This is our # 365th Full Plate Thursday ! Eight years ago this month I launched Full Plate Thursday and we have not missed on single week since then. One of my goals with this party was to develop a quality food and recipe community with food related topics. Certainly you have helped us create that community here, where some of the greatest cooks on the planet gather here every Thursday! To each one of you who are a part of this community, thank you so much for sharing your amazing talent with us every week. You are a true joy and blessing in my life!

Our Red Velvet Surprise is a great dessert to serve for any occasion. This is a really pretty dessert and taste every bit as good as it looks. I made the recipe today for a very special friend who was celebrating a birthday. I am glad that my photo's were made because there wasn't one single slice left. This dessert is made with layers of flavor that will offer a surprise as you take your first bite.

We have family and friends that are from Cajun Country, and through the years we have developed a love for Cajun food. This Pressure Cooker Cajun Chicken is one of the recipes that we love and it is so easy and quick in the pressure cooker. The flavor of the chicken is amazing and makes you think you are sitting at  a family table in the middle of Cajun Country. Served over rice it is a complete meal, that will have your family asking for seconds.

Before I start my meal plan today, I am headed to the barn to inventory my cold bins to find out just how many root vegetables we have left to use. Then I will be back in the house to inventory the pantry. I like to take a look at what we have on hand before I start the plan, then I am reducing the inventory on hand before I have to buy new product. We will be having some very special guest this week so I will be including some of their favorites.

Welcome to the party, I am so happy that you are able to join us today! We had so many wonderful recipes, table decor and food related post last week it is hard to make decisions about what to put on my plate. We do have some great featured post this week so I sure hope you will stop by and say hello to these awesome bloggers. We have survived the ice, snow and only in Texas would you have a Tornado Warning the very next week, wow I got to sit in my safe place and read some of your awesome recipes last night. We are fine, no damage here so lets get this party started!

Cabbage and Sausage are a great combination of flavor and I added a little pasta to the skillet and a secret sauce to make it a great one pot meal.  There are some combinations that just work and we love this skillet of goodness with or without the pasta. This is a recipe that can be on your table in very little time to feed a hungry family. We have really enjoyed this recipe and sure hope you enjoy it!

I love to have great appetizer's on hand for the big game days and our game nights. Sometimes its nice to have a hot dip and can be kept warm in a great little party Crock Pot. This recipe is just like a wonderful Green Chili Chicken Enchilada that you can dip up with a chip.  When I made it the first time, my husband kept going into the dip so much I thought I wouldn't have enough for my photo's. The flavor of this thick rich Tex Mex dip will sure have your guest coming back until that pot is empty!

I am sitting real close to the fire today as I begin to write this meal plan for the week. We have had some of the coldest temperatures that have been recorded in over 30 years, burrrrr! When it gets this cold my thoughts go to comfort food and some spice that will warm us up and stay with you especially if you have to be outdoors for any length of time. I am going to do some baking this week, I love to bake when it is really cold outside. I might even make some homemade bread that sure sounds good.

I am so glad to see you today, so come on in and find a spot at the table for all the wonderful dishes that you are sharing with us today. We are expecting 1-1/2 inches of ice and 2 to 3 inches of snow, that is a really big deal here so we are all stocked up for the winter storm. We have some of wonderful Cider to enjoy today while we wait for everyone to arrive. Stop by and take a look at the awesome features we have from last weeks party, some great post to look at!

Our neighbors have a few pecan trees and they had a great harvest this year which they were kind enough to share with us. I wanted to make something really special for them so I think that these Salty Caramel Pecan Cookies will be just the perfect Thank You gift! We have loved this recipe and can hardly keep the cookie jar full they go that quick. These cookies have that great sweet and salty taste with the creamy caramel and a crunchy pecan, a delicious combination for a cookie.

We are Mexican food lovers here at the cottage and have some recipes that have been our favorites through the years. This Slow Cooker Tamale Pie is sure one of those recipes that we have made over and over. This recipe has gone to church dinners and sports parties, it is just one of those awesome go to recipes. This dish is packed with Tex Mex flavors and is a very hearty pie.

It is so much fun to sit here by the fire with a nice cup of tea and plan a nice cozy meal plan for next week. The snow has started to fall and it is very beautiful, although I don't think it will be with us very long.  It's just a good time to stay indoors and cozy up. The Flu is so bad here that 3 of our local schools will be closed for the next several days. I am so glad that I have enough food here in my pantry, home canned food, freezer and garden cold bins we don't have to go anywhere for awhile.

Welcome to the cottage and Full Plate Thursday, come on in we are gathering around the fire today to stay warm. Have some Hot Chocolate, Hot Spiced Tea or Coffee, find a place a the table we are about to enjoy this amazing food that all of you bring to share with us. We have some awesome features from last week so be sure and stop by those blogs to check them out and say hi! Glad to see all of you today and thanks so much for coming, lets eat!!

When we begin to transition into the deep cold of winter, nothing is better than a great Winter Greens Salad with some lovely winter fruits and a great vinaigrette. The salad mix that I am using today is really one of my favorites, and although it is a winter mix it is delicious the year round. We still have winter greens in our garden so it is nice to take a brisk walk to the garden and come  back with some wonderful fresh greens for a salad. There are so many options to this salad but today I am using a combination of wonderful winter fruits with the greens.

I grew up in a home where my Mother and my Grandmothers all cooked with Pressure Cookers. They would use them in the summer for canning and in the other times to cook very delicious dishes in a short time frame. It was a natural process that I would use my Pressure Cooker in our meal preparations for my family. I also have a large pressure cooker that I use to preserve garden vegetables. With the arrival of the Instant Pot, I began to think about my Pressure Cooker once again and decided to pull it off the top shelf and use it once again and I am so glad I did. The first recipe that I made is one of our favorites and perfect for a cold day. This Classic Beef Stew is a very satisfying dish that is ready in no time to set on the table.

Happy New Year Everyone! I know that some of you are really experiencing some very cold weather with snow drifts up to a foot or more. It has been cold here but not enough snow to have fun in. Icy Cold weather really calls for lots of comfort food and meals that will stay with us through the cold weather. I am curled up with a great cup of Hot Chocolate and ready to make a meal plan for next week.

Happy New Year Ya'll! I am so excited to welcome you here for our first party of 2018! I sure hope that each of you had wonderful holidays and like me you are ready to get back to a normal pace of life. We are recovering from the Type A Flu that hit our community just before Christmas. It hit us pretty hard here at the cottage, but we are being to feel better every day. I can't wait to see what you are bringing today, I am actually getting hungry for some of your great recipes, served on your beautiful table settings!

I wrote the first Top Ten Recipes for Miz Helen's Kitchen in 2011 and now it is an annual roundup of the very best of the year that we all look forward to. The list of Top Ten Recipes for the year comes from all of you my very faithful readers. These are your favorites, the ones you kept coming back to all year. It is always so exciting  to see what trends you have set throughout the year and wondering what creations we will be having as we move along the path together. Thank you so much for being a big part of our past year and wishing you and your family the very best for 2018!

When I think of a natural paring for Black Eyed Pea's it is usually corn, here in the south those two just go hand in hand. When I was thinking about developing a new recipe for my Black Eyed Pea's for the New Year I wanted it to be a one pot meal that was easy and full of flavor. This Black Eyed Pea Casserole has all the special products that say this is a southern dish that is packed with flavor. The recipe is very easy to put together and is on the table in no time. I sure hope that you enjoy the new recipe as much as we have and that it will bring you the very best of the new year no matter when you eat it!