We are busy at the cottage this week, getting ready for the 4th of July celebrations around our community. Our little community has an annual parade with all the kids on their bikes and all the Grandpas pulling little wagons behind their riding mowers with the grands waving the flags. It truly is an All-American day. Our ladies club sponsors a country store and I will be taking some of my jelly to donate and of course a cherry cobbler. When we are enjoying holidays and house guest it is a very important time to make sure that we have a meal plan in place. I am going to finish this plan and head to the garden to gather some of the produce that I will be needing.

It is our last party for the month of June and it is time for the Top Ten Post from last weeks party. Every month we feature the Top Ten Post with the most page views on the last week of the month and this month we have some great post that you have picked! I really look forward to this party every week to see all of you and enjoy all the wonderful post you share with us. We are out on the garden patio today to enjoy the beautiful vegetables that are in the garden right now, so grab a basket and help yourself! I can't wait to see you at the party!

We all love our hot dogs here in American and for some of our patriotic celebrations we just have to have our hot dogs! Lots of times when we host an event it is burgers and dogs and it's not just the kids that have the dogs. My favorite way to serve the hot dogs is to present many different toppings and let everyone build their own hot dog. I can't wait to build one of my favorite hot dogs!

Ice Cream Ice Cream We All Scream For Ice Cream! That is sure the chant that goes up from some of our family. As a matter of fact my husband's nick name is "Blue Bell Man" he has to have his Ice Cream for his special treat everyday. This is a very special berry filled ice cream, that our entire family enjoys. This recipe is so easy and takes no time and it is in the freezer, it is sure worth the wait while it freezes!

Summer has arrived and the cottage is buzzing with activity. We are busy in the gardens and enjoying fun activities around the lake. Meal planning becomes even more important to me when life is so busy, because it saves me so much time and gives me extra money to play on. We are using some of our garden vegetables in recipes this week and I just love the freshness that brings to a meal. I sure hope that you are able to enjoy a garden or farmers market this time of the year and bring home the freshness!

Hi everyone, so good to see you today! Hope all of you had a fun Fathers Day, we sure had a great time here at the cottage. We are sitting on the screen porch today just sipping sweet tea and so glad you are here to share with us. Just come on back to the porch and make yourself at home I can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today. Thanks so much for coming to the party today and hope you will take the time to visit with some of the awesome bloggers who gather here every Thursday!

Roasted Corn, Poblano Chilies, Green Chilies and Peppers are a great combination for a Tex-Mex recipe that is a big hit here at the cottage. We love to roast the corn it just gives a very special flavor that you can't get any other way. We have combined that delicious roasted corn with some Poblano and Green Chilies then added Peppers to make this amazing dish.This recipe has all those special Tex-Mex seasons that lets you know it's just a little on the warm side, but just right! This is a vegetable side dish that will compliment any meal for any occasion. 

We are heading to the garden to harvest the relish that will top this delicious marinated grilled chicken. This recipe uses the great flavors of the vinaigrette in the marinate for the chicken giving this dish a very special combination. This is a great grilling recipe when you are having guest it really is a meal on a platter from garden to table, now it doesn't get much better than that!

Happy Fathers Day To All The Great Dad's! I have been out in the gardens today gathering fresh vegetables for our very special meal that we will be having to celebrate the Fathers in our family. You may remember how much rain we had earlier in our season and the late plantings we had for the garden, well all that rain has made everything so green, lush and bountiful. Planning meals for special people in our life and special holidays is always a fun project for me. It is at busy times like this that I am so grateful that my meals will all  be planned out, the marketing done and even some of the prep and cooking already done. Life is good and I am so happy you are here to share it with me today!

I am so happy to welcome you to the cottage for our Full Plate Thursday! We have been making a few plans for Fathers Day here and I wonder what you are planning for this special day. We had some really great features from last week that I hope you will take the time to visit. It is a privilege to be a part of such a special community of bloggers that we have here on Thursday! Thanks so much for coming to the party today and hope you have a very special week!

It is so nice to  be able to have a really nice brunch dish on the weekend when we can just take our time to really enjoy some time together with friends and family. This Garden Fresh Fritatta is a great recipe that takes you from the garden to the table with lots of fresh vegetables. I love to invite our guest to come to the garden and help harvest some of the ingredients for the dish that we are about to make, we have so much fun. The combination of flavor in this recipe is really delicious and is so fresh. For the off season when the garden is no longer producing most of these vegetables can be found at your local farmers market of your supermarket. I often times make this recipe and freeze it in individual servings for up to two months, it is a great grab and go breakfast!

Through my many years of cooking I have acquired several go to recipes for special occasions. Nana's Lemon Pie is just one of those recipes, when you get a call and one of the kids has invited 2 or 3 of their buddies home for dinner, or maybe the hubby is bringing one of his office buddies for dinner. This is the greatest go to pie recipe.This recipe has amazing flavor and it very easy to put together  and it serves up like you have been working on  a dessert all day!

Hello everyone, we are so glad to see you today, we are headed out to the garden to see what might be available to harvest for our meal plan this week. Although we planted our gardens late this year, we are beginning to have a great harvest of spring and summer vegetables. I always love to use our fresh produce in my meal plans when at all possible. After the garden we will take a break on the screen porch to work on this meal plan. It doesn't get much better than this, just sitting on the screen porch sipping sweet tea!

So excited to see you here for our first party of June! Everyone I talk to is so happy for that calendar to turn in the hope that our weather will begin to improve. Don't you just love this time of the year when we can include so many fresh fruits and vegetables in our recipes and have fun picnic tables to set them on. I love getting to visit each one of your blogs every week, we have so many talented folks who link to this party. I sure hope that you will take the time to visit each other, make some new friends and try some new recipes! Thanks so much for coming today and come back to see us real soon!

We love our garden vegetables and there is nothing better than to go out to the garden gather a bunch of vegetables and bring them back to the kitchen to create a delicious soup. This is one of those recipes that we have used over and over in our kitchen and on a chilly rainy day there is nothing better than a bowl of this fresh vegetable soup. The combination of fresh vegetables and herbs can't be beat for a great flavor and it is a perfect garden to table bowl of goodness!

We are grilling Brats and they are stuffed with great flavors then wrapped up with a nice strip of bacon. Oh my, these brats are so delicious when you bite into that great stuffing with the special sauce and the crisp bacon outside. These brats are easy to prepare but sure do deliver in flavor. The special sauce is very versatile and can be used as a dressing on many different dishes. Our friends loved these brats!

It is so exciting to turn the calendar and it's June! We are really looking forward to the summer months here at the cottage. I love making meal plans this for this season with all the fresh fruits and vegetables. We actually picked our first ripe tomato yesterday, it was a Roma, they always come early and are great producers. We will be gearing up to make our homemade salsa before to much longer. So glad you could join me today, sitting on the screen porch, sipping sweet tea, planning meals with great recipes! To All Our Friends  Who Have Been Ravaged By Tornadoes and Flood Waters Lost Your Homes, Farm Land, Animals, and Businesses Please Know That You Are In Our  Thoughts and Prayers We Love You!