Good Morning everyone, I sure hope that you are enjoying your Labor Day weekend. My goodness my husband and I were just talking about how fast the summer went by this year, but here we are. Our meal plans are fun this time of the year as we transition into the fall season. It is still warm enough to enjoy some grilling time, but then we enjoy a great bowl of soup on a cooler evening. This week I will be visiting our farmers market so we will see what ends up in my cart to help with the meal plans this week.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday and our TOP TEN features from last weeks party!  Here we are at the last week of August and the Labor Day Weekend, we are excited to see all of you today. This is one of the last official weekends of the summer here at the lake. We expect a great weekend with lots of folks out for a last big event of the season. We are starting to see some transitional foods going into fall, it is always fun to watch what folks are sharing this time of the year. I look forward to see what you are sharing at the party today. Thanks so much for coming today and stay safe over your fun weekend!

The zucchini are plentiful right now and what better squash to bring from the garden to the table. Our Spicy Zucchini Bread is so simple and yet deep with flavors. My husband tested this bread for me and  when I asked him what he thought he said, "it tastes every bit as good as it smelled." This bread is easy to put together and it is even better to eat. It is a real winner!

Hello everyone, my goodness we are going into the last week of August and it is hot! We have been having record breaking temperatures that have put me indoors with the cooler air. At this point with meal plans I think what in the world, just give me something cold, right? I am looking at some of my recipes and we will see what makes it to the line up this week. We also have Labor Day Weekend coming up next weekend. We have already made plans for the weekend, we will see if the temperatures allow us to go forward.

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 708! We are so happy to see you here at the party today. The heat index is 107 as I am writing this post. We are having the party in the cottage today so we can stay cool, sit at the table and visit with one another and sip some ice cold sweet tea. I can't wait to see what you are sharing with us today. I hope you will take some time and enjoy the awesome features we have today.

Welcome to our annual summer garden tour. As I look back on our spring and summer garden season it has been a good one. We have had quiet a bit of construction and remodel on our grounds, but we managed to produce a really nice harvest with some beautiful plants to enjoy. In gardening the weather is always a challenge, and this year has been no different. We are actually in the last half of our August heat and it is hot, but it will soon start to cool with the dog days of summer. We will soon be preparing the ground and planting our winter garden and the seasons continue on.

  Hello everyone, I sure hope that you are staying cool in this last half of August. Our schools started here this week, so we are all starting to get into the fall routine of the school zone speed limits, and Friday night football. We will begin to transition into our fall meal planning with more root vegetables and darker greens. But right now we are not quiet there as our temperatures are still very hot giving us the opportunity to enjoy summer cooking just a little longer.

  Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 707! I am so excited to see you here today at the party. We have saved you a seat at the table so come on in and find your place, I can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today. While you are waiting today you might enjoy a nice slice of my  Grape Ice Box Pie .  Our schools started this week and the fall calendar is quickly becoming a reality. Our little community is starting to revolve around the school scheduling and talk of the first football game coming soon. Wow where did this summer go?

  I have wanted to develop this pie recipe for sometime. I finally got it from my head to the table. I am sure glad I did, it is delicious. It takes very little time to make the pie and it is ready to serve after a few hours in the refrigerator. The filling is filled with creamy goodness with a burst of flavor from the fresh grapes. Next time I will double the recipe and make two pies as we ran out way to soon!

  Hello everyone, I am looking forward to making this meal plan with all of you today. I am thinking about all of you along the east coast that are dealing with flooding today and hoping you will come through the storm without to much damage. I have taken an inventory of my pantry, the barn garden bins and my freezer. They are all pretty full right now. What we will be doing in the next few weeks is some of our late summer canning of the harvest. Canning is always a fun time here at the cottage. We also have a very large remodel going on the screen porch. We are replacing the entire floor, that is a big job and we are really just getting started. I already missing sitting there so I sure hope it does not take to long. Lets get start on this meal plan!

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday and our new posting time! Come on in a cooling area, we have some fans set up in the back patio under the trees and it is very nice with the breeze of the fans. We have an entire beverage bar set up so just help yourself and find your seat, we have saved you one! The features from last week are amazing and I sure hope you enjoy them. We are so happy to see you here today and can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us.

  Welcome to our August Food and Recipe Basket! August in Texas usually means heat with wilting or dying gardens. This is an unusual year, our temperatures have been lower than average and our rains have been way above average. The vegetables have had a different harvest clock this year, however the farmers markets are filled with the peck of the season, for just about every fruit or vegetable you could possible want or need. This is our canning season, so what we don't have available in our own garden we just pick up at the markets.

Hello everyone and welcome August! We have about 2 weeks vacation time before our schools start here, how about you when do your school's start. Family meal plans often time have to change when school starts to accommodate the schedules of the school children. We are having unseasonable lower temperatures for August and this makes meal planning a lot more fun! This means we will doing some outdoor cooking and spending more time outdoors with our meals this week.