Hello everyone, I am out on the garden patio today, I have just finished planting some more winter greens in the fall garden. It is a beautiful fall day so grab a cub of  Apple Cider and join us for the party. I am always excited to see what each of you will bring to the party each week. We have some great features from last week's party that you will want to be sure and check out. Thanks so much for coming to the party today and hope you have fun while you are here!

Balsamic Pears & Chicken on the table tonight, thanks to my friend who brought me a large basket of beautiful pears. I love pear season and all the wonderful recipes that I use pears in. The balsamic pears are a wonderful pairing for the chicken and it makes a delicious and very flavorful sauce for the chicken. This is a very simple recipe with a few herbs and some cranberries to enhance the flavors. This is a perfect recipe for pear season and will make a very special entre for any occasion. 

              Once the weather started to cool off my mom would always whip out the cans of Libby's pumpkin puree. The smell of this pumpkin bread baking always marked the beginning of Fall and the holiday season (to include Halloween) in our house. I look forward to making it every year and love giving mini loaves to friends and family. I am happy that I get to share this recipe with you all this year! Did I mention this recipe is stupid easy and uses 1 bowl? 

  Welcome to our first week in October, on a beautiful fall day. This is a great time of the year to make meal plans. We still have so many fresh fruits and vegetables available to bring to the table. I am expecting some family this next week, so I will be looking at some of their favorite meal plans to include in this weeks plan. I will be going to the farmers market to see what I can bring to the table. 

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday and our Top Ten Post from last weeks party! Oh my goodness, it is the last day of September and fall is certainly here. Have you noticed at the link parties there are so many wonderful fall recipes and décor, lots of new things to try. I have finished decorating for fall and it all looks like we have had a definite season change. We just finished planting our fall garden, we planted collard, cabbage, kale, turnip greens and mustard greens. I have some fall lettuce in my lettuce and salad tub. Don't you know that we will sure enjoy all those winter greens. We have a fabulous Top Ten list of featured bloggers that you choose with you page views, these are the links that you looked at the most. It is always fun to see what you are looking at the most. I am looking forward to what you will be bringing to the party this week. Come on in and find your place at the table we have been saving you a place!

My Frosted Fudge Walnut Brownies recipe comes from a childhood memory of the most delicious brownies. One of my Mothers friends made the most delicious brownies and they were a very special treat when we would go there for a visit. Of course time goes on and I grew up and moved from the community but I never forgot those brownies. Last year I decided to try and get as close to the brownies as I could and this is the recipe that I have come up with. It is a little different because I updated some of the products that we use today, but the flavor and the texture's are very close to the same. I can't begin to tell you how delicious that first bite of this brownie was to me. It took me right back to my childhood sitting in her home waiting for that special treat!

Green Chile Chicken Tortilla Casserole is a favorite go to recipe. We really enjoy our Tex-Mex cuisine here at the cottage. This is one of those casseroles that can go the covered dish pot lucks and you will bring an empty dish home. This is a simple recipe that is so easy to put together and it has all the Tex-Mex flavor that will bring you back to this recipe over and over again.

Hello everyone, I am looking forward to making this meal plan for the week. The weather is just beautiful a nice time to plan some dinners on the porch. We are working hard to get our fall garden going, we are a little late this year, but we are determined to get it done. Still so excited about family moving to our area in the near future, it will be so nice to have family near by. I am off to the Farmers Market today always a fun adventure to see what kind of fresh fruits and vegetables we can find to make our meal plans fresh and delicious!

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday at our new time on Thursday, at 6:00 a.m. CST! I am so excited to see you here today at our old original time that we started out in 11 years ago. We had some great features last week and I sure hope you will stop by and say hello to these talented bloggers. We have been so busy here at the cottage, getting our fall projects taken care of. We are getting our fall and winter garden ready to plant, we are running our of time. We also have family moving to our area which we are so excited about! I can't wait to see what you will be bringing to the party today, so many wonderful fall post to be written! Thanks so much for coming today and I will see you at the table!

  Our Italian Pesto Sliders are great for serving a group for the games or just a supper for the family. We harvest and preserve our own sweet basil pesto, so this slider is packed with home grown goodness. The recipe is so easy to put together and will be ready for the serving table in no time. We always have some delicious  Sweet Basil Pesto  handy in the freezer. We love this recipe and sure hope you do!

We have had a wonderful Basil harvest this year and I just couldn't let all that fabulous basil go to waste. We always dry some of our basil to use in recipes, and usually have pesto on hand. This year I decided to freeze some of my sweet basil pesto. This is a delicious recipe that I have used for years to make my pesto and I use the pesto in many of my Italian recipes. This recipe is so easy to make and uses just a few ingredients. I place it in 1/2 cup containers, which is perfect for most recipes. This can be used for up to 6 months after freezing.

      I recently started working again after spending the last year at home. It has been very exciting, but also a big adjustment for us. I forgot how crazy it can be to juggle everything at once! So easy dinners have been the go-to. This sheet pan dinner is easy, fast, and you get some great leftovers. Hope this recipe can give you an easy night this week!

Hello everyone, it is so good to sit down with you and make this meal plan. What a beautiful day we are having and I am totally inspired to bring some delicious dishes to my families dinner table this week. I had to laugh at myself a little today as I was preparing to start the meal plan, I have this little routine that I walk through. First I check the weather for the next week, then I take a walk, look at the garden and what may be available, a walk to the barn to see what may be available in the cold bin and back in to the freezer and  pantry. By this time I have an idea of what I have on hand then comes the fun part, looking for the recipes, I just pull up  Miz Helen's Kitchen Recipes , and let the fun begin. This may seem like a lot of prep work, but it sure beats walking up and down the super market isle wondering what's for dinner?

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday! We have a very important announcement this week so be sure and read it so you won't be left out! We have a very busy cottage right now. It is the transition to fall décor, fall slip covers going on, fall flower arrangements, and the pumpkins will be coming very soon! We have some great features from last week that I sure hope you will enjoy from some very talented bloggers. I am looking forward to see what you will be sharing with us today, so come on in and find your special place at the table, we saved it for you!