I am very excited to be sharing my first recipe here at Miz Helen's Cottage! My name is Lauren, and I am Miz Helen's granddaughter. I am a mother to an 8 year-old girl, Air Force spouse, and special education teacher. I enjoy cooking and baking, but am still learning! I like my recipes to be easy and fun with minimal ingredients and minimal dirty dishes. I am looking forward to sharing with you all. 

I am so excited for you to meet a new contributor to Miz Helen's Country Cottage. Please let me introduce you to our Granddaughter Lauren. Lauren is a military wife, Mom to our Ella June, special education teacher, Girl Scout Leader, loving daughter, sister, and friend to many. Lauren currently lives in Germany and is enjoying the different cultures of that country. She loves to cook, and explore different cultures. Lauren will be giving us some fun post from her home and life in Germany. She is a hiker and takes the most beautiful photos. I hope you will join me in welcoming Lauren to the cottage, we will all look forward to your first post Lauren!

We had a great Thanksgiving here at the cottage for just the two of us. We had a lot of fun cooking together and then enjoyed a lazy day, watched something called a football game but really didn't look to much like one that we had seen before, watched some great Hallmark movies. Although we missed having our family and friends here with us, it was a special day with just the two of us. Now we are looking at a few left overs for our meal plan, not alot, but a few. What are you doing with your left overs this week. I will have to have one special meal of Mexican food which I always want after Thanksgiving. 

Welcome to our Thanksgiving Edition of Full Plate Thursday! I know that all of you will be very busy with your Thanksgiving preparation on Wednesday, and Thursday I hope you are able to enjoy Thanksgiving day, with just the 2 of you or a small group of family and friends. We are featuring our Top Ten Post with the most page views from last weeks party, they are great post that you will sure want to visit. I am looking forward to see what you are sharing for the party today as we will soon be looking at Christmas and New Years post,  Many Thanks To Each Of You For Coming Here Each Week To Share Our Journey  On Full Plate Thursday! Wishing You A Bountiful Thanksgiving You Are Loved! Miz Helen

  Pears and Pecans are in season here and the farmers market had some really nice pears, and the pecans were on sale. I made this awesome Pear-Pecan Skillet Cake and it was delicious! This is an easy recipe to make, with a very flavorful crumb with special seasons and the pears and pecans nestled in the cake, oh my goodness it is so good. I love this recipe and have served it as brunch dish and a dessert with or without whipped cream. One thing for sure no matter how or when we served the cake, we rarely had much left.

  Here we are going into the week of Thanksgiving and it is so different this year. We will not be having any friends or family here this year. It will just be my husband and me so we are making a plan for two. We usually have company by now, but the cottage is very quiet this year. I am having fun making this plan for a traditional Thanksgiving just for two. We have so many things to be thankful for this year, we will be writing down our blessings for the blessings jar and the list will be long. All of you will be counted among my many blessings, many thanks to all of you for being a part of our journey here at the cottage.

Welcome To Full Plate Thursday and just one week to Thanksgiving! We will be featuring some special suggestions for Thanksgiving from some really great bloggers at the party today. We are going to enjoy our party by the fire pit today, it is one of those beautiful fall days where the air is crisp and the trees are letting go of there leaves. We are so excited to see all of you today and can't wait to see your special holiday goodies that you will be bringing to the party! We Are Bringing Back  The Holiday Cookie Exchange Hope You Will Join Us!

  Retro Turkey Cranberry Salad is a traditional left over turkey recipe that has been passed down in our family. This is a delicious salad that has changed a little through the years, but it is still the same original flavors that our family came to love. The salad has wonderful bite size pieces of roasted turkey, crunchy vegetables along with dried fruit and a spicy blend of spice. The salad is then mixed with a creamy dressing that sets this salad apart from others. It is easy for me to see why this recipe has been a favorite for the left- over turkey!

Cream of Turkey Vegetable Soup was developed one year on the day after Thanksgiving some years back. The recipe turned out to be such a hit with our family it is served here at the cottage year round. This soup recipe is loaded with vegetables and some left over roasted turkey in a delicate creamy soup. There are never any left overs of this soup, it is delicious!

 Only 11 more days to thanksgiving 2020, time to start checking the pantry and freezer to make sure we have everything on hand that we will need. I always try to buy ahead of time whenever possible. I am off to a new orchard today to get some pears, apples and pecans, if they have any left, we will see what I can put on the meal plan this week with fresh fruits of the season. I got a really nice basket of collards from the garden today, they are going to be so delicious and will be putting those on the meal plan for this week. 

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday,510 we are so happy to see you here today! Fall is in full swing here with the most beautiful colors this year and the weather has allowed us to get out and really enjoy country paths and roads. Many times when we are exploring we will find a new farmers market or fruit orchard that just calls our name to create a new recipe. We have some awesome features that you helped to pick out last week and I hope that you will stop by these talented bloggers and say hello! I really can't wait to see what you will be bringing today to the party, I always look forward to seeing you and many thanks for coming! Reminder Only 15 Days To Thanksgiving! I Have Been A Military Mom For 44 Years  and now A Military Grandma (Nana) To All Of Our Veterans and Their Families Thank You For All Of Your Sacrifices To Help Us Keep Our Freedom! A Special Thank You To Our Veteran Children  and  Active Duty Grandchildren For All Of Your Over 40 Years Of Service!

My Mother was a fruit cake lover as I think many in that generation were and every time I make this Fruity Pumpkin Bread recipe, I think of her. Isn't it nice to be making a recipe and have a lovely memory of family and that smile comes on your face and into your heart. This is a delicious bread with wonderful dried fruit and nuts, very moist and perfect for dessert or afternoon tea.

  It is a great time in the country right now, the trees are showing off their beautiful colors. There is a certain peace that comes with fall, it is great to take a walk along a country path and just enjoy what God has created for us. I am excited to use some of the recipes that I have picked for this weeks meal plan, the flavors of fall are sure calling my name.

I am excited that November has arrived and welcome to Full Plate Thursday,509! It is really good to see all of you here today and get November started. November is full of delicious food as we prepare for our thanksgiving meal plans. Preparing our festive tablescapes, and special recipes, it is all about the traditions and memories. We may all be celebrating in a different way this year by downsizing our numbers around the table, but we can still have some really amazing food, which I can't wait to see you share at the party today!

Our Retro Ambrosia Salad is a fall back on a southern salad that was very popular during the 1950's. I remember my Mother her sisters and friends always serving Ambrosia Salad at just about every special dinner, pot luck or event. I always wondered why they called it a salad, because to me it was a dessert. It is still like dessert to me and I just love it! This recipe has lots of wonderful fruit with a delicious dressing that puts it over the top for me. If you want to come home with an empty bowl from the pot luck, carry this salad, everyone always loves it!

This delicious Roasted Turkey Breast with Fruit Sauce is a perfect choice for our Thanksgiving dinner this year. We won't be having the large family gatherings that we usually have so we are definitely downsizing the meal plan for this traditional dinner. This turkey breast is so moist and filled with bold flavors and a delightful fruit sauce. I am serving it with these  Roasted Spicy Sweet Potatoes  and our family favorite  Slow Cooker Cornbread Dressing . I can't wait to enjoy this on Thanksgiving day or any occasion throughout the year!