Luncheon table review and thumbnail linky

I don't know about you but here in the states we've spent a lot more time indoors than usual waiting out the frigid polar cold fronts.  I have perused and made a lot of Pinterest finds.  At a luncheon for friends last week I made several recipes and created one of my own.

Soup, Salad and Sandwich luncheon with Hummingbird Cupcakes

I took an opportunity to rekindle some old friendships since I moved to the country and invited several friends from my younger days to have lunch in our renovation project home.  I settled on a menu that included a Creamy Broccoli Soup, Croissant Sandwiches, a fruity  Romaine Salad and decadent Hummingbird Cupcakes topped with PinWin pineapple flowers.  All of the recipes are easy to prepare for an informal luncheon with old friends that left me stress free so I could enjoy the visit with them.

Shamrock crust on a fruit cobbler

When my son was about 3 years old, we sat together in the back yard having a snack of fresh apricots.  I showed him how to break it in half and then explained how God planned for more apricots by leaving a seed in the fruit to plant.  Of course he asked if he could plant it, and off he went.  He pushed the seed into a crack he found in the dirt next to the privacy fence.  We were both delighted the next summer when it came up!  My son is 30 now and that tree is a mature fruit bearer. 

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcake

Boy Grand likes to help in the kitchen and he loves cupcakes so this week we decided to make an almost homemade cupcake version of pineapple upside down cake.  We turned a packaged cake mix into an easy special treat with pineapple and cherries.  We started with one of those small packaged confetti cake mixes just right for a dozen cupcakes.  I chose the confetti mix because it seems to be more appealing to the kids that are tempted to eat only the icing.  He approved.
 

Lemon Tarts made with Lemon Curd

The scenes in Downton Abbey episodes spend a lot of time drinking tea and eating little cakes, scones and biscuits.  On season 5 episode 2 I noticed they often spread sauce or curd on the breads.  Many years ago a very sweet English lady I worked with made Lemon Curd that she gave in jars as gifts.  Since then I have thought fondly about it and wished I had asked for her recipe.

Bake, Decorate, and Create for the Holiday

Christmas crafts, Christmas foods, Christmas decorations, Christmas traditions are near and dear to most of our hearts.  It started when I was a kid hearing the season music, the smell of a fresh tree in the house and anticipating the Santa watch on Christmas Eve.  My Dad was very excited about the holiday and went to great lengths to make it special for all of us.  My grandmother made hot cocoa as we little kids waited anxiously and the uncles took turns guarding the door to the Christmas room increasing the excitement until everyone was present and ready.  In that spirit here’s a look back at some of my favorite December posts. Each photo is linked to the original post with recipes/tour/DIY’s.  I hope you enjoy it and hop around to some of the other blogger participants in our Look at Christmas Past.  Clicking on each photo will take you to the post.

Cherry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Cheese cake or coffee cake… hmm, that IS a question.  Why not both?  I quickly checked several recipes and decided on this one from Pinterest.  It is a Pin Win.  I like the way the three elements come together for a not too sweet but just right dessert.  I did add just a little milk to the batter because it was too dry to get into the pan successfully.  About 1/4 cup.  If I’d had more sour cream I would have done that instead.  My spring form pan is a little smaller that the one used in the original recipe making it rise a bit taller than needed.  I used a black cherry jam that was scrumptious and instead of her crumb topping I sprinkled on some slivered almonds.  Got my Starbucks coffee (using my Verismo brewer) and thinking… do I dare have a second slice?  Yes.  Head over to Bunny’s Warm Oven for her recipe.