Antiquing & Brunch

Greetings My Friends~ ~ ~
A birdseye view of our Sunday Brunch table. Ahhh, I feel Spring coming on but I am getting ahead of myself. Before brunch we did a little antiquing.

Sometimes I have something specific in mind when I hit the antique markets but today I was lovin' all of it. I want to share with you some of the sights. Two sets of deco lights, be still my heart I adore the set on the left and they would look amazing in my house but at $950.00 for the set, not today thank you!

This set was sweet too.

I have the perfect spot for these but I really only need 2 and they were priced at $3500.00 for the set of 3! I would love to have one on either side of my Victorian picture over the bed. Sigh!

I want to go shopping with Bill, He gets the greatest deals, doesn't he? In his neck of the woods I could probably get them for $50.00 for the lot.

I adore this Deco light.

The shades looked like Carnival glass.

This is amazing too.

Good thing I don't have to choose.

Pretty, pretty set of dishes. Love the flowered center.

A few pieces of white ironstone~ ~always makes me swoon.

After a fun morning of antiquing we came back to our home for Brunch.

These sweet little napkin rings were a

yard sale find 10 for $6.00.

That's more like it. I love a bargain, don't you?

Here is my recipe for

"Breakfast Casserole"

4T. Butter

1 med. onion, chopped
2 chopped cloves garlic

Saute till transparent add 1 lb. cleaned shrimp saute till done.

season with 1/2 tsp. Thyme

set aside

Butter a 9 x 13 pan

cube 8 slices of bread

(I use crusty french or my homemade bread)

put half into the pan

layer half shrimp mix over bread

top with half shredded cheeses

Do all 3 layers again.

1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss Cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
~ ~ ~ ~

Mix in a bowl
7 beaten eggs

2 T. flour

3 cups half and half

1/2 tsp. salt & 1/4 tsp. black pepper

pinch of red pepper

Pour egg mixture over layered bread mixture.

Cover and refrigerate overnight

In The Morning

Bake UNCOVERED about 50-60 minutes till knife inserted near center comes out clean.

You can substitute bacon or sausage for the shrimp if you like.

This dish reheats nicely or cut into squares and nuke for a quick breakfast.

Keeps for a few days in the fridge after baking.

Thanks for tagging along on our trip.

Hope you had fun

I am linking to Susan at Between Naps On The Porch

for Tablescape Thursday

Also linking to Michael Lee at Designs By Gollum

for Foodie Friday

Make It A Great Weekend!

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

My Favorite Tea Cup

Greetings Friends~ ~ ~

Here it is right in the front. The prettiest tea cup I own. Why not show us yours. Whenever I have a cup of tea I like to use this cup. I must admit to coffee as my first love, Sorry tea. I occasionally like a cup of Black Chi Tea, Stash Brand in the red and black box, with a big spoonful of local honey. I also enjoy Earl Gray tea.

I was invited by Lady Katherine to join her for Tuesday Tea. How could I say no.

I set my table with my new quilted table cover over a lace cloth. You all know that I must have lace. Love it.

Sweet pink lace edge on the napkin too.

I added a small Spring centerpiece to the table. The sweet little bird is holding the place for the bunny. Can you believe I had the cutest little bunnys in an egg last year and I can't find them! Must be a gremlin. I have looked everyplace. I really hope it shows up before Easter.

Oh yes, I made brownies too in honor of the tea.

Best brownie recipe I have ever eaten.

I found it at one of my favorite

cooking blogs, "2 Stews".

If you are not familiar with this blog you really should check it out.

These girls can cook!

I made the full recipe and baked it in a 9 X 13 pan for about 2 hours.

When I make them again I will use two 8 X 8 square pans instead.

Just saying. They are decadent!
Oh yes, and I added pecans too.

The ceramic eggs are Moms. Many years ago she made ceramics and every year we have sweet little eggs to put out for Easter.

This is my Easter Egg tree. It's a wire tree and I drape eggs on it for Easter. These little peeps are so sweet and I love to get them out every year. Isn't it fun each year to see all the old and treasured pieces we have gathered over the years. I enjoy greeting them each Spring.

Please visit Lady Katherine for Tuesday Tea

if you have a few minutes.

I'm sure that she would love to see you.

Thanks so much for visiting me and enjoy your week.

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

White In White? Is This Working?

Hello Friends~ ~ ~

I've got a few things going on here that I want to share with you. First thing is I would like to have your opinion about serving white soup in a white bowl. Maybe some of you might think I'm a little crazy but I consider these things when I'm serving food. Today as I ladled the soup into the bowl I was thinking, Should I be using the gold bowls that go with the Provencal plates? Personally the earthy warm colors of the plate seem to be asking for a creamier colored bowl not one so stark and white. What are your thoughts on the subject? I am not fond of the above picture. The white bowl is to cool for the surrounding warmer shades, to my eye anyway.

The plate is made by SAKURA and the patten is called Les Olives. I bought it a few years ago at a really great price because they were discontinuing the pattern. Such a shame because I really love it

OK, on to What's in the bowl?

Sorry folks but I really don't have a recipe for this soup. I can tell you what I used but the measurements are flexible depending on the size of your soup pot and the amount of potatoes you use. I needed to use up some of the many yams I had on hand so I made a big pot of Cream of Two Potato Soup. I used white Kenneback potatoes and yams in the picture above. The 3 small onions chopped and 3 garlic cloves minced.


This is the pot of the cubed potatoes finished boiling with the salt, pepper and 2 bay leaves. I drained off all the cooking water but a scant inch. Then added 4-5 cups of half & half, depending on how thick or soupy you like it.

You can also save this cooking broth for a vegetable broth for another soup later in the week. I sometimes do that with my pasta cooking water too. It adds lots of flavor to the coming broth to start with this water. You could add a chicken carcass and more vegetables and boil it down a bit to flavor it some more.



I hard cooked 11 eggs and chopped them up and added them to the pot. More salt & pepper and a few spoons of parsley and a dash of nutmeg. Oh, and 2 bay leaves to the pot.

I saute the onions and garlic separately till translucent and season with about 1-2 tsp. Thyme.
I used about 6 T. butter to do the saute. I love butter in Potato soup, it's a must.

Ta Da. The end result.

Oh no, What's this? A huge bowl with a plate on top. This bowl is living in my fridge for about 3 weeks now.

Here's what's inside. A clump of sourdough bread dough.

Yesterday I made 2 loaves from this clump and this will make 2 more, maybe tomorrow. It keeps in the fridge for a few days. I've been making this bread about every 3 days for the last 3 weeks and we are still not tired of it.

This is the easiest bread I have ever made, and the best tasting too. Perfect every time.
It's like a loaf of European bread chewy inside and crusty outside. We love it.

I got the recipe over at Heather Bullard's blog. I'm not going to recopy the recipe here but as soon as I have the link I'll put it up for you. It's extensive but after doing it once you can make this bread without the recipe.

Please click to go to Heathers Bread post.

If you are not familiar with this Beautiful Blog

you really must stop by.

This week I'm linking up to Susan at

Between Naps On The Porch

for Table Scape Thursday.

Also linking up to Michael Lee at

Designs By Gollum for~ ~ ~

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit and please leave a comment for me.

I love to read your thoughts.

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

It's All About Food This Winter

Warm Greetings Friends~ ~ ~

I guess it's the unusually cold and snowy winter that is making me want to cook comfort foods. Pasta and bread two of my favorites. How about you, what are your winter favorites to cook? This is a plate of one of my favorite pasta dishes and it's so easy.


It's an oldie but goodie I just love this cookbook. I've had this book for years and made many a recipe from it. I'm not even sure if it is still in publication.

Two things I specially love about this book are,

all the recipes I have tried have been winners and ~ ~

there is a story that goes with every recipe.

Maybe the first time they tried this dish was in Italy and they raved so about it that the chef invited them into the kitchen to see how it is made. With notebook and pen in hand they witnessed the dish being made and copied the recipe to share with us.


This is my kind of cookbook, infused with stories. I always read them like a novel.
Don't you just love recipe books?

Yummm, Pasta with a White Clam Sauce and . . .

Fresh Made Bread. What a Delight!
With homemade Apricot Jam.

This was my first attempt at making bread in many years.

Not bad. It was chewy and crusty just like I like it.

Very easy to make.

This is the recipe for the Pasta with White Clam Sauce.

I hope you like it.

So simple yet good enough for company.

I will be linking up with Michael Lee at Designs By Gollum for

Foodie Friday. Stop by for other recipes and to share in the fun.

Stay warm and dry and Enjoy your weekend.

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

A Warming Bowl of Soup

Hello Friends~ ~ ~

If you are like me a bowl of warm soup on a cold day is perfect, well almost. What makes it perfect for me is a pan of hot corn muffins.

I'm home alone today and getting lots of things done. Do you like having the house to yourself too? I decided to pamper myself and set a pretty little table for lunch in the sunroom.

Can't get done looking at and tasting these sweet little muffins. They are made in the tiny muffin pans and the recipe makes 24 tiny muffins. Truth be told I made these last night for dinner with the soup so today is leftovers. Honestly, I love leftovers, how about you?

The Muffin recipe is Martha's and it's called "Mini Cornbread Puddings". Try them, they are so moist and yummy. We like them better than regular cornbread.

Pretty bowl of Squash Soup garnished with home grown

and canned pickled beet & onion and a dollop of plain yogurt.

Coffee for dessert and a few minutes spent with

Julia Childs "Baking With Julia".

And a few more minutes. This is a beautiful book.

OK, Here is the recipe for the soup.

Reading left to right~ ~in the above picture~ ~

1 of these and 1 of these and 2 of these.

Heat in a pot till hot.

I am linking today to Designs By Gollum for Foodie Friday.

Click the link and see who is cooking what!

Make it a Wonderful Weekend

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

Coffee and A Friend

Hello Friends~ ~
Yesterday a friend stopped over for coffee and a chat.

I got out my HUGE coffee cups for a giant pick-me-up.

I was putting another set of 4 of Mom's handmade placemats out to photograph for all of you so I just put a pot of coffee on.

We talked about knitting and quilting and family.

It was a nice visit.

I adore this French milk bottle. I keep my light cream in it for coffee.

It come in blue and red and you can get it at

Farmhouse Wares.

This little round table is in the sunroom. It's my project table but it also makes a sweet spot for a dinner or coffee for two.

The chairs belonged to my Dad's family and we have 6 of them. They are rough shape but we keep gluing them back together. I don't want to give them up.

These coffee cup placemats are hand made by Mom and she is selling them for $15.95 + S&H for a set of 4. The set of 3 pot holders is $7.95. If you are interested please mention it in your comment and we will make arrangements to ship them out to you. Mom was so pleased that the cupcake and ice cream placemats last week sold. She loves to spend her time sewing and tatting and quilting. At 88 years young she does lovely work.

I am linking up this week to Susan at

Between Naps On The Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

Pleases stop by for a visit and join in for the fun.

~ ~Enjoy your day~ ~

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~