REPOURPOSE A CANDLE STICK & MAKE A SIMPLE NAPKIN

Unfortunately I did not like the look of any of my napkins for my summer dinner tablescape.  Napkins are very easy to make and you have several options.  Obviously if you have a serger sewing machine you can make short order of turning out napkins. A couple of options for a regular machine would be the one I chose which is to just cut out the napkins (using 1.5 yards of 45" fabric I was able to get 6, 20" napkins) and then turn the edge under and then again to make a nice clean seam, go all around the fabric, clip your threads and you are finished. You could take the time to clip your corners to have a more finished look, you could cut out two squares for each napkin and then with right sides together sew all but one little area leaving room to turn out, press, sew the opening and then top stitch all around.  A simple thing to do with many options.  I used 100% cotton fabric and purposely did not wash them before I did my sewing because there is enough sizing in the fabric that I was able to make my seam turns by just rubbing my finger along the edge and then sewing that way I did not have to pin anything.  I washed and ironed them before use.

 I next thought about candles for the table and was not happy with how any of my candle sticks/holders looked on the summer table so I turned back to the duct and narrow tape again.  I know I am gushing, but this stuff is so great....my fall looking, ceramic candle holder was the right scale and shape but NOT color.  All I did was cover with the duct tape (it will come off very easy and not harm the ceramic candle holder) and then so that the top had a finished appearance I cut small strips of the narrow tape and pressed along the top and then took some sharp scissors and made small cuts and then pressed down the tape and it went neatly into place.

Now all that is left to do is to plan the dinner menu and set the table.....and oh yes, go shopping for the food, clean the house, make sure the patio, etc. looks spiffy, plan my outfit, other than that I think I am close to ready for this little dinner party.

Monday's post will be the tablescape, menu and the recipes.

Resource

Cotton fabric, Hobby Lobby, on sale total cost for (6) napkins $6.28
Rooster Napkin Rings, Antique Farm House
Duct tape, Big Lots
Narrow tape, Dollar Tree
Candlesticks, Coldwater Creek

Thank you for stopping by.

HAWAIIAN FAMILY DINNER & HOMAGE TO THE KAUAI'S FERAL CHICKENS!

On our recent vacation we were at the Aloha Spice Company (located at Hanapepe) to pick up some of their products for gifts, especially the famous red salt and their delicious rubs. I had managed in almost 15 days to avoid shopping for myself - how was I to know that this was a place that would be like cat nip to me?  Besides all of their spice products the shop was all things Kauai chicken including an adorable tablecloth and napkins trimmed with red and white gingham.  I could not resist.

Over this last weekend we had a family Hawaiian themed dinner to celebrate not only all those famous chickens but to showcase the plate lunch. We encountered the plate lunch many years ago on our first trip to Kauai.  Out in the middle of nowhere was a little hole in the wall place and workers from the surrounding area were lined up getting lunch so we decided it must be the Hawaii version of the truck stop.  Plate lunch consists of two starches - two scoops of white rice and a big scoop of mayonnaise laden macaroni salad, the protein is one of the following: pork, fish, chicken or Spam (Hawaii consumes more Spam than any other state).

First the menu.....

Then the tablescape - now you see why I could not resist the tablecloth and napkins.  I have a very large table and as I recently decided to put in the leaf and leave it, because we often have nine for dinner with local family as guests. I knew the cloth would not fit my table.  The cloth only came in a square size but I knew if I put down a white cloth that I could still use the chicken cloth and it worked. Actually worked great because you could see all of the cloth at once since nothing hanging over the sides.

The Kalua pork was SO easy and turned out very much like the real thing - I just happened to be out of banana leaves and we do not have a pit in the backyard to cook a whole pig so I used the crock pot method.

Such a simple recipe you only need three things, a large pork butt, salt (you can use any salt) & liquid smoke (I recommend this brand as it has a more mild and natural smoke flavor).

 Into the crock pot for many hours and out comes yum!

Kalua Pork Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 - 5 pound pork butt roast
1 1/2 tablespoons Hawaiian sea salt (regular salt will do)
1 tablespoon liquid smoke flavoring

Directions:

Pierce pork all over with a carving fork. Rub salt then the liquid smoke over the meat.  Place in the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low setting for 16-20 hours, turning once at the half-way point.

Remove meat from the slow cooker and shred. Put the drippings in a fat separator so that the liquid used is not full of pork fat – used the liquid to moisten the meat.

The meat may be served as is or with a Hawaiian bread bun and and assortment of barbecue sauces.

Hawaiian macaroni salad is a very specific mac salad and is full of mayo.  Any recipe you see will always specify Best Foods Mayo or if you live east of the Rockies Hellman's. I am going to give the recipe as it would be made in Hawaii and then tell you the modifications I made to use less mayo.

Hawaiian Macaroni Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
1 Pound elbow macaroni
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups whole milk
2 cups Best Foods (Hellman's) mayo
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 green onions thinly shiced
1 large carrot peeled and grated
1 rib of celery, minced
salt & pepper

Cook macaroni in boiling water to which you have added 1 T salt, cook until very soft, about 15 minutes.  Drain and return to the pot, add the cider vinegar and toss until absorbed, let cool for ten minutes then add the milk and mayo and the rest of ingredients and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Cooks notes:  Here is where I made changes - I cooked the mac to package directions in salted water (I typically really salt my pasta water as someone told me years ago it should be "as the sea") after the macaroni had cooled a bit (not too much or it will stick together) I tossed the mac with about a tsp of olive oil until it was well distributed, to keep it from sticking together and so it would not absorb so much of the liquid.  I do the same with potatoes when making potato salad.  I then mixed together 1/4 cup of the cider vinegar, 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of mayo.  After all ingredients were mixed together I then added just a little more mayo and it was perfect.  I made this the day before we were having (love to let those flavors meld) and it was still great the next day.  Sometimes the macaroni salad in Hawaii is just swimming in mayo and I think using this method makes a nice balance, still the same flavor but without a lot less mayo, milk and vinegar. I also replaced the green onion with 1/2 a small purple onion finely diced and finely diced the celery instead of mincing.

In place of white rice I served brown rice that was cooked in chicken broth, in the rice cooker.

Simple white coconut cupcakes - follow the directions for cupcakes on a white cake mix and add 1/2 tsp of pure coconut extract.

Marshmallow Frosting: 

Ingredients:

1 container of marshmallow cream (Fluff if found in your area)
1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 scant cup of sifted powdered sugar
Shredded, sweet coconut for topping 

This amount makes 12 cupcakes, dbl recipe for a cake or 24 cupcakes.

Directions:

In your mixer whip the softened butter and marshmallow cream until light and fluffy, add the vanilla, and then gradually add the powdered sugar and let it whip for a few minutes until light and fluffy.  Pipe onto your cupcakes and then dip them into the coconut.


Here is a link to a post that has the recipe for both the blondies and the ice cream: Link

Resources

Tablecloth, napkins and salt, http://www.alohaspice.com/
They offer "free Shipping" on orders over $50. I don't see the tablecloth or napkins so if you are interested email or call them and I am sure they would be happy to accommodate you.
Gingham flatware, long ago, Target
Polka dot plates, Tai Pan Trading
Polka dot salad plates, Maxwell and Williams Sprinkle Side Plate, Red
Polka dot bowls for BBQ sauce, Amazon, Maxwell & Williams
Wright's Liquid Smoke, Walmart
Large ceramic chicken on table, Deco 79 40744 Ceramic Decorative Rooster Statue, 13 by 14-Inch


Thank you for stopping by.
 

SNOWFLAKE PILLOWS

I am often saying that a project was easy-peasy, you just need to be organized, etc. This project was not hard but a little complicated.

I found a couple of these large pillows (20") at my local Marshall's.  I loved them and did not discover until I got them home (bought two) just how very nice they are - zipper on the top and the insert is down.  I put one on my couch and the other on the matching love seat. I wanted to make matching pillows for the two chairs in the same room.  I looked at them for several days and finally figured out a way to make another pair of pillows.

The first thing I did was purchase a plaid tablecloth. Using the pillow as my guide I cut out the two covers.  Because I have made so many pillow covers I found this to be an easy way to cut these out - the plaid made great cutting guidelines.  I will include a pattern for cutting out the covers later in the post.

 Next I found a couple of snowflakes online, sized them to 8 1/2x 11 and printed them out on printer ready fabric paper.

 There are many fabric paper products available - my particular paper recommended that you print out the fabric paper and let it sit overnight before carefully removing the paper backing.

 So now you have fabric with your image transferred so how do you get this image onto your pillow without having to do intricate sewing?  You use a product like this one.  This product has removable paper on both sides of the Pellon - or fusible webbing.

Per the instructions with your product (may vary from product to product), remove the sticky side and place your fabric snowflake to this sticky side.

 Cut around the image to make the intricate cutting easier.

This is what you end up with - a snowflake.  Gently pull the backing off of the snowflake and you are ready to steam it onto the pillow.

After putting the pillow inside the cover, using a hot steam iron, place the snowflake on the pillow and go over it several times with the iron - and now you have a snowflake pillow.

This is the second pillow!  I love them and even though the pillows have a different plaid fabric they coordinate well and look great.  With the left over fabric from the tablecloth I am going to make napkins - you can never have too many Christmas napkins, right?

Pattern for pillow envelope.

Feel free to grab these snowflakes.

Resource

Pillows and tablecloth, Marshall's
Paper fabric, craft, hobby and office supply stores.Epson Iron-on Cool Peel Transfer (8.5x11 Inches, 10 Sheets) (S041153)
EZ-Steam-II,Pellon EZ Steam II 12"X9" Sheets 5/PKG-White
 
Thank you for stopping by.

CHRISTMAS TABLE FOR ALZHEIMER'S IDAHO SUPPORT DINNER

It is my honor to volunteer for the Alzheimer's Idaho support group.  This month is their Christmas dinner so I did one of the tables for them.

I started off with a good table cloth - used one of mine for my dining table and folded it rather than a thin one for a card table - makes a better base for the tablescape.

Since I decided I wanted to use a silver-wintery theme I found some inexpensive glittery fabric that would not fray when cut and made a simple addition to the table.

Very simple to cut lengths of this fabric to drape over the table.

A silver charger, silver china plate and a white desert/canape plate with a silver tree and one little red bird. Simple white lantern, added some silver ribbon and festive silver ornaments.

Snowflake napkin holders, white cotton napkins.

Feel free to copy if you need place cards, the font is listed below.

 

I found these little silver ornament place card holders and decided that rather than use their names I would use words that best described these wonderful women caring for a family member with Alzheimer's disease.  I also made them for the other tables.  It just seemed appropriate.

Resource

Silver chargers, Hobby Lobby
China plates, Ciroa, Trellis pattern
Dessert/canape plates, 5th 222
Fabric, Hobby Lobby
Place card holders, Hobby Lobby
Snowflake napkin rings, Hobby Lobby
Silver flatware, Oneida silver Juilliard pattern
Tablecloth, Williams-Sonoma
Lantern, Ross
Water goblets, Crystal, Villeroy & Boch, pattern, Bernadotte
Napkins, Marshall's  
Font on the place cards, EmbassyBT

Thank you for stopping by.
 

 

IT'S ALMOST THANKSGIVING - THE KIDS TABLE

This will probably be the last year for the kids table as alas they grow so fast.  I love doing this table.  It is a  little red card table and chairs that I purchased at Target when I had my first grandchild.  Because we live so far apart it has not seen a lot of action but I love using it whenever I can.

 

Since a candle would not be appropriate for the children I thought this little organic turkey would do just fine, as it turns out a cocktail napkin is the perfect size for a linen napkin for wee-ones.

 Their favor is a Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies treat with chocolate and chocolate covered sunflower seeds.  Of course, they have to save the treat for dessert! Please see my post of November 18th. if  you would like the recipe. 

 

When I purchased this set it was red for Christmas and I also purchased a tablecloth and napkins.  When Easter came around I made a simple cloth and chair covers, napkins out of some Easter looking fabric and did the same for Thanksgiving.  Just measure your table account for overhang and seam allowance and it comes together very fast.  On this Thanksgiving/fall set I could not find any fabric I liked so I used flannel backed oil cloth and that is really easy.  To finish off the edges of the tablecloth I added multicolored ric-rac and the chair back are very simple.  Just make a pattern of the chair back, cut it out allowing for seam allowance and then because it is oil cloth just use pinking shears to clip the bottom.  

 

You can see here that you just make a simple envelope for the chair cover. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Resource:

Kids card table and chairs link: Children's Folding Table & Folding Chairs Furniture Set

Dishes, previous year at Pottery Barn Kids

Forks & Spoons, IKEA

Turkey, Previous year Williams Sonoma

Oil Cloth Fabric, Hobby Lobby

 

TIME FOR THE DOWNTON ABBEY PARTY - SEASON #4

Tonight is the season premiere of Downton Abbey, Season #4.  We are having friends over for the show and also the "Secrets of Highclere Castle" which comes on just before the premiere. It was my original intent to prepare some veddy English treats for my guests but since the show comes on later in the evening, well past dinner I decided what the heck, British or not we are watching a movie and what does that call for????  Popcorn, drinks and movie candy.  So I decided that with a little trouble the standard movie fare could perhaps be kicked up a notch as befitting the evening!

I started off with this treat stand that I purchased on clearance after Halloween last year.  It came with some cones but I needed some more that would coordinate with the Union Jack so first I made some cones. BTW, yes that is a rubber ducky with the Union Jack emblazoned on his chest, couldn't help myself, had to buy.

I just took one of the existing cones carefully apart and made a pattern with kraft paper, cute out my cones, glued them and they look the same as the others.  Not everyone is lucky (or maybe crazy) enough to have a stand so if you would like to do this just take a cardboard box and turn it over, cut out circles and then cover with some wrapping paper, cut the paper out where the holes are and you can set the cones into the box.

I picked up these cute cups and went to work making a label for "London Lemonade" and at the same time I stopped by The Graphic's Fairy for my Union Jack and printed out the lemonade and Union Jack's on the same sheet.

I left enough room under the crown to punch a hole for the straw.

Not sure why things are looking pink but not so much in person. I printed these on a regular 8 1/2x11 full sheet, Avery label.

I had intended to use my best crystal when I was going to do "proper" snacks and would not have sent them home with guests but now the "London Lemonade" cup can go home with each guest as a commemorative of the evening.
  

The candy was great fun!  The Jr. Mints became "The Earl of Grantham Mints," - A delightful confection of creamy mint covered with chocolate...,Milk Duds became "Downton Duds," a curiously delicious confection of chocolate & caramel, and lastly the M&M's became "Mary & Matthew's M&M's,"  Plain chocolate disks with a hard shell, no mess. I also printed these off on an 8 1/2x11 Avery full sheet label. You can see I put the Union Jack stickers on the napkins, printed out a large Union Jack for the cachepot on the table & printed out a photo of season #4's cast.  I just put the labels on some cardboard and used a bamboo skewer (taped or glued to the back) and then inserted them into the pot.

Just before the guests arrive I will be filling the three tiers of cones as follows: 1) Movie theater popcorn 2) Kettle Corn 3) Homemade caramel popcorn.

The English phone booth was a lucky find at Home Goods - marked way down because it was damaged, but my hubby can fix anything! 

Here is my recipe for my favorite caramel corn:

Ingredients

1 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
8 cups popped popcorn

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Over medium heat, combine first 4 ingredients and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. Stir well. Pour over the pop corn. Stir to coat well. Bake in large roaster or pan for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on waxed paper to dry.

Resource
Union Jack Graphic, The Graphic's Fairy
Mint with English Rose, The Graphic's Fairy
Crown, Google Graphics
Paper for cones, Michael's
Cups, $ store
Candy, $ store
Red Paper Napkins, Bed, Bath & Beyond
Carmel Popcorn Recipe, Paula Deen
Full Sheet Labels, Avery
Union Jack rubber ducky, Michael's
English Telephone Booth, Home Goods


Thanks for stopping by!