We hope that you are having a great 4th of July Week! We are celebrating here in our community all week with some of the festivities starting this week end and other going all the way through the next week end. Since the 4th is falling on Wednesday in the middle of the week everyone decided to just celebrate both week ends. Everyone loves a parade and lots of good food over the 4th, it is the American way, and that is just what we will be doing. We are so grateful for our freedom and we offer our  Thanks and Gratitude to all those who have made our freedom possible.  God Bless You and God Bless America! Sunday Curried Chicken Salad  with Melon Garlic Buns Homemade Mango Ice Cream Monday Summer Squash Quiche Green Tossed Salad Mixed Fresh Fruit Cup Tuesday Fresh Heirloom Tomato Basil Soup Portabella Mushroom and Pepper Grilled Sandies  Mini Ice Box Fruit Pie  Wednesday 4th of July Smoked Texas Brisk...

It's Full Plate Thursday Where All The Greatest Cooks On The Planet Gather We have been busy canning here at The Cottage and trying to keep up the abundant harvest that we have been given this year, it is awesome.  We are also getting ready for our 4th of July Celebration, that will be over two week ends this year. Some of the little community festivities will be this week end, then a big fireworks show on the 4th. Our little community will have their annual parade and bake sale on the 7th. WoW we are going to be busy!  I know that all of you are very busy right now with wonderful summer activities and I am so excited that you took the time to come by today. I can hardly wait to see what you are sharing with us today, so lets get right to it. Thank you so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and sure hope you will come back real soon! This Is How I Filled My Plate Last Week Breakfast Perfect Summer Breakfast   Of  Such Is The Kingdom Mor...

Most folks who have lived in Texas and love to Grill or Bar B Que have a great Smoked Brisket recipe. All the recipes vary somewhat as well as the cooking methods, however I have yet to eat a bad Smoked Brisket. Recently we had our Annual Picnic for our friends and one of the things we had on the menu was our Smoked Texas Brisket. Today I am sharing our Smoked Texas Brisket recipe with all of you. Just Look At That Beautiful Red Smoke Ring Smoked Texas Brisket Miz Helen's Kitchen 12 to 15 pound Packer Brisket The Rub 1 Tablespoon Cumin 2 teaspoons Chili Powder 1 teaspoon Chipotle Chili Powder 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder 1 teaspoon Onion Powder 2 teaspoon Mustard Powder 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar 2 Tablespoons Salt 3 to 4 Tablespoons Black Pepper Mix the rub together in a small bowl Rendered Brisket Fat Trim the brisket of excess fat leaving at least 1/4 inch of fat to ensure moisture and taste. Place the trimmed fat in a hot sauce pan and cook until the ...

We are so busy  with our garden and canning season right now. We just love all the wonderful fresh vegetables from the garden. We do a lot of canning and what we don't can we freeze and then we give away veggies to those who don't have a garden. We have garden vegetables at just about all our meals, it truly is the good ole summer time! Come on to the back porch with me, I am shelling fresh Black Eyed Peas today and we can visit about the menu for next week. Sunday Grilled Chipotle Chicken with Chipotle Cream Sauce  Roasted Corn with Lime Butter Black Beans  Green Salad with Avocado Dressing Mango Ice Cream Monday Fresh Black Eyed Peas Fresh Steamed Squash Oven Baked Okra Corn Bread Fresh Blackberries with Spicy Vanilla Sauce Tuesday Busy Day Goulash  Tossed Green Salad Garlic Bread Sunshine Cookies Wednesday Meatloaf Mac N Cheese Early Green Peas and Fresh Onions Fresh Sliced Tomatoes and Cucumbe...

  It's Full Plate Thursday Where All The Greatest Cooks On The Planet Gather Happy Summer Everyone! Hope all of you had a very special Fathers Day week end. We were treated to the nicest Fathers Day  by one of our very close friends who were celebrating their very first Fathers day and then an overnight with family. I  love going to the City, it is always a lot of fun to visit with friends and family. I am so excited to see all of you today, the weather is just perfect today for a Full Plate Thursday Picnic. We are headed to the back where we have all the picnic tables set up for us to enjoy our day together. Lets get your  food on the table, I can't wait to see what you brought.  Thank you so much for coming today and sure hope you will come back soon! This Is How I Filled My Plate Last Week Breakfast Spinach and Tomato Egg Bake   at Hot Eats and Cool Reads Morning Snack Orange Apricot Muffins   at A'lil Country Sugar Lunch ...

We just love to be in our outdoor kitchen, get the grill fired up and create great summertime meals.  This Grilled Chipotle Chicken with Chipotle Cream Sauce is one of those creations.  It had such a wonderful flavor and we enjoyed it so much I wanted to share it with all of you. It will be a great recipe for entertaining or a nice family meal. Grilled Chipotle Chicken with  Chipotle Cream Sauce Grilled Chipotle Chicken with Chipotle Cream Sauce Miz Helen's Kitchen Grilled Chipotle Chicken 4 large Skinless Chicken Breast with Rib Meat and Bone The Rub 1 teaspoon Cumin 3/4 teaspoon Chipotle Chili Pepper Powder 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder 1 teaspoon Salt 1/2 teaspoon Pepper Mix all the seasons together Rub the seasons all over the Chicken Breast on both sides Set the Chicken aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before grilling Grill on the grill until the internal  temperature reaches 165 to 175 degrees Remove the Chicken from t...

We had such a great time at our picnic last week, we have really been taking it easy this week. We have been on a stay-cation, taking long walks in the garden and sitting on the back porch just watching the birds. Come on back to the porch with me I have made us some Strawberry Basil Lemonade and it is so good, we can catch up and talk about the menu for next week. Sunday Fathers Day Off To The City For The Day (Shhh It's A Surprise Dinner For Leonard) I Am Bringing Cherry Pie Monday Fresh Garden Vegetable Soup Corn Bread Berry Patch Muffins Tuesday Slow Cooker Rosemary Pork Roast  Garlic Roasted Potatoes Fresh Green Beans Green Tossed Salad Cottage Rolls Strawberry Ice Box Pie Wednesday From The Leftover Pork Roast Rosemary Pork Roast Sandwiches Fresh Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes Fresh Sliced Melon Left Over Strawberry Ice Box Pie Thursday Chicken Parmasen  with Fresh Tomato Sauce  Basil Pasta ...

It's Full Plate Thursday Where All The Greatest Cooks On The Planet Gather I will have to share this funny little story about what happened last week.   I was trying so hard last week to let you know that I would be busy with my Annual picnic and wouldn't be by to say hello until latter, that I sent the first 26 of you an email saying I was attending my Granddaughters graduation which had happened  several weeks ago, I am so sorry you got the wrong email. Thankfully I caught the mistake and the rest of you knew that we were having our Annual Picnic and I would be by to say hello latter.    Has something like that ever happened to any of you, please tell me I am not the only one.   We are just taking it easy this week and enjoying the beautiful weather we are having right now, having lots of early morning porch time. Come on back and join us we have got the best ice cold herb tea and some awesome  Berry Patch Muffins to share today. I can't...

The Fresh Strawberries are in full harvest right now and very plentiful so when I found this recipe it was a perfect choice for this post. I participate in The Secret Recipe Club and every month we are given a secret blog to visit and find a recipe that we would like to present from their blog, my Blog assignment for this month is Secrets from the Cookie Princess .  I really thought that I would find a cookie recipe and I did find some awesome cookie recipes, but the recipe I really wanted to present is today's recipe Strawberry Bread.  Colleen loves to bake and started her blog in 2010 out of that love. She and her husband Dave, "Chief Tasting Office", make their home in Massachusetts.  Colleen has a great blog and I sure hope that you will visit her and tell her Hi from Miz Helen! Fresh Strawberry Bread

We are in the middle of a big week end for us. We are hosting our annual picnic for The Cottage. We will have around 40 guests with lots of good food and fun. We will be having sack races, horse shoe tournament, and lots of catching up with friends. Some of our friends will be staying over the week end so we will be very busy.  I sure am glad that you stopped by today so I can have a little break, come back to the porch and we will have some iced tea and talk about the menu for next week. Sunday Brunch Summer Squash Quiche  Mini Potato Pancakes with Sour Cream Sauce Cranberry Chicken Salad  Cold Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette  Strawberry Jalapeno Muffins  Fresh Berries with Spicy Sauce Monday Fresh Vegetable Casserole with Fresh Tomato Sauce Tossed Green Salad  Herb Wheat Stix Grandmothers Buttermilk Pie   Tuesday Old Fashioned Steak Fingers  Tossed Green Salad Hot Fudge ...