and grilling is one of our favorite ways to prepare summer meals.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, and the "summer heat"! Come on back to the cool screen porch. We have some ice cold  Peach Fizz  waiting for you. We are presenting some great features from some very talented bloggers today and hope that you will stop by and visit with them.  Each week, we share the features on our special board on Pinterest and some of your post I share on my  Whats For Dinner Next Week  .Thanks so much for coming to the party today and we can't wait to see what yo will be sharing with us. Come on in and enjoy yourself, we have saved you a place at the table!

Our recipe for antipasti salad is a very delicious blend of great ingredients and seasons. This salad recipe has been in our family for a very long time and depending on what is  in the refrigerator the recipe may change from time to time. This is a great salad to have in the refrigerator on a hot summers day and is great served as a lunch or supper meal. We  have taken this salad to many a pot luck dinner or picnic and it is always a hit.

  What a fun time of the year to honor the Dad's in our life. It is always a fun time to honor the amazing Dad's that help to make everyday life so special! We have been having a bumper harvest from our garden this year. We have had some wonderful rain that has really made the difference in our production. We are going to be doing a little canning very soon as the harvest increases.    I am trying to be budget conscious right now, as some products are  just priced out of reach. The farmers meat markets are a great source for fresh chickens and other meat products. Our very best wishes to all the wonderful Dad's, who give so much everyday to the well being of their families, you are the greatest,   we honor you today!  

  Welcome to a Fathers Day Edition of Full Plate Thursday, 645! I am so excited to see you and hope you are planning some kind of special celebration for the Dad in your life. The Dad in your life maybe your very own Dad, a friend, or maybe the father of your own children. We all know some great Dad's out there and I sure hope all of you have a very special Fathers Day!  Each week, we share the features on our special board on Pinterest and some of your post I share on my  Whats For Dinner Next Week,  Thanks so much for coming to the party today and we can't wait to see what yo will be sharing with us. Come on in and enjoy yourself, we have saved you a place at the table!

  From the garden to the table this Roasted Vegetable Ziti Bake is a recipe worth putting on a meal plan. This ziti bake is absolutely delicious and will have your friends and family coming back for seconds. The fresh garden vegetables are roasted, then mixed with pasta and marinara then layered with a blend of cheeses. Next it is into the oven and baked to perfection. We are on our screen porch overlooking the vegetable garden and enjoying it today as a main dish although it is a great side. It has recently been a big hit at a covered dish dinner, and particularly with my husband!