There is nothing like a lazy Sun Flower to put a smile on your face. We have the prettiest Sun Flowers this year and what a great way to say good bye to summer. Happy Sun Flower The Birds Will Love All These Seeds In The Winter The Happy Sun Flower Dance Sun Flower Friends A Happy Sun Flower Day To You and a Good Bye To Summer! It was so much fun showing you my Sun Flower's today and saying good bye to summer, I hope they make you as happy as they  make me. Hope you will come back to the garden real soon! Peace and Joy Miz Helen

We are planning a little Fall Harvest party and these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are going to be a hit with the guest.  These cookies are so light and fluffy with those awesome flavors of Pumpkin and Chocolate, a great fall combination of flavor.  I don't really think these cookies will last long in the cookie jar. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday! I am always so excited to see all of you. Fall has arrived in our area. The pumpkins are appearing everywhere, fall vegetables are in the farmers markets and of course Texas Football is well underway.  The Texas State Fair is going on and The Texas Star Chili Cook Off is open here at the Country Cottage. I hope that you will bring your bowl of chili and enter it in the Cook Off. Check it out Here . I can't wait to see what you have brought to share today so lets get all this food on the table. Thank you so much for coming today, have fun and come back real soon! This Is How I Filled My Plate Last Week Breakfast Southwestern Omelette with Fried Plantains   at   Wheat Free Meat Free Good Oat Bread and Jam   at Sweet Nothings Morning Snack Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins    at Blessed Roots Lunch Ciabatta Pizza at Quay Po Cooks C;hocolate Caramel Apple Pops at The Cake Dish Afternoon Snack Chex PB and Chocolate Blast at...

Welcome To The Second Annual Texas Star Chili Cook Off 2011 I am so excited to see you here today. I know that you have been working very hard on your chili recipe for this years cook off. We had some really great chili in the 2010 Cook Off, but I know that it will be even better this year. Thank you so much for bringing your wonderful chili to share with us today and come back soon! You are the judges, your Page Views will determine your favorite Bowl of Chili for 2011 !   In addition to having the honor of The Texas Star Chili Cook-Off Winner for 2011  t he winner  will receive a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com  Rules: Your post should include a little history about your chili and how this recipe came to be your favorite. It must include a back link to Texas Star Chili Cook Off No Linky Parties No Give Aways Must be a Follower To Link: Please state the name of your recipe Please be sure and link your post back to the Texas Star Cook-Off, so I won...

Don't you just love this wonderful Fall weather that we are having? It is such a welcome relief from the Summer that we had. We have been really busy getting all our Fall decorations out and beginning to cook Fall recipes. I want to remind you that we have The Texas Star Chili Cook Off beginning on October 1, 2011 . Sure hope that you are planning on bringing your very best bowl of chili . Get All  The Details Here . Sunday Roast Chicken Fresh Black Eyed Peas Mashed Sweet Potatoes Green Tossed Salad Hot Cottage Rolls Chocolate Cake Monday With Leftover Chicken Chicken Veggie Soup Corn Bread Left Over Chocolate Cake Tuesday Two Way Pasta (We Are Having The Hot Casserole)  Tossed Green Salad Garlic Bread Mixed Berry Bowl with Spicy Vanilla Sauce Wednesday Ham Steaks Butter Beans Spicy Oven Fried Potatoes Cole Slaw Corn Bread Lemony Nana Trifle Thursday Left Over Ham Waffles With Chunky Fresh Peach Sauce Friday From  Full Plate Thursday Dinner Grilled Salmon with...

Happy Fall Ya'll and Welcome to Full Plate Thursday! I am so happy that you could come over today to share this great party with us. Come right over here and we will get your food out on the table I just know it will be delicious. Thank you so much for coming today and please come back soon! I have a very special invitation for YOU! Y ou Are Invited to Participate In  The 2nd Annual Texas Star Chili Cook-Off October 1 through October 31 For Details  Click Here Bring Your Best Bowl Of Chili This Is How I Filled My Plate Last Week Breakfast Ableskivers   at The Real Housewives of Riverton Morning Snack Apple Turnovers at Carolina Heart Strings Lunch Crab Mango and Avocado Tower at A Spoonful of Thyme Chocolate Souffle Cake   at Misadventures In Cooking Afternoon Snack Jello Krispie Apples   at  Flour Me With Love Dinner Grilled Salmon with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Parmesan Grits   at Another Marvelous Meal Blueberry Custard Tart ...

We are coming to the end of our growing season for tomatoes and I made some Oven Dried Tomatoes the other day, they are so delicious. I use the  Oven Dried Tomatoes (Here) as a base for this recipe. I just love this recipe, because it is so versatile. You can have it as a cold salad or a hot casserole, it is the greatest! As A Salad As A Casserole Two Way Pasta Miz Helen's Kitchen 4 cups cooked chicken chopped 1 pound Rigatoni cooked 1 cup Zucchini sliced 1 cup yellow onion chopped 1 cup Red Bell Pepper chopped 1 cup black olives, drained and chopped 1 cup  Oven Dried Tomatoes chopped 6 ounces tomato paste 1 tablespoon dried oregano 3/4 cup fresh basil chopped Salt and Pepper to taste  1 cup mozzarella shredded 1/2 cup Parmesan shredded 3 cups water 2 tablespoons olive oil Pour 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil into a hot skillet and saute the zucchini, onion, red pepper on medium heat until the onion is clear.  Add th...

We are so excited it finally RAINED !! We got about 2 inches and are supposed to get some more soon. We are down 16 inches for the season so far. However it  is cooler now and we can sit on the new back porch. Come on back and we will sit out here on the new porch and visit for a while. Don't forget about the big event beginning on Oct 1st through Oct 31st. I just know that you will be bringing your very best bowl of Chili to The Texas Star Chili Cook Off. The Code Is On The Side Bar Y ou Are Invited to Participate In  The 2nd Annual Texas Star Chili Cook-Off October 1 through October 31 For Details  Click Here Bring Your Best Bowl Of Chili  Now lets get busy with this weeks menu and find out Whats For Dinner Next Week   Sunday Oven Fried Chicken Mashed Potatoes Green Beans Tossed Green Salad Cheesy Dill Biscuits Coconut Pie Monday Canning Day End Of Season Soup Green Tossed Salad Corn Bread Left Over Coconut Pie Tuesday Hamburger Steak Chipotle...

We just love tomatoes, green, red, yellow, black, all colors of beautiful tomatoes. We have tomatoes for slicing, for canning and just enjoying. You can grow a tomato just about anywhere, in a garden area, on the patio in a container and even upside down in a basket. We start our tomatoes from seed and the process usually starts in January.   The Kitchen Window Becomes The Greenhouse Transplanted To The Garden and Blooming Here Come The Tomatoes And Back To The Window Hot Sauce Anyone? Maybe You Would Like Oven Dried Tomatoes Recipe For Oven Dried Tomatoes (Here) Then the tomatoes are over for another few months until we begin the process all over again. In the mean time we have lots of good canned tomato products in the pantry to enjoy until next year. I sure am glad you came along for my Tomato Journey I always enjoy your company on the journey. Don't forget your bag of tomatoes and hope you will come back real soon! Peace and Joy Miz Helen

The day my book came in the mail I was so excited. I got my cup of tea and sat down to really enjoy the new cook book. The first thing I noticed was the size, it was just perfect for my cookbook shelf, it would fit there nicely without being to tall, to small or just to large. I love the texture of the pages, a nice feel to my hands as I scanned every page so carefully. I began to notice that many of the photo's looked very familiar to me because I had traveled some of the same roads many times, it was home for me. Lisa Fain, a seventh generation Texan found herself working in Manhattan and searching for the right ingredients to prepare the thing that speaks to all of us when we are lonely, and that is food from home. The taste, the comfort that only comes from the smells, the texture and the flavors of the food that gives us comfort. Lisa began to blog in 2005 and from that beginning The  Homesick Texan Cookbook was developed.  This cookbook will take you on a tour of Tex...