LOL, yes it is! It’s summer time and I love those fruity girly summer time cocktails, don’t you? We are having company tonight, 3 other couples, to celebrate one of the couple’s recent engagement. The menu is easy and lets us all sit by the grill and visit while dinner is being cooked.

I whipped up these “cocktail napkins” for us to use while having appetizers and our fruity cocktail drinks Aren’t they fun?

Oh back to the menu, you asked? Well one of my goals was to use some of those herbs I planted in the spring, remember? I have a bumper crop now so I need to use some. We are having:

Appetizers/Drinks:

• Cut vegetables (red pepper, cucumber, carrots) with freshly made dill dip
• Colby Jack cheese and grapes
• Sangria with fresh fruit

Dinner:

• Balsamic glazed grilled salmon
• Fresh fruit kabobs
• Caprese Salad
• Fresh garden salad with lemon basil salad dressing
• Thinly sliced ham wrapped on asparagus spears, grilled

Dessert:

• Chocolate brownies (gluten free)
• Frozen strawberry banana all natural yogurt (I tested it last night and it is SO DELICIOUS!)
• Decaf Green Mountain coffee (the very best I’ve ever found, bar none!)

Wish you all could come join us! It would be so much fun to have everyone visit.

What do Mother’s love to do most?  Brag about their children.  I am doing that today.

Some of you may recall the post I did on folding an Easter Bunny napkin.  Today I am posting a napkin Debbie made.

Can’t you just see this napkin setting in the middle of a pretty red, green, gold or any color plate?  It would “wow” my guests for sure.

I am “hoping” Martha, you know,  Martha Stewart whose instructions I gave you for Easter Bunny fold sees this so Deb can get her napkin in a national magazine!

Well I am her Mother so I can dream big for her.

I thought they were cute beyond words and loved the fold she put on them and wanted to make sure you had a chance to see how talented she is

Yes, we’ll be celebrating St. Patty’s day with a little Irish fair for dinner. Here’s what I’ve lined up. (PS click on any of the photos to go straight to the recipe, all courtesy of Food Network…my favorite place to get new recipes.)

Slow Cooker Corn Beef and Cabbage

Corn Beef & Cabbage

Irish Beer Bread

Irish Soda Bread

The Irish Pirate Chocolate Mint Dessert Drink, mmmm yummy!

The Irish Pirate

Want to come over for dinner tonight?

I’d like to take credit for this yummy dish, but honestly it is my mother-in-law’s recipe with a few minor tweaks to make it my own. But she is the one who came up with the novelty of serving this dish in real sea shells. Yes, you can put them in the oven, the microwave, the dishwasher. I’ve seen these shells at craft stores before.

Wash your shells before using and then place them on a cookie baking sheet.

I spray a light coating of Pam cooking spray into the shells just to make cleanup a bit easier.

In a large mixing bowl combine:

- 3 cans tuna (or canned turkey or chicken if you’re not a tuna fan)

- 1/2 cup chopped celery

- 1 chopped white or yellow onion

- 3 boiled eggs, peeled and diced

- 1 cup panko bread crumbs

- 1 cup velveeta cheese, diced

- 3/4 cup Light Miracle Whip salad dressing

- salt and pepper to taste

With a fork mix all ingredients together.

Take a large spoon and load up each sea shell with the tuna mixture.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes but keep an eye on it. Depending on how full you make the shells will definitely affect the bake time. You want the shells to get a golden tone to them and the cheese melted.

Serve with a salad and beverage and you have an easy peasy dinner that’s healthy too! Bon appetit my friends.

And a recipe card for your files. Just click on the image and print!

I love aprons, they remind of my childhood.  They automatically conjure up memories of a kitchen filled with the aroma of bread baking or canning season and me and my Mother filling the jars.  I have sold almost every apron I have made for Christmas shopper’s and it thrills me to know so many little girls and bigger girls will be wearing them in their kitchens. I received an email about Grandma’s Apron recently and decided I wanted to share it so hope you enjoy it half as much as I did.

Grandma’s Apron

Author Unknown

The principal use of Grandma’s apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few dresses and it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material.
Frequently it served as a potholder for Grandma as she removed hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children’s tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears..
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.  Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables and after the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folks knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ‘old-time apron’ that served so many purposes.
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.

What causes us to be so nostalgic about those memories?  It was a slower pace, closer relationships with neighbors, no TV or computers to compete for our attention.  I can picture my Mother, oven door open sliding out a fresh loaf of break, and oh the fragrance, today it is still my favorite kitchen smell.  I am glad I have memories of Mother and Grandma’s aprons and I hope you do too.

Hello everyone in tablescape bloggersville!  Thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting our weekly event.  Please check out her link to see all of the marvelous tablescapes ready for review today.

I am not sure I should continue in this process as I am finding it quite addictive.  Living close to Marshall’s Home Goods has proven to me just how little will power I have when it comes to dishes.  Mind you I have room to seat two people in my little retirement apartment and I am buying dinner plates like I could seat a dozen…I love them, that is my excuse.

These are beautiful pale blue dishes I purchased at Home Goods.  Then I saw this beautiful Joel Dewberry fabric and said to myself, “made in heaven for my new blue dishes”.  So I made up a table runner and napkins and love, love them.

I loved the rectangle plates that were in this set.  My plan is to have my son over for a salad on the round plate, then steak and baked potato on the rectangular plate. I doubt I will get that accomplished until after the holidays.

Love the beautiful soft blue, such a nice change from green, gold and fall for me.   I think I will use them again for a seaside tablescape in January to remind me how wonderful my little hideaway at Anna Marie, Florida is in the winter as I won’t be going this year.

My beautiful fabric truly was meant for these beautiful plates.  The napkins are 16×16 and have a reversible white cotton backing making them very versatile.  I had enough fabric from the coordinating table runner fabric to make some in that fabric also and used a blue backing on those.  They are all available at www.creativechics.etsy.com.

I can’t wait to see all of the Thanksgiving tables that are sure to be online today and next week.  Wishing you all the most wonderful and blessed Holiday from all of us at Creative Chics.

Recently I was a guest in Deb’s home for dinner. The grandchildren of her family were all there making for a great time no matter what food was served.

When I asked what I could to to help prepare dinner she got out a jar of homemade applesauce a couple cans of Parker house dinner rolls and asked if I could take the applesauce and rolls and make applesauce turnovers. Now I have made apple turnovers but applesauce, come on that stuff runs!

Grandson Kevin sat watching me and was quite entertained as I struggled to keep that applesauce inside those wraps no matter what shape I cut them.  When we finally ate dinner Kevin wanted one of the first ones I made as he knew it had way more applesauce than some of the others.   As I said it was a lesson in learn as your go cooking.

What a mess, I licked my fingers a lot…I tried every shape but no matter what I tried the applesauce spilled out,  let’s face it applesauce is runny

Everybody had a good laugh about how they looked so, so, undescribable.  However, none were left as they tasted downright delicious!

I am going to take some time this week to keep my promise to show you the process of making my small apartment home.  I completed the kitchen and showed you that now it is time to focus on the living room that adjoins the kitchen area.  The room measures 12‘.6” long by 10‘.6” wide. Here was how it looked before I started.  As you can see the kitchen and the living area adjoin very typical for an apartment.

Now here is the finished picture!

I already had all of the furniture so the new additions to the room were limited to a new area rug and lamp and of course a beautiful white hen and rooster.

I absolutely love it and think my basic pieces are great but the warmth of the room came when I added the area rug and curtains. Those items gave the classy, casual and cozy, look I enjoy. More photos up close.

A few details you might want to know.  I made the curtain topper  from 3 yards of black silk that was 60” wide, folded in half lengthwise I then created a rod pocket, added fringe, rings and cording every 24 inches and very simply had elegant yet casual looking curtain treatments over my JC Penny sheers.  The silk fabric was $7.99 a yard and the fringe was $15.99 a yard.  Purchasing both of them on sale at 50% off gave me a tremendous savings for a final cost of $36.00. If I had purchased anything similar in the stores my cost would have been 4 to 5 times more at least.  Curtains are so easy and I continue to urge you to give it a try next time you do your windows.

Area rugs are one of the cheapest ways we have to warm up a room.  This 9 x 11 rug was purchased at a discount upholstery and rug shop in Overland Park for slightly less than $150.00 but worth every penny for the comfort, cozy look and the quietness it brings to the room from the noises below me.  Always look for area rugs at discount prices otherwise they are not affordable additions; at least not on my budget.

Well long blog but hope when you drop by for coffee and cheesecake you will find this room inviting for chit chat about the latest in blog world, USA.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN DEAR FRIENDS!!!

I love soups. One dish, throw everything in, cook in the crockpot and viola, you have a magnificent dinner. I’m in too good eating, but simple eating

So I thought I’d share my easy creamy chicken vegetable soup recipe along with the cheese biscuits that I make to go with it. Bon apetite my friends!

These recipe cards are printable. Just click on the card above and hit print from your browser’s menu. Enjoy!

Ghosts and goblins and spiders, oh my! Welcome to Tablescape Thursday, hosted by the ever delightful Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Do be sure to stop by and see what she has in store for you this week. She has two wickedly fabulous tablescapes for Halloween. A simple Halloween party for family this past Sunday before Brandon headed to South Korea for a month. We made sure Aria dressed in her Alice in Wonderland costume for the event.

This is a VERY inexpensive table setting. A black sheet drapes the table. The tablecloth, cups and plates are from Wal-Mart — $5 for everything. I used my everyday plates as charges under the paper plates.

Squash was used as part of the centerpiece along with a felt cutout of a pumpkin topiary.

Aria was SO impressed with the decor as any 4 year old should be! I used my Halloween treat bags that I created myself and filled them with goodies before placing by each place setting.

Aria asked if EVERYONE got one and as I said yes, she started bartering for the candies in everyone else’s bags. Grandpa Robert was right there with her, bartering for peanut butter balls.

Spiders and webs covered the chandelier.

Witchy votive candles spread about the table, another Wal-Mart find.

The pumpkins peaking through the sunlight, waiting for dark to fall so the goblins can come out!

Sundown, be careful of the ghosts!

So glad you could join us for a wickedly scary good time

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!