When we begin to see the signs of spring I get so excited!  We have been working in our gardens through the late fall and even planting in January and it won't be long before everything will be coming up in beautiful blooms and wonderful fresh vegetables. Our Tulips Are Blooming It Won't Be Long Before The Zinnia's Will Bloom and  The Butterfly's Will Visit The Fence Row Will Be Covered In Morning Glories We Added A New Garden Section For Row Crops and  Max Was Our Helper Onions Are Planted and Growing  Time To Plant Potatoes Max Keeping Watch Over The Onions Soon We Will Be Harvesting The Spring Onions Potato Planting Day Opps!   Looks Like Max Thinks He Is  Dig ging  His Own Garden Spot The Antique French Bath Tub Is A Lettuce Bowl Just Outside The Kitchen Door Pick Your Salad Take A Deep Breath It's Spring! Thanks so much for stopping by The Garden Gate t...

March means its time to make the Bierocks, which we all love. My original recipe takes a while to make with the yeast dough rising time and pinching each little bun, then filling the bun and baking.  This year I decided to update the recipe just a bit and make it a little easier without giving up any flavor.  We just love the way this new recipe turned out so of course I wanted to share it with you. Bierocks Roll Up Bierocks Roll Up Miz Helen's Kitchen Makes 2 Roll Ups Ingredients 2 8 ounce tubes Crescent Sheet Dough 1 pound lean Hamburger (we use local grass fed beef) 1 white onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 small head of cabbage, shredded in thin strips 2 tablespoons caraway seeds 1 tablespoon parsley salt and pepper to taste 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, graded 1 cup water Directions In a large skillet brown the hamburger and add the onion and the garlic cook until the onion is clear Add the shredded cabbage and 1 cup ...

Happy St. Patrick's Day We have had the week of the green leading up to St. Patrick's Day enjoying some old family recipes and reflecting back to warm times spent with family.  My Irish Grandma and my Aunts would be in the kitchen making the meal and it always smelled so good. Everyone would  eat and sit around the table and talk, telling stories about times gone by then  my Grandpa would get out his fiddle and play Irish tunes that still ring in my ears, wonderful memories of a simple time in life. Come on in and I will share my Grandma's Irish Stew recipe with you. Sunday St. Patrick's Day Grandma's Irish Stew   Irish Soda Bread   Grandmothers Buttermilk Pie Monday Ham and Asparagus Quiche Green Tossed Salad Fresh Fruit Compote Tuesday Skillet Chops with Roasted Corn, Black Beans  and Pineapple Salad Baked Tortilla's Lemon Pudding Delight Wednesday First Day of Spring Baked N...

Full Plate Thursday Where The Greatest Cooks On The Planet Gather   Happy St. Patrick's Day To Yah ! We are about everything green this week here at the cottage , having a Irish Celebration Week of Irish F amily R ecipes.  Some of the recipes are very old and passed down through the generations and others are new with an old twist. Do you have a favorite r ecipe that you make for St. Patrick's day?     I sure am glad to see you today and have been looking forward to our party today , we are going to have some fabulous food today and great fellowship, I can't wait to see what you have brought, so lets get right to the table.   This Is How I Filled My Plate Last Week Sunday  Mini Crustless Vegetable Quiches   at Feeding My Temple Morning Snack St. Patricks Day Treats   at JBiggs Little Pieces Lunch Chicken and Mushroom Pies with Cheddar Shortcrust Pastry   at Lemon & Thyme   Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes ...

My Grandma was Irish and her heritage certainly came out in her cooking.  When I was working on my  Irish Soda Bread I knew that we just had to have Grandma's Irish Stew to go with it.  It is the same meal that I had in my Grandma's kitchen so many times when I was a youth and this has brought back so many wonderful memories. Grandma's Irish Stew at Miz Helen's Country Cottage Grandma's Irish Stew

I had an Irish Grandma, so I had Irish Soda Bread many times in my early childhood and what wonderful memories this post brought back for me. This recipe is very much like the one that my Grandma made, just a real rustic bread with fabulous flavor. My Grandma always made the bread in this very same iron skillet that I am fortunate enough to have, so today's Irish Soda Bread is made in my Irish Grandma's iron skillet (now mine).   Irish Soda Bread

I am so glad to see you today and so glad that our weather is better.  We have been able to work out in the garden this past week and it was so much fun to be in the garden again.  I am already dreaming of all the wonderful fresh vegetables we will have in a few short months.  We put our Humming Bird Feeders out this week and now we wait for the scouts to come.  It is always so much fun to watch those feeders for the first sign of our little families.  Come out in the garden with me and I will show you our new feeders and tell you all about The Menu for next week. Sunday Irish Cottage Pie   Fresh Fruit Salad Welch Griddle Cakes   Monday Butternut Spaghetti Sauce   and Spaghetti Green Salad Garlic Bread Italian Sesame Seed Cookies Tuesday Ruben Hot Pockets   Green Salad Left Over Cookies Wednesday Ladies Luncheon Cranberry Chicken Salad ...

Full Plate Thursday Where The Greatest Cooks On The Planet Gather Hello March! We have had so much fun this week, it has actually been warm enough for us to work in the gardens and yard.  Isn't nice to be able to go out and enjoy nature after be ing all cozy in the house for aw hile. We even had a little help from our little dog Ma x.   Max Is Busy Digging A Garden For Himself I sure am glad to see all of you today so come on out to the new garden area and we will see what Max has planted.  We are looking forward to some fantastic food today so lets get to it. This Is How I Filled My Plate Last Week Breakfast Bacon and Asparagus Breakfast Pizza at Hot Eats and Cool Reads Morning Snack    Nutella Energy Bar and Hazelnut Flour   at LivingFree Lunch Mediterranean Frittata   at Chef Not Included Caprese Salad On A Stick   at Modern Christian Homemaker Peanut Butter Eclair Dessert   at Melissa's Cuisine Af...

We love going to the city for a special evening from time to time. One of the restaurants that we enjoy has the very best creamed spinach on their menu, however it it very rich, and I just know it has real cream making it a very high fat and calorie count. I wanted to serve a similar spinach however did not want all that extra count.  We just loved this recipe and I wanted to share it with you today.   Spinach with Yogurt Sauce Spinach with Yogurt Sauce Miz Helen's Kitchen Ingredients 2 bunches of spinach, washed and dried 1 onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon butter 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1/4 cup white wine vinegar 3/4 cup Greek Yogurt Fresh Graded Nutmeg Directions Wash and dry the spinach Heat the olive oil in a large heavy skillet add the butter Saute the onion and garlic in the hot oil Wisk together the vinegar and yogurt and set aside put the spinach into the...