Welcome to the last Full Plate Thursday for 2020, I am so happy that you are able to be here to finish this year out together! What a year we had and our food patterns certainly indicate that most of us were enjoying our comfort food this past year. Many of us had very difficult challenges to overcome, loss of family and friends, loss of income, and isolation. But along the path we found a deep inter strength and determination that somehow with Gods help and the help of friends and family, just one day at a time we would overcome and we did! We became each others cheerleaders and found new bonds that will endure. I have had all of you that make up the wonderful community of Full Plate Thursday in our thoughts and prayers in the past few months, we love and appreciate you! If I could, I would be giving each of you a big victory hug today, we made it, we are all winners!

These are the top ten most popular post that you liked in 2020, and what a year it was!  2020 has been one of those years that will surely go down in history as a real struggle for our planet in so many different ways. Some have suffered great loss of family and material goods including businesses and jobs. Those of us who could, have continued trying to make life as normal as could be, but most likely will never have that kind of normal again as we have all changed in this year of 2020. I can see that most of the year we were seeking comfort with most of our food. Some of our most popular recipes this year have been comfort food and making sure that our pantries were stocked when so many super market shelves were empty. Thanks so much for being here during this year to support our Country Cottage Community, you are very important to us. As we close this year out, know that you are loved and that you are covered in prayer everyday!

  I tend to get a little restless post Christmas. The excitement of the holiday is over and you are left with wrapping paper scraps, too much candy, and anticipation for what the upcoming year has to offer. So during the weird in-between before New Years, I enjoy trying out some fun recipes that may be a bit more labor intensive than usual. These pastries are a fun thing to try, especially if you haven't worked with phyllo (filo) pastry before. You could also make these using puff pastry or pre-made phyllo cups, just adjust your baking temp and time to the directions on the package. 

Here we are at the end of another year, but this hasn't been just any year. It has been a very hard year for so many folks all over the world. It is a real challenge to make meal plans sometimes when there is so much sickness and the food products have been limited sometimes with empty shelves in the market. We feel very blessed here at the cottage, we keep a stocked pantry and freezer, we grow a lot of our own food, so we did not have the challenge's that so many had. My husband did contract the virus and was sick for the entire month of July, then recovering for the month of August. I have just kept putting our traditional meals on the table, sometimes cutting recipes in half because it has been just the two of us most of the time. We shall be forever grateful that we are finishing this year together and in good health. We are very grateful that you are here today and that you have made it to this point along with us!

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday Christmas Edition, it is so exciting to see you here today to enjoy some of the Christmas season together. We have been sharing some fantastic recipes all month and today we are featuring our Top Ten Post from last weeks party. I know that you are most likely very busy today with your own Christmas plans and we sure do thank you for stopping by to share your recipe, table decor or food related post with us. It is very quiet here at the cottage this year because of the virus concerns that our entire world has been under since the beginning of the year. My husband and I are so very grateful that we are able to be healthy and together during this very spiritual season for us, and we are grateful for each one of you!

  We often times have small gatherings in our home for friends, church groups and other functions. These Crab Mini Tarts give us an appetizer that can be prepared ahead of time, baked and served at the time of the gathering, you can serve them hot out of the oven or at room temperature. The filling for the tarts can easily be served with crackers or used as a dip. The crab filling is very versatile recipe limited only by your own creativity. 

  We really enjoy a brunch menu on weekends and special holidays, this Pecan Coffee Cake With Bacon is a great recipe for our brunch. The coffee cake is so moist with great seasons, then topped with a crunchy mix of pecans and bacon, oh my goodness this is delicious! I even served it to my husband and a couple of his friends who had gathered at the cottage for coffee, they loved it!

  Christmas week is here, we always look forward to this week every year, although this year will be very different. I love making the meal plans for this week with some of our traditional foods for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This year I will be cutting the recipes in half because it will be only my husband and me, we will be visiting with friends and family via face times, and zoom's. We are so grateful that we can be together and for the good health that we have today. Thanks so much for being a part of our Country Cottage family, and sharing your family meal plans with us!

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday and a great party! We are so excited to see you today and I have some of my  Retro Holiday Punch in the Slow Cooker, so come on in and help yourself to a cup of cheer. We have some outstanding features today that I am sure you will want to take a look at and get to know some of these talented bloggers. Don't you just love this time of the year with all the amazing recipes that we get to try. I am looking forward to seeing you at the party today and can't wait to see what you are sharing today. Thanks so much for coming to the party!

  When I got this recipe, I thought it was a very unusual pecan pie recipe. It  reminded me of some of the recipes that had come out of the depression years. I knew right away that I would have to try the recipe. A few years ago, Cece, my friend of over 30 years, moved to a lovely area named Pecan Plantation. Every year she has so many pecans that she is kind enough to share with me. This year she sent me some pecans along with a recipe she wanted me to try. She has given me permission to share it with all of you. I added to the recipe in a couple of places and dressed it up a little, this pie is so easy to prepare and absolutely delicious! 

  WARNING: This is a long one so if you are just looking for hot chocolate feel free to scroll to the bottom!  I never really looked forward to Thanksgiving very much when I was younger, but what I did look forward to were the days shortly following. My mom always made decorating for Christmas into a special day all its own. We would open all the boxes and reminisce about each treasured decoration. Christmas music would play in the background while my mom laid out some yummy things to munch on as we decorated. I have carried on this tradition with my own family, but instead of snacks we have a special hot chocolate. I am excited to share this recipe with you today, and hope you enjoyed decorating your own tree!  This year we got to attend a 'trees for heroes' event put on by the USO. We went to a local German tree farm and cut down our own tree, then enjoyed some kinderpunsch (spiced cider) and crepes. We also made some homemade ornaments this year. I have included some directi

Only 12 more days til Christmas, and so much good food to enjoy. We have been busy trying to have a normal Christmas season, but it really isn't normal. We have finished our decorating and now I am working on greeting cards. Maybe I will have those in the mail this weekend. Meal planning is so much fun right now with so many wonderful recipes to try and of course I have to have some of our favorites along the way. The weather man has just said that we may actually get a few flakes of snow this weekend, so we will be getting that hot chocolate ready that is for sure!

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, it is very cold here so hurry in the cottage and get you a spot by the fire. I am serving some hot spiced tea so get a cup and that will really warm you up. We had some awesome recipe features last week and get suggestions for holiday gifts from our kitchen. I am sure excited to see you here today and can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us this week. Many thanks for sharing your links at this party which help to  make it one of the best!

I really love a sheet pan recipe for serving a crowd or just for one or two and freezing the remainder in individual freezer bags. This is a great recipe for doing all of those, not to mention it is delicious. It has some of my favorites, sweet potatoes, bacon and spinach along with some other delicious seasons. I recently made this recipe for my husband and I then bagged the remainder in freezer bags and placed them into the freezer. Now these special quiche are ready for us to grab and go. This is a flavorful recipe that we really enjoy!

  We love giving homemade gifts to our family and friends all year round, but we especially enjoy it at Christmas time. This year our giving pattern will be different, because we won't be able to see so many folks in person. Some of our gifts will be mailed and some will be left on front porches, but we will still have the joy of giving to those we love and share our life with in our family and friends in our community. We grow a large garden in the warmer months and we preserve a big part of that harvest every year, then that becomes one of the special gifts that we like to share with family and friends. I love to bake something for a special party or place a jar of jelly into a gift basket. The gifts that I give every year are made with and filled with love. When I give or receive a homemade gift I know just how much love has gone into that gift. I wish that it was possible to share a gift from this collection with each of you, but know that it is in my heart and I am passing alo

It is so cold here, we are down in the 20's and for us that is really cold. I will sure be looking for some meal plans that will be warm and cozy. We have started the Christmas decorating project here at the cottage and it is so much fun. It takes us a few days to complete the project, when the space is so small every inch becomes important. I am putting my husbands favorite pork roast on the plan this week, he will love it. I just need to make that decision about the desserts, this time of the year there are so many goodies to choose from.

Welcome To Full Plate Thursday and the wonderful month December! I love the festive foods, festivals tablescapes, and timeless traditions of December. My husband and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the cottage just the two of us. We have some great features from the party last week, sure hope that you will stop by and say  hello to them. Thanks so much for coming to the party today, I can't wait to see what you will be sharing!

Welcome To The 3nd Annual Holiday Cookie Exchange  We have had a very unusual year and what better way to lift our spirits than to share Christmas and Hanukkah  cookies with our friends.   At the end of the party I hope we have some fabulous cookie recipes to take home that we can enjoy for years to come! Thanks so much for bringing your cookie recipes to share with us, we will cherish the love that has gone into everyone of your recipes!