I Heart The USA - Happy July 4, 2013

 

Happy July 4th to everyone! Have a safe and happy holiday.

 

Lots of traditional American foods are associated with this holiday - 

anything on the BBQ or grill or from your picnic basket - hot dogs,

burgers, great salads, pie and ice cream.

 

For me, I always want to find a big bowl of German Potato Salad!

Nothing better to go with all the other great food served on big long

brightly colored tables. The recipe I use is at the end of this post!

 

A Close To Authentic German Potato Salad
Cover the potatoes with water, bring to boil and cook for approx 10 min,
only until easily pierced with a fork.  Drain and gently rinse in cold water, set aside.
Fry bacon until brown and crisp, remove from pan and set aside.
Add onion to bacon grease, saute until until browned.  Ad vinegar, water, sugar,
celery seed, salt and pepper.  Bring to gentle boil, add potatoes and parsley.  Crumble
in 1/2 the bacon, heat through and place in serving dish.  Crumble remaining bacon over
the top and garnish with parsley sprigs.  Serve warm. Makes 4 generous servings and 
can easily be doubled or tripled for a crowd.

3 C diced potatoes (I like small red potatoes)

6 slices bacon

1 sm onion diced

1/2 c white vinegar

4 T water

1 T sugar

1 t celery seed

1 t salt

1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

1 T chopped fresh parsley

Other Red White and Blue Tablescapes found here on The Little Round Table

work nicely for July 4th also!

Inaugural Tablescape

Presidents' Day Tablescape

Red Stripes For 8

Originally posted in December 2009

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Merry Christmas to all and to all a great meal with family and friends.
This is one of two tables for our Christmas Day dinner , the other one appeared on

Wednesday December 23rd here on The Little Round Table entitled
"Fiesta Holly and Ribbons."

New Red Stripe Fiesta dinner plates exclusive to the Homer Laughlin

China Collectors Association and available on their website www.hlcca.org . This recently released Red Stripe has also been seen in the header here on The Little Round Table for the month of December.  Another post with additional images of Red Stripes can be seen on

an earlier post : Wow - Retro Red Stripe Fiesta!  Vintage Vera napkins, flatware from Macy's,

Ivory spiral candle holders are vintage Metlox, crystal is Vera Wang "Infinity."

The tablecloth is "Baroque Poinsettia" from Home Goods that I purchased several years ago in an "extra-wide" size to fit this antique pine drop leaf table made from 200 year old planks. At 70" wide it still barely covers the width of the table.

Vintage Ivory Fiesta chop plate topped with the vintage ivory footed salad

bowl decorated with the Red Stripe decoration.

Vintage Homer Laughlin hand painted milk pitcher and a vintage

Saint Nicholas plate from "The Angelus" line along side a vintage

individual salad bowl with the Red Stripe decoration.

Vintage Fiesta ring-handled "Tom and Jerry" mugs that have a matching ivory

footed salad bowl, also marked "Tom and Jerry", which serves as a punch bowl for this set.

Vintage Ice Lip Pitcher on a vintage Red Stripe luncheon plate.

Vintage Red Stripe cream soup bowl.

Vintage Ivory sweets comport (aka compote).  Check out the pertpetual perfect piece of chocolate confection, which was a gift from a special dish friend who shared her Hanukkah celebration with us here on The Little Round  Table.

Vintage Ivory comport (aka compote) and a vintage Ivory cake lifter from the Oven Serve line.

Vintage Ivory carafe on a vintage Red Stripe luncheon plate.

Vintage Ivory covered casserole with a vintage Red Stripe chop plate.
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No food as yet, but I promise pictures of food tomorrow.
The Menu
Appetizers & Champagne
Several dips with chips, crackers, bread rounds Brie with Fig jam baked in puff pastry, my daughter's new find from Thanksgiving that was such a hit!
Roast Turkey
Giblet Gravy
Herb Stuffing (out of the bird)
Mashed Potatoes (both garlic and plain)
And this year for the first time the family is doing the rest!
Some surprises to come I'm sure, but so far I know there will be:
Sweet potatoes
Green Salad
Fruit Salad
Rolls
And insert a kids' menu here that includes Tube Steaks (read that as hot dogs!)
and French Fries.  A couple of the grandkids begged for this menu a couple of years ago and now it is a tradition!  Grandma indulges them and they do EAT instead of pushing the real food around their plates.

Pumpkin Pies from one of the boys!
Candy's Cheesecake - always requested
Ice Cream Sundaes and Cupcakes for the kids

Have the Merriest Christmas, kiss under the mistletoe and hug your family!

Christmas Geese by Vera

This vintage tablecloth seems out of character for Vera's tablecloths, but it is indeed a Vera with the typical Christmas geese so popular in the '80s.  I've never made a Christmas goose, perhaps this is the year to give it a try!

Hunter green chargers, White Post 86 Fiesta dinner plates, Scarlet Fiesta salad plates.  Candy cane glassware is from Pfaltzgraff, flatware from Home Goods, salt and pepper and peppermint bowl from Pier 1.  The cake stand is Fitz and Floyd, napkins from Tuesday Morning.

How To Cook My Goose - A Recipe For Disaster In The Making

After doing some research on the roasting of a goose, I think I will wait for a less visible dinner party to make my first goose.  It would take 4 geese to feed our Christmas dinner crowd! Apparently the bigger the goose the less likely you will end up with a tender result.  Small 8-12 pound geese are the recommended size to roast. So I will have to wait to "cook my goose" ....have you ever wondered where that expression came from? I will admit that at this early hour of the morning I can just about taste the wonderful dark full flavored goose that is in my future.  And apple plus plum stuffing or sausage stuffing ..... sounds like heaven! There is a goose in my future, just not for Christmas dinner this year.  Have a merry old time whatever you serve up on your table.

Pomegranate Season

With all the upheaval at our house the past few months, some things have slipped through the cracks ... like feeding the Pomegranates.  Some things just fell to the bottom of the priority list.  Even though the fruit is smaller this year and the husks are lighter in color, the good news is the flavor is excellent and they are loaded with juice! Scroll to the end of today's post to check out one of

my favorite salads.

I pulled out my vintage California Hand Prints "Pomegranate" tablecloth and set a tribute to this aspect of the Fall harvest here in California. The green Depression Glass is vintage too, while all other elements are contemporary.

I love this salad and look how great it looks in a black Fiesta flat soup bowl.

Pomegranate Salad

1 (10 ounce) bag baby spinach leaves, rinsed and drained (or your favorite greens)

1/4 cup red onion, sliced very thin

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1/2 cup crumbled feta

1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts (optional)

1 pomegranate, peeled and seeds separated

4 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette (I add Pomegranate juice)

A couple of videos to help you seed your Pomegranates:

Seeding a pomegranate #1

Seeding a pomegranate #2

I'm joining:

Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps On The Porch

Open House at No Minimalist Here