Happy New Year and our very best wishes for you and your family in 2023! I am so excited to start the year with all of you setting great goals for the week, by planning delicious meals for our friends and families. We are kicking this year off with a plan of traditional foods that are a must have here at the cottage. You might enjoy looking back at the favorite foods  that you the readers chose for 2022,  Top 10 Reader Favorite Recipes 2022  !

  Welcome to our special edition of Full Plate Thursday, 621! We are rounding out a great year with this awesome party. We have been gathering here on Thursday's for great recipes, tablescapes and food related post for very special times together and some amazing food! I always look forward to discover what you will be sharing with us at the party. We are posting our Top Ten Views from last weeks party, great post from very talented bloggers! Thanks so much for coming to the party every week and being a part of this special blogging community! Each one of you are so very special to me and I wish you and your family the very best of life in 2023!

This is the time of the year when I like to reflect back on the past year and look at the very best parts of it. We had a bit of a different approach to our food preparation this past year as we had to work around food storages and even sometimes empty shelves. This sent us to the garden more and more, then the drought hit our area and

A very Merry Christmas to each of you! I debated about publishing this post on Christmas Eve and finally realized we will all have to be having meals on Monday and throughout the week. Like many of you we will be having a wonderful Christmas Eve with family and then a Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day. It is a wonderful time to spend time with friends and family which we are so grateful for. I always look forward to spending this time with each of you  every week and thank you so much for being a special part of this community! 

Hello everyone and welcome to our early Christmas Party for Full Plate Thursday!  Christmas is almost here and what a special time of the year when we have celebrations going on almost everyday with

I don't ever remember baking a ham without having some left overs. I like to take those left overs and freeze them in individual bags of 3 cups each and then when I want some ham for a casserole, it is ready to go. Sometimes those left overs never make it to the freezer, they just go right into this delicious casserole. This is a delicious combination of flavor and texture and will have your family coming back for seconds. A great casserole for a family dinner or a potluck supper.

This pineapple casserole has been around our family in one form or another for a very long time. I remember my aunt always bringing the pineapple casserole to all the family holiday potlucks, and it was one of my favorites. It is a very simple recipe and takes no time to put together. It is always a big hit at our table no matter when we are serving it. I have served it as a side dish and also as dessert, it is one of those recipes that is just good anytime.

  Hello everyone, I am so excited to be here with you making our meal plans for this Christmas week. Our meal plans this week will include Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we will just get a little ahead so we can all be prepared for these

  Hello everyone, hope you are all wrapped up with winter caps and mittens, it is cold outside. Come on in the cottage and stand around the fire, I have a nice cup of  Retro Holiday Punch  for you to enjoy. I know that all of you are very busy this time of the year, we have some great features that will hopefully help you get through the season like a pro! We are so excited to see what you will be sharing with us for the party today. Thanks so much for coming to the party and being a part of this great blogging community!

Our little Peppermint Mini Tarts are a great addition to any holiday dessert table. This is a great little dessert to take to a holiday pot luck dessert party. This dessert recipe takes very little time to make and can be made the day before if you like. I like to keep some tart shells on hand during the holiday season to make nice little desserts and appetizers. These are headed for a holiday party and I know there won't be any left!

  Hello everyone, we are excited to be enjoying a very busy holiday season here at the cottage. We have actually had some great weather for this time of the year, so it has been fun to visit the parades, festivals and special Christmas events. I am trying to do some baking for the freezer of holiday products to have on hand as we move along in the season.  We are having some yummy favorites this week, I am hungry already!

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday and the festive month of December! The little communities that surround our lake area are active with parades, festivals, and Christmas decorations are everywhere. The holiday food's of course are the center of every event, including this one. We have some really great features from last weeks party that I hope you enjoy. Thanks so much for coming to the party today, I can't wait to see what you will be sharing at the party today!

  This will be the ninth year that I am publishing Gifts From Miz Helen's Kitchen, it has become an annual publication. I love receiving a homemade gift that someone has put so much of themselves, love and work into the finished product. We often time give gifts from our garden that is actually a year long effort. There are always the favorites every year and then we like to add some of the new things that folks will enjoy! It is with great joy that I present the gifts from our kitchen for this year.

  Tex-Mex food is a staple here at the cottage, we have our Mexican food at least once a week. One thing that I really love about our Tex-Mex Breakfast Enchilada's is the fact that we can freeze them, in a baking dish or for single servings for a great grab and go breakfast. The Enchiladas are perfect for a brunch with friends and family. This recipe is a very easy one to put together with a delicious finish!

  Welcome to December, the month of fantastic gatherings with friends and  family. We actually begin this season at Thanksgiving and it doesn't stop until after New Years. Each week is a fun endeavor to bring the very best effort to our planning. It is in the planning that the success of the event begins, no matter if it is a family weeknight meal or a sit down black tie event for friends, the success is in the plan. Sometimes it is very hard to block off enough time to make the plan, but it is worth the sacrifice in the end when friends and family have enjoyed the meal plan that you present. 

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 617! I sure hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are excited about our journey into December with all the great recipes for such a festive season. We had a great Thanksgiving Edition with some awesome features that I hope you will enjoy! Our  5th Annual Holiday Cookie Recipe Exchange is open and we would love for you to stop by and leave some links to some of your delicious cookies! Thanks so much for coming to the party today, we can hardly wait to see what you will be sharing.