Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, and here we are at the end of March and only a few days away from Easter! We are having so much fun at the cottage this week, getting ready for a really nice Easter week and weekend. We are excited to present our Top Ten Features from last weeks party, some very talented bloggers sharing some great post for all of us to enjoy. I just know that you will be bringing some fantastic recipes, tablescapes and food related post to the party today and I can't wait to see what they are. Thanks so much for coming today and have fun at the party!

Our Hash-Brown Broccoli Brunch Casserole will be delicious for a special brunch, a nice luncheon or even a casual family dinner. This recipe is one of those that will go to any meal or any function. Carry it to the covered dish at your favorite social or serve it to your morning Bible class. This is a very hearty casserole with an amazing flavor that just works together. When I serve this there has never been any left to freeze although you can freeze it up to 3 months. We love this recipe!

  It is a beautiful spring day and a perfect time to make some delicious spring recipes for our meal plan this week. When I sit down to make the meal plan each week, I always think what sounds good, what will be some great idea's for meals? Then I can check recipes, check pantry and freezer stock to see what I will need for the recipes. It takes a little time up front but then when we are in the frenzy of the week, it is a smooth flow, because we know just what we are having and we know the ingredients will be available. Meal planning saves me so much time and money, and who doesn't like both extra time and money.

Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday,529! Wow sometimes when I write the number of the post for the party it seems impossible that we have been publishing this party every single week for 11-1/2 years, where indeed does the time go? I am so excited that spring is here, are all of you excited about spring? I want you to be sure and take a look at the wonderful features that we have from very talented bloggers from last weeks party. I can't wait to see what all of you will be bringing to share with us today and thanks so much for coming to the party today!

  My husband and daughter were both begging for cinnamon rolls this weekend. Since these only take about an hour I didn't mind making a special Sunday breakfast! You could also use cream cheese icing if you want to make them even better! 

Happy Spring! I can't remember when we have been so excited to welcome spring! We are really looking forward to our spring meal plans and all the fresh fruits and vegetables that we are able to put into our meal plans this time of the year. It's March Madness already and lots of fun game food. We have been very busy here at the cottage with our gardens, and you can read all about our garden adventures in our  latest garden post.

  Happy St. Patrick's Day and welcome to Full Plate Thursday! We are celebrating our Irish heritage here at the cottage today and I sure am glad you could join us. Stop and take a look at the awesome post from some very talented bloggers from last weeks party. We have had a great week here and have actually put seeds in the ground in the garden, we are so excited, you can read all about what we have been doing in the garden in this weeks Garden Post.  Thanks so much for coming today we always save you a place at our table!

In February we experienced a historical snow storm with temperatures dipping below zero. We were so concerned that some of our trees and other planting's might not come back in the spring. Our electric grid in Texas failed and we were without electric power for over 12 hours at a time. It was a long week, but thankfully we did not have the damage that some encountered. We were checking our trees and plants almost daily to see if they would have any sign of life and or new buds. We were so grateful when we began to see signs of life and new growth. We have now broke new ground for a garden extension and are beginning our spring plantings.

  Our Baked Cheese Steak and Rice recipe came about as a last minute change in a meal plan. Have you ever got that call from a family member that has invited a couple of extra folks over for dinner? That happens a lot here at the cottage and even more when the kids were in high school and collage. I learned along the way to make a meal stretch out just a little bit more so there would be enough for everyone. There is one thing for sure, folks never left the table hungry. We always seemed to have enough for everyone. This recipe turned out to be a favorite that is requested over and over.

  Oh my goodness it is the week of the Irish here at the cottage! I am planning many of our Irish favorites in the meal plan this week. I just got back from a walk down a beautiful country road near the cottage, the trees are budding and it looks like a lot of the storm damage to the vegetation is going to be repaired. I was in the market yesterday and many of the store shelves here are still empty and many of the meat products are very limited. I am so grateful at this point that we have been planners and have kept a good pantry and freezer stock, otherwise we might not be eating to well. With the luck of the Irish and the wind at our back we will all come through this and be better for it! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, I am thrilled to be able to invite you to the garden patio to enjoy our party today. We have great spring recipes featured from last weeks party that you will sure want to check out! We are in the middle of planting some spring vegetables, so come on in and enjoy the outdoors with us. This coming weekend on the 14th we change our clocks to Daylight Savings Time, Spring is almost here just a few more days. Thanks so much for coming to the party today, it is always great to see you here!

  Fried Cabbage is a very versatile recipe that can become anything you want it to be. I love going to the garden and bringing in a fresh head of cabbage, it smells so good. Today I am making a pan of Fried Cabbage and also add the option of Smoked Sausage. This is a great side dish or a main dish, you can use it for a family weeknight or dress it up for company. This recipe is absolutely one of those comfort dishes that is good any time of the year.

  Germany is still under restrictions for COVID-19 and I have been craving ramen like nobody's business. There are actually a few places with great ramen! But they are too far away from our house to take it to go and it is still too cold to eat outside. So I opted to try out some homemade ramen! This can really be as complicated or as easy as you want it to be. I am going to share all the components I made, as well as some easier substitutes you could use! If you decide you want to make your own bone broth and chashu pork, then it will be a two day process.  This is a very basic recipe so feel free to add whatever spices or flavors you like! I can't wait to try it again and up the spice levels a bit.

Things are starting to look like a new season is coming here at the cottage. I am actually getting to sit on the screen porch and enjoy the sun while I work on next weeks meal plan. The roto tillers have been running in full force as we clear some ground for more row crops for the vegetable garden, it is very exciting! We will be planting this weekend and I will be doing a Garden Gate post very soon to bring all of you up to date on the garden. I love spring and summer foods with all the fresh vegetables, and in March of course we get to celebrate our Irish traditions!

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday,526, we are so excited to see you here today. Help me welcome March and all the wonderful foods of March. We have some great features from last week that I sure hope you will stop by and say hello to these talented bloggers. We are so excited that we are finally in the transition to spring so we can be outdoors in our garden and have a lot of screen porch time, just sipping some sweet tea! Hope you enjoy your stay at the cottage today and thanks so much for being a part of our Full Plate Thursday community!

Grandma's Irish Potato Cakes recipe has been in my family as long as I can remember. I remember my Mother, Aunts and my Grandma saying be sure and don't throw out the left over potatoes, because they wanted to make the potato cakes. It is a great recipe for left over potatoes and the fun part for a kid helping Grandma cook is you mix these with your hands. It really takes no time to make the potato cakes and they are absolutely the ultimate Irish comfort food!

  A big part of our family heritage is Irish and I love to make special Irish recipes. Most of the Irish recipes that I make are passed down to me by different family members. This recipe for Guinness Irish Chocolate Cake was handed down to me from one of my Aunts and it is easily one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes. The flavor of the cake is absolutely so good it really doesn't need a frosting to top it. We do have the perfect frosting with a creamy rich flavor that is a great compliment to this Irish family favorite!