We grow okra in our garden every year so this is a perfect recipe for us to enjoy. Our family has always enjoyed fried okra and is often  a side dish for a family dinner or a great appetizer.  Okra is one of the high fiber foods that is really good for you and we love it here at the cottage. This recipe is full of flavor and can be seasoned to your taste, we like it spicy. I usually make a double batch of this recipe because it is great to snack on the next day.

Tomatoes, cucumbers and basil all these wonderful flavors are one of my favorites. I came in from the garden today with all the ingredients for this delicious salad. This salad has a very special vinaigrette over the mix to put it over the top.  Our family has made this recipe for years and it has gone on the table for family and been carried to potluck dinners for everyone to enjoy. I don't recall ever bringing a bite of it back home from a function. It is a fresh flavorful salad and although we make it from our garden vegetables in the summer the ingredients can be found in your super market the year round.

We spent a few days last week visiting with family in South Texas. It was really great to get away for a few days and visit with some family that we don't get to see very often. On Sunday I got to enjoy my birthday with lots of family which was so special for me. So now we are back home and I can't believe that this will be the last few days of July.  Making a meal time for this time of the year is so easy with so much fresh produce available. We brought back some amazing peaches with us so I will sure be finding a spot for them on my meal plan.

Glad to see you today and it is really good to be home. We took off for a few days and headed south to visit with some family and celebrate my birthday, we had a fantastic visit. We are featuring our Top Ten Post from last week today and there are some outstanding post here that I hope you have an opportunity to visit. It is still very hot here so I can't wait to see what kind of awesome post you will be sharing today when the greatest bloggers on the planet gather every Thursday!

I stood on a stool when I was a small girl and watched my Mother load jars into a large kettle that set on a small 4 burner stove. I remember how beautiful the jars looked in the sunlight as they cooled on the counter. Canning and Preserving food has been a big part of my life growing up and it continues to be today. Canning and Preserving food is almost a lost art in our society today, which makes it important to me to be able to pass these recipes along to friends and family. Pickles Pickle Pot Time Pickled Beets Summer Pickles Ice Box Pickled Peaches Relish Corn Relish Grandmothers Chow Chow Salsa Garden to Table Canned Salsa We are blessed with a bountiful garden that makes it possible for us to preserve and share the harvest. I sure hope that you are able to preserve your harvest whether it be from your own garden or the local farmers market. Thanks so much for stopping by the cottage to vis...

If it is a slow cooker day this recipe is a real winner here at the cottage. The smoked sausage in combination with the pineapple,other vegetables and sauce is cooked slowly, blending the flavors to a delicious finish. This recipe is quick and easy to put together and is ready in only 4 to 6 hours. When you walk in the door the smell of this recipe will bring you into the kitchen in search of the awesome dish that is coming, well that's what my husband did. When he walked in the door he came into the kitchen saying, what is that it smells so good, when do we eat?

I am excited to make the meal plans for this week because I am expecting to be seeing some very special family members. Summer months are so much fun when we get to have family and friends visit us at the cottage. When we have guest coming I am very grateful to have my meal plans, it sure gives me more time to spend with them and it helps to keep the visit more organized. I am off to the garden to see what will be available to bring to the table for a special recipe for the meal plan.

Hello everyone, hurry and come in to a cool area, the temperature is 101 today and that's hot! This is the beginning of the 3 digit temps for about 6 weeks we will face the heat. During this time we all look for the coolest possible way to prepare our food and refrigerator dishes to help keep us cool. We have 14 awesome features today that I hope you will enjoy. We will be looking forward to seeing what you will be sharing with our party, where the greatest bloggers on the planet gather here on Thursday!

We have the most beautiful garden squash that are just perfect for this awesome recipe. I love going to the garden and coming to the kitchen with fresh vegetables to make a very special recipe for my friends and family. This is a great squash dish that have just the right balance of seasons to give it a very delicate flavor. The squash is creamy freshness with a crunchy top. This is a great dish to have for a family supper or a cover dish get together.

This is a salad that becomes a meal, it is delicious! We are using a very special cornbread as the base of the salad and adding garden fresh vegetables to make this a very tasty and filling salad.  This is a great make ahead salad that can be made the day before and ready to go to the party or set on your dinner table. This salad is perfect for a family lunch or dinner and has been a big hit at potluck dinners.

The cottage is a buzz this week, we have had some rain and the garden needs attention. We are trying to get our harvest in before the summer heat takes its toll on the delicate plants. Planning meals at this busy time of the year really helps to keep me on track and organized. I like to use as many garden vegetables and grill outside when we can. If you don't have a home garden, then you will find great vegetables at your local Farmers Market to help you with your meal plans.

We got some much needed rain that has cooled us down a bit, so we get to have our party on the patio today. We are in full swing of great garden vegetables this time of the year and all the wonderful bounty that we get to bring to our tables. We have 14 fantastic features from last week that I hope you will take the time to enjoy! As always I am sure looking forward to your post that you will be sharing with us today. Thanks so much for being a part of Full Plate Thursday and lets get this party started!

Cornbread is a staple here at the cottage so we like to change it up and spice it up just have fun with the flavors. The cheese and jalapeno in this recipe is a great combination then add the crisp bacon and that sends it over the top. Since I developed this recipe it has become one of our favorites. If you are a cornbread lover this recipe will be a must try for you and your family.

These Grilled Spicy Pork Chops have the best flavor of any grilled pork chop that I have ever had. Now I have had a lot of pork chops in my day, but really these are fantastic! Its the rub that makes them so flavorful, they look burned on the outside but they are not, it is the rub, inside they are so tender and juicy and that flavor is deep into the chop. We are paring them with some grilled peaches today to make this a very special plate of goodness!

Our 4th of July Celebration was awesome, and now it is really quiet after all the fireworks stopped and the visitors have returned to their homes in the city. We are under a burn ban in our county and it is hot here. We are going to keep our meal plans cool and simple, trying to just take it easy this week. I will be doing a little canning this week to try and preserve some of the harvest of our summer garden.

Hope you have had a fantastic 4th of July Celebration! We enjoyed parades, great food and fellowship with old friends and family! It is very hot here and I am just looking for a cool spot to have our special gathering, come on back we have the coolers going on the porch and lots of ice cold lemonade. I am looking forward to seeing what you are sharing with us today so lets get our party started!

We are having a fantastic blackberry harvest this year and the berries are exceptionally sweet this year. We do love our blackberries and always look forward to the harvest and the opportunity to develop some special treat with the berries. This year our special blackberry treat is this awesome Blackberry Swirl Frozen Pie. It has a delicious lemon base with our special blackberry jam swirled into the pie to make this an exceptional pie. You can pull this make ahead pie from the freezer for your unexpected guest. This is a wonderful dessert that I hope you enjoy as much as we have this is a great garden to table keeper!

My husband and I really enjoy grilling burgers and developing different recipes that are full of flavor. One of our favorite burger recipes that we have developed is our Cheesy Onion Burger. This burger is easy to put together we just add our garden onion, lettuce and tomato with some cheese, plus a great surprise in the center. This is a burger that our friends and family always come back for seconds.