Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 712. What a great party we are planning for you today. We are sharing some fantastic features from last weeks party that you will want to be sure to visit. We have some of the most talented food bloggers that come to our party every week and we are always excited to see each and every one of you! I have saved you a seat at the table today, we can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today!

  I love making a great pot of chowder, it is a perfect layering of flavors. These layers of flavors simmered together bring a bowl of goodness to the table that is very special. Our Cheesy Burger Chowder is made one layer at a time with vegetables and seasons that marry well in the simmering pot of chowder. This is our number one chowder request from family and friends, a winner every time!

Hello everyone, it is sure great to see you here today. We are able to really enjoy our gardens right now. We don't have a big harvest of vegetable's but our herbs are really doing well right now. All the high schools here are gearing up for Friday night football, fall is definitely in the air! I love fall foods as we lean a little more into comfort foods that I sometimes call Grandma foods. I am looking at some great recipes for the upcoming week.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 711! I am so happy to see you here today on this beautiful fall day. The official fall date is September 22, 2024  and I think we have a really good start here. We had a great party last week with wonderful post that are featured this week. I hope that you enjoy all the features, be sure and stop by these talented bloggers site and say hello.  Thanks so much for coming to the party today, I can't wait to see what you are sharing!

We love our Tex-Mex here at the cottage. Our Taco Tuesday Casserole is a giant taco in one pan. Baked to perfection with cheese, onion and crisp tortilla chips. We topped this one with some fresh avocado chunks and then of course our home canned salsa. This casserole goes together real fast and is on the table for a hungry family. 

  Hello everyone, I am so excited to see you today and make a delicious meal plan for us. I love it that our weather is so much cooler this week, we have sure enjoyed some nice rain and just being able to relax a bit after the August heat. I have some great recipes that I am looking at, I will be interested in which one my husband chooses from the group this week. Sometimes he surprises me with his picks. Now  that school is started I know that some of you want some meals that will make it easier to put dinner on the table, after a long school day.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 710! September is here and it has brought some great weather with it. Please join us in the great outdoors today, we are going to enjoy this beautiful weather we are having. We have some awesome features from last weeks party that I hope you will enjoy. We have saved you a seat at the table and I can't wait to see what you are bringing to share with us today. Thanks so much for coming we always love having you here!

Welcome to September with some of the garden harvest winding down for this season.  We have several traditional end of season recipes that we will be sharing with you. Some of the produce that we enjoyed in early June and July has given in to the heat and now we are have only the hardy producers to harvest. We are so blessed to live in an area that has some of the best farmers markets that keep us supplied with most garden vegetables the year round.

Good Morning everyone, I sure hope that you are enjoying your Labor Day weekend. My goodness my husband and I were just talking about how fast the summer went by this year, but here we are. Our meal plans are fun this time of the year as we transition into the fall season. It is still warm enough to enjoy some grilling time, but then we enjoy a great bowl of soup on a cooler evening. This week I will be visiting our farmers market so we will see what ends up in my cart to help with the meal plans this week.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday and our TOP TEN features from last weeks party!  Here we are at the last week of August and the Labor Day Weekend, we are excited to see all of you today. This is one of the last official weekends of the summer here at the lake. We expect a great weekend with lots of folks out for a last big event of the season. We are starting to see some transitional foods going into fall, it is always fun to watch what folks are sharing this time of the year. I look forward to see what you are sharing at the party today. Thanks so much for coming today and stay safe over your fun weekend!

The zucchini are plentiful right now and what better squash to bring from the garden to the table. Our Spicy Zucchini Bread is so simple and yet deep with flavors. My husband tested this bread for me and  when I asked him what he thought he said, "it tastes every bit as good as it smelled." This bread is easy to put together and it is even better to eat. It is a real winner!

Hello everyone, my goodness we are going into the last week of August and it is hot! We have been having record breaking temperatures that have put me indoors with the cooler air. At this point with meal plans I think what in the world, just give me something cold, right? I am looking at some of my recipes and we will see what makes it to the line up this week. We also have Labor Day Weekend coming up next weekend. We have already made plans for the weekend, we will see if the temperatures allow us to go forward.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 708! We are so happy to see you here at the party today. The heat index is 107 as I am writing this post. We are having the party in the cottage today so we can stay cool, sit at the table and visit with one another and sip some ice cold sweet tea. I can't wait to see what you are sharing with us today. I hope you will take some time and enjoy the awesome features we have today.

Welcome to our annual summer garden tour. As I look back on our spring and summer garden season it has been a good one. We have had quiet a bit of construction and remodel on our grounds, but we managed to produce a really nice harvest with some beautiful plants to enjoy. In gardening the weather is always a challenge, and this year has been no different. We are actually in the last half of our August heat and it is hot, but it will soon start to cool with the dog days of summer. We will soon be preparing the ground and planting our winter garden and the seasons continue on.

  Hello everyone, I sure hope that you are staying cool in this last half of August. Our schools started here this week, so we are all starting to get into the fall routine of the school zone speed limits, and Friday night football. We will begin to transition into our fall meal planning with more root vegetables and darker greens. But right now we are not quiet there as our temperatures are still very hot giving us the opportunity to enjoy summer cooking just a little longer.

  Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 707! I am so excited to see you here today at the party. We have saved you a seat at the table so come on in and find your place, I can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today. While you are waiting today you might enjoy a nice slice of my  Grape Ice Box Pie .  Our schools started this week and the fall calendar is quickly becoming a reality. Our little community is starting to revolve around the school scheduling and talk of the first football game coming soon. Wow where did this summer go?

  I have wanted to develop this pie recipe for sometime. I finally got it from my head to the table. I am sure glad I did, it is delicious. It takes very little time to make the pie and it is ready to serve after a few hours in the refrigerator. The filling is filled with creamy goodness with a burst of flavor from the fresh grapes. Next time I will double the recipe and make two pies as we ran out way to soon!

  Hello everyone, I am looking forward to making this meal plan with all of you today. I am thinking about all of you along the east coast that are dealing with flooding today and hoping you will come through the storm without to much damage. I have taken an inventory of my pantry, the barn garden bins and my freezer. They are all pretty full right now. What we will be doing in the next few weeks is some of our late summer canning of the harvest. Canning is always a fun time here at the cottage. We also have a very large remodel going on the screen porch. We are replacing the entire floor, that is a big job and we are really just getting started. I already missing sitting there so I sure hope it does not take to long. Lets get start on this meal plan!

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday and our new posting time! Come on in a cooling area, we have some fans set up in the back patio under the trees and it is very nice with the breeze of the fans. We have an entire beverage bar set up so just help yourself and find your seat, we have saved you one! The features from last week are amazing and I sure hope you enjoy them. We are so happy to see you here today and can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us.

  Welcome to our August Food and Recipe Basket! August in Texas usually means heat with wilting or dying gardens. This is an unusual year, our temperatures have been lower than average and our rains have been way above average. The vegetables have had a different harvest clock this year, however the farmers markets are filled with the peck of the season, for just about every fruit or vegetable you could possible want or need. This is our canning season, so what we don't have available in our own garden we just pick up at the markets.

Hello everyone and welcome August! We have about 2 weeks vacation time before our schools start here, how about you when do your school's start. Family meal plans often time have to change when school starts to accommodate the schedules of the school children. We are having unseasonable lower temperatures for August and this makes meal planning a lot more fun! This means we will doing some outdoor cooking and spending more time outdoors with our meals this week.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 705 and August! I sure am happy to see you today. We have a great party planned for you with some awesome features from last weeks party. We are have lower seasonal temperatures for August, which we are enjoying. I can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today, I always look forward to your post and visiting your amazing blogs!

  Our Creamy Cheese Chicken Casserole is a big hit at family dinners or special gatherings. The chicken is layered with a creamy cheese sauce, green peas and a crispy cracker topping. This casserole will melt in your mouth and have folks coming back for seconds.

Hello everyone, I am on the screen porch to write our meal plans for this week. It is really nice out here today, just a misty rain, so quiet and peaceful.  I went to the farmers market yesterday and loaded up on some beautiful fruits and vegetables. We have some produce in our garden, but our harvest is very late this year. I am looking forward to making some of the recipes that I have picked out for this week's meal plan. So happy that you are here to help me out today, lets get busy!

  Good evening and welcome to Full Plate Thursday 704! My goodness what a whirlwind week we have had here at the cottage. I have been celebrating my 85th birthday for a  whole week now. Plus I am celebrating along with so many of you the 14th year for Miz Helen's Country Cottage! I am so humbled that all of you have supported this party and my blog through the years, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you! This is our TOP TEN FEATURES WEEK, be sure and check out the features that all of you picked with your page views from last weeks party! I and so happy you are here today and I can hardly wait to see what you are sharing with us today!

  Our Lemon Garlic Flank Steak is delicious and so tender you can cut it with a fork. We begin the recipe with a delicious marinate that is full of herb's and a lemon and balsamic base. We love putting it on our outdoor grill, but in case of rain you can always grill it on the stove top grill. We enjoy serving this recipe with roasted vegetables. This is a very special meal that our family loves!

  Hello everyone, it is so good to see you here today. I really enjoy meal planning this time of the year when we have so many fresh fruits and vegetables available. We are having a lovely summer right now. Yes we are having some really hot temperatures, however we are getting some nice rain showers along to cool us down. I love to grill out this time of the year, but our meal plan will not include grilling out when rain is forecast. We do have some fresh vegetables in our garden and the farmers markets are packed out right now with wonderful produce.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 703 I am so happy to see you here today. Come on back to the back patio, we have some fans set up under the trees. We will enjoy the great outdoors and have fun enjoying the amazing fun and food that all of you will be bringing today. I always look forward to Thursday to see what all of you will be sharing for the party! Thanks so much for being here and God bless you!

This rice pudding recipe is a winner no matter what the occasion or the weather. Through the years this has been one of my go-to recipes for a busy day and the need for a great dessert. This is a great recipe to take to a cover dish meal and always a hit for a family supper.  Just put all the ingredients into the slow cooker and the magic will happen, its great!

Our Baked Berry Oatmeal has become one of the favorite breakfast and brunch recipes in this past year. This is so easy to put together, comforting and absolutely delicious. Our little Grands just love this recipe and would be a great dish to prepare for school days. We have found that it freezes well which is a big plus! 

  Hello everyone, I am so happy to see you here today. Our area is just coming out of the after affects of Hurricane Beryl. Some folks in our area are still without power and internet. My husband and I are so grateful and blessed that we still have power and the internet. I have gone through my recipes and looked at the freezer inventory, plus had a look at the pantry. As I plan this weeks meal plans I will be looking at the peak of summer and its wonderful harvest that comes from the garden to table here at the cottage.

Hello and welcome to Full Plate Thursday! We are so happy to see you here at the party today. I sure hope you had a great 4th of  July celebration, we had a great celebration here in our community. We are getting the wind and rain from Hurricane Beryl. We will get lots of rain and some wind, we are good here no damage here. We are headed for the screen porch for our party today, just enjoy our cozy porch out of the rain and wind. We have some great features from last weeks party so be sure and visit those talented bloggers!

  Our garden is busting with beautiful vegetables and delicious ideas for garden to table recipes. Our Italian Summer Soup is delicious, it is a blend of summer squash, zucchini, and other summer herbs and vegetables. We are having some rainy weather as the storms roll in off the coast. The temperatures drop and this soup is a real winner. It can be frozen ahead of the  storm and then reheated to perfection.

  What's In Season and How Do I Use It? J uly 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.

  Hello everyone, I sure hope you had a good 4th of July. We had a awesome celebration and now looking forward to making our meal plans for the next week. We will be looking at cooler temperatures next week which we will welcome. We have lots of great fresh vegetables in our garden and at the Farmers Market. I hope you are enjoying your summer and enjoying making your meal plans for your friends and family.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 701 and our special 4th of July edition! I sure hope that you are going to enjoy your 4th of July celebration. We had a great party last week which gave us some amazing features to help us have a great celebration today. Thanks so much for coming to the party today, I can't wait to see what you are sharing with us. Come on back to the patio it is real shady and we have cold beverages waiting for you. Enjoy!

What a fun week to make meal plans for a very special holiday. We will be celebrating the 4th of July this week. We have celebrations all of the lake area from air shows to country fairs and back yard Bar B Ques. Great ways of celebrating our freedom and our love for the all American foods. We will be enjoying some of our traditional foods this week and I have some of our family favorite recipes ready to place on the meal plan.

  Welcome to the last party of the month and our Top Ten Features! Wow this last party of each month sure rolls around pretty fast sometimes. You picked some great post with your page views for this weeks party!

  Our Fresh Strawberry Dip is a perfect appetizer for a party of one or twenty. It is very cold and refreshing, very simple to make with just a few ingredients. It is one of our favorites here at the cottage. I like to serve this with a few mini vanilla wafers and a little salty Pretzel Crisps. I just love that salty and sweet combination. You can prepare this recipe the night before and it is all ready for your guest the next afternoon or evening. 

Hello everyone, it is good to be sitting on the screen porch with you while we make this meal plan for next week. It is a beautiful morning which inspires me to put together some great meal plans for this summer season. We actually have some vegetables that are  growing in the garden and in the Veggie Pod. I visited our Farmers Market last week and they have a great selection of everything I will need to make the recipes that I have picked out for this week. 

  Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 699! I sure hope you had a great Fathers Day weekend, we had a  great celebration here at the cottage.  We had a  very special party here with all of you last week and we have some outstanding features to share with you from the party. Thank you so much for coming to the party today, I have saved you a seat at the table, now fill your plate and enjoy yourself!

  A cold rainy day can happen anytime, spring, summer, fall or winter. My Baked Beef Tips With Gravy is one of my favorite recipes to serve on that kind of day. This is a budget friendly recipe and so easy to put together. Just let it simmer in the oven and when you take it out it is ready to serve a hungry family. There will be enough for seconds as most will want a second round. I like to serve this recipe on top of creamy mashed potatoes with a fresh garden salad.

Hello everyone and a special greeting to all the Fathers on this Fathers Day weekend. We are expecting a full house this weekend to honor my husband and some other fathers in our family. We are planning on a fantastic time with delicious food. Great food requires careful attention. Meal planning allows me to have a more organized meal time and gives me more time to enjoy family and friends at the event. 

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 698. I am so excited to see you here today, we have some really great features to share with you today. We are having some beautiful days and our little plants are loving it. We are actually planting some late garden that we feel sure will make harvest. It will be fun to watch the crops and even better to enjoy the harvest on our table. We are having our party on the garden patio where we can really enjoy the great outdoors. I have saved you a place at the table and thanks so much for coming to the party today!

  Our Potluck Pasta Salad is a perfect salad for any potluck gathering. This salad is easy to put together and has fresh garden vegetables which makes it a very healthy salad to take. We live in a country lake community, our lake shore line touches several small communities. We interact with several of those communities and participate in great potluck gatherings during the course of a month. This has been one of my favorite salad's to take. I rarely ever bring any back home with me.

Hello everyone, it is so good to see you here on this sunny morning! We are actually going to be able to have a cook-out and enjoy being outdoors with no rain for a few days. I have made a inventory of our pantry and freezers, unfortunately we don't have that many fresh vegetables in our garden. We will be making a trip to the local farmers market to fill the order for our meal plan for the week. It will be fun to see what the market has to offer this week. 

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 697 and the month of June. We are going to have a great party today with the beginning of the summer season. We have some awesome features from last weeks party that I sure hope you enjoy. I love the summer food season from so many garden to table recipes and beautiful photo's of fresh foods. It is so good to see you here today, we have saved you a place at the table!

    This month we have some great foods in season that go from garden to table in the very best of fresh food. We get to spend a lot of time in the garden but if we are not growing the fresh fruit or vegetable that is in season, then we are off to the nearest farmers market. Some farmers markets are open year round now, but most are open by now. I love to carry all these fresh foods into my kitchen to create wonderful recipes for my family and friends.

Good morning, it is a beautiful June day to enjoy planning a great meal plan for next week. I am so happy you can join me here on the screen porch today, ya'll know how I love the screen porch. We have had some pretty weather around our part of the world this spring, and we are so grateful for the rain, and the fact that we have not had any damage from surrounding storms. The weather looks like we will be able to do a little grilling this week and enjoy some fresh vegetables from the garden and the farmers market.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 696 and our Top Ten Features edition. On the last party of the month we feature your top ten views from last weeks party! You sure picked some great post for this weeks Top Ten, I hope you enjoy them.  I hope that all of you had a safe Memorial Day with lots of good food and fellowship. Thanks so much for coming to the party today, we always look forward to your visits!