I love traveling to my friends ranch in far west Texas. It is a long drive from the cottage to the ranch, but every mile worth it when you finally arrive. The ranch is just beautiful and the tables are always full of the most delicious food. Their recipes are a mix of Tex-Mex and Southwest flavors, which of course is one of our favorites. My friends ranch is the inspiration for El Rancho Corn Salad and is full of a great blend of spices and flavors that will leave you wanting more.

If someone say's Espresso I'm there, it calls my name. This slider recipe is an Espresso Lovers dream, with a blend of chili's and cocoa in the coating for a fabulous slider or burger. I am serving a new special Bar B Que Chili Sauce that doubles as a dipping sauce, so full of flavor! When we are having a small gathering and friends are bringing a side dish, it fun to make up some sliders to add to the mix. I recently served these little jewels, and our friends just loved them and sure hope you do.

It is a big weekend here at the cottage with the opening weekend for the lake and friends and family coming out to enjoy the festivities of the weekend. I like to do as much planning and cooking ahead as possible, so I have more time to enjoy my guest. We are planning on being outside as much as possible. We are pausing for a quiet time to remember all those families who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Where The Greatest Cooks On The Planet Gather We sure are excited to see you today for our last post of May and our Top Ten Features!  On the last party of the month we always feature our Top Ten from the week before, its a fun time for everyone.  There are so many awesome recipes that will be here today for the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend.  I can't wait to see what all of you will be bringing today so lets get this party started!

I love to hang a lovely wreath on my door.It is always so warm and inviting and here at the cottage very seasonal. I have made many wreaths through the years and always try to keep them from season to season, add to them and just keep using them. In time however they begin to wear and must go by the wayside. Last year I retired my Patriotic Door Wreath, so this year I get to make a new one and thought you might like to help me out with that project.

When our family is cooking a meal together and someone say's which pot do you want and the reply is "The Old Black Pot", that means something really good is about to happen. The Covered Iron Skillet was handed down to me from my Grandmother and is one of my prized  skillets, the skillet is very deep with a 3-1/4 inch depth.  We have certain recipe's that use this deep iron skillet with a lid, and it is kept in a certain place in the pantry.  We are making one of those recipes today, Old Black Pot Buttermilk Chicken.  The Buttermilk Chicken is an old southern recipe that brings back memories of fried chicken on a Sunday afternoon with the family.

When making my meal plan one of the things I always check is the weather, because it makes a difference if we can cook outdoors, which we love to do. It has rained for 6 days in a row, and we are looking for sunshine.I am hoping to be able to use the grill this weekend and enjoy the sunshine again. I am going with a friend to the new farmers market tomorrow so I can't wait to get something fun to go on the menu for next week.

Where The Greatest Cooks On The Planet Gather Come on in and join us we are out on the back porch today. It has been raining a little today so we have our food table on the porch to enjoy all the wonderful food that you will be bringing. I love sitting on the porch when it is raining, it is so fresh and clean smelling.Find a place at the table and lets get the party started, we are so glad you are here today thanks so much for coming!

We have just completed our spring harvest for onions and some of our other early garden vegetables. We usually plant about 250 to 300 onions in January and then harvest in May or early June.This year we had so much rain that the harvest came a bit early, and everything is just beautiful. We usually have enough onions to last us most of the year round.I very rarely buy onions at the farmers market. We have an all organic garden and make our own compost, which helps us have such a great garden. We rotated our onion patch from the lower garden to the upstairs garden this year. We always like to rotate our crops every 2 to 3 years to help the ground rest.

I don't think I can remember going to a church or community potluck dinner and not seeing a Green Pea Salad. Every family most likely has their own and some that I have had through the years have been really good. This recipe or one close to it has been in our family a very long time. This is the recipe that our family just loves, it has gone on the picnic, to the potluck, graduations, and even wedding rehearsal dinners. I am getting ready to serve it at a very special homecoming for one of our kids and I know they will love it!

We had a great Mothers day with family and friends, so much good food. I am glad some folks were here to help out with the cooking as I was recovering from pneumonia and have really been having to take it easy. This is one of the things I love about meal plans, the food products have been purchased, the plan made, recipes located and all that is left to do is cook. Hope we will be able to use the grill this week, in between rain storms. There is the thunder again, lets get this menu planned!

I am so excited to welcome you to Full Plate Thursday. We have so much fun here every week with the greatest cooks on the planet! We are busy in our community with end of season luncheons, teas, and upcoming wedding showers and graduations. I hope you are having a fantastic spring day here in the country and I can't wait to see what you are sharing with us today, lets get this party started!

I love to have a group of friends over for a little tea time. Sometimes my little gatherings are part of a brunch and sometimes it is an afternoon tea. One of the favorite things always on the tea table is my Egg Salad Tea Sandwich. These are little open faced sandwiches served on a very special toast. This is a very popular recipe from my Tea Parties, it is just delicious!

We love goulash and have several recipes that we enjoy, but this is one of our family favorites. Whenever we are doing projects and some of the kids come to help, I need a hardy dish for those guys to enjoy. One year I had made this for some of the boys and they named it Farmers Goulash, just a large bowl of wonderful noodles with a very flavorful sauce.

What a wonderful spring week we are having here at the cottage. We are in early harvest for our onion crop, early planting and great rain produced a great harvest. I am looking forward to our annual Mothers Day Luncheon on Sunday and spending time with some awesome family members who will be traveling a long way to spend the day with us. I am heading to the freezer and the canning pantry to check out supplies for our meal plans this week. Happy Mothers Day To All The Awesome Mothers Hope You Have The Best Day Ever!

Where The Greatest Cooks On The Planet Gather Happy Cinco de Mayo! We are so excited to host Full Plate Thursday on Cinco de Mayo, what a great fiesta we will have. We have had such a busy time here at the cottage, sometimes we are running to catch up. I had an amazing weekend with all the ladies at retreat last weekend and was so grateful to have another year with them! We have some great features this week from all your wonderful kitchens. I can't wait to see what you are bringing today to fill our plates and thank you so much for coming to the party!

I love a Strawberry Limeade, so I decided why not have all those awesome flavors in a pie? That is just what this recipe is and it is so delicious. A real easy no bake pie with fresh strawberries and a great lime flavor.The first time I made it my husband ate two slices and there sure wasn't any left on my plate either. The pie goes in the refrigerator and will be a great dessert for any event. This is one of my new creations that we love and sure hope you enjoy!