shopping, chopping, basting, baking-it’s that time of year!

 

It’s prep time at our home. 

Busy shopping and chopping;

basting and baking and on and on it goes.

  

Just in case you can’t read this it’s worth repeating.

“May we eat bread with JOY and drink wine with a MERRY Heart.

Ecclesiastes 9:7

Sharing with Tabletop Tuesday at my dear friend, Marty’s place.

picnic before summer's lease is done!

They say that Shakespeare once said,

"Summer's lease hath all too short a date."

Oh how true! With the site of those yellow school buses on the streets and August more than half way through, we are reminded how short summer really is. So realizing that, I opted for a little picnic outside. Let's put the basket here on the bench by the fountain while we find a good spot to spread out.
I packed my mother's vintage yellow checked tablecloth, just some white plastic plates, a cheese spreader, wine glasses, fruit, and cheese into a picnic basket. I have to tell you, I picked the basket up at a garage sale for $3. Can you believe that? Love it when that happens. :)
Oh, but let's don't forget the wine! I have to confess there's another reason I wanted a picnic. I just had to try out this new ChillinJoy wine cooler that I won! That's right! I won this sweet cooler from The Blushing Hostess! I'm finding this is just great for outdoor activities.

It has two handy side pockets. I used one for my wine stopper and the other for my corker.

And it keeps your wine cold with cooling packets that can be removed and froze in your freezer till ready for use. The top zips over your wine bottle and keeps it snug till you're ready for it. To learn more, you can click here.

Here's to Catherine at the Blushing Hostess! I'm sure I'll be using it often.

And here's to Susan at A Southern DayDreamer and Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting these lovely parties!!

Outside Entertaining 101

How to entertain on the porch...without a lot of effort...


Gather flowers from your yard or buy them at the nearest market.

(I'll bet you thought I was going to give you a recipe for the crab cheese ball - nope - I picked it up at the grocers)


Buy a cheese ball from your local deli and put it on a pretty plate.

Stuff a glass with lettuce.

Drape a few shrimp around the rim.

Top the lettuce with a few spoonfuls of cocktail sauce (store-bought, of course).

Add some wine and candles.




Enjoy yourself! And so will your guests!

BTW, If you haven't seen the rest of the pergola, you can click here.

And now continue to enjoy yourself at Susan's Tablescape Thursday...

CORKS

Just hate to throw away wine corks. Crazy, huh? Anyway, I keep them in this glass pedestal dish. I like the patina and the texture they give my kitchen. And they all bear various names and emblems.



You can do all kinds of things with wine corks like make bulletin boards and trivets or slit the edge and use for place cards like this.

I'll bet you can tell us all kind of crafty ways to reuse them. Please do in your comments below and then tell us all about your collections at http://thecharmhouse.blogspot.com/.