Vintage Table Setting

Vintage quilt for a tablecloth

I'm not too fancy at my house but I love vintage and one of a kind decor. My aunt recently visited with a great idea for a unique setting for the dining room table, use a quilt instead of a tablecloth. I loved it!! For the holidays I am using a vintage quilt from Mom. Even though we are a family of "spillers" (every meal someone spills something) I figure everything can be washed. But if you do get nervous about spilling, etc., you may not want to use the vintage quilt, maybe something less sentimental, like from the store. Mom gave me a set of her white china so I am using that, then of course I always use the ball jars for drinking glasses because I like to mix the fancy with the not-so-fancy. I always use cloth napkins so the girls folded them in the shape of a rosette. This is really simple. Start with a square cloth napkin and lay it flat so it looks like a diamond shape. Take the point at the bottom of the napkin and bring it to the point at the top of the napkin. Now you will have a triangle with the folded end closest to you. Start rolling the folded (bottom) edge to the top. It'll look like a round tube. Begin rolling the left side toward the right side until you have a pinwheel looking circle. When you get to the end, tuck it under and place your beautiful rosette in your cup. I used different colored napkins because I like variety!

Fold cloth napkin into a rosette

Have a Merry Christmas and wonderful Holiday season!
Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Grandma's Bread Pudding and Caramel Sauce

I was trying to think of something for dessert last night and homemade bread pudding was my choice. Our Dad was not a dessert lover but bread pudding was one of his favorites. Our grandma made the best bread pudding, hope you like it! Ingredients : 5 cups slightly dried out bread, any kind. I used Italian bread. 1/4 cup raisins (optional) 2 cups milk 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 T vanilla 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon Caramel Sauce Ingredients 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 tsp vanilla Directions : Cut the bread in cubes. I cut some of the crust off (on about half of the bread). Place bread into a greased casserole dish or an 11x9 inch pan. Add raisins. Microwave milk and butter about 4 minutes on 60% power or heat in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. Slowly add the mixture to the egg and milk an...

Grilled Orange Roughy

My favorite food choices are often related to family memories, so I wanted to share one of our favorite grilled fish recipes. Our Dad used to take us fishing and we grew up eating the fish we caught ourselves. Then came the time when we had to start buying fish, I searched for types of fish that didn't taste too "fishy". It's hard to accomplish that in the Midwest, we don't always have many choices. We were introduced to orange roughy during a trip to San Diego where my great-uncle treated us to some of the most wonderful seafood we had ever eaten at an establishment called Anthony's. It was the first time we had eaten orange roughy and it was white, flaky and not too fishy tasting. After a few experiments, this is my favorite method to prepare it at home. Serves 4 or 2 with leftovers! Ingredients: 4 orange roughy fillets 1/4 c fresh cilantro, I use a small handful * if you are not a cilantro fan use fresh dill, about 1/4 c chopped 2 tsp garlic powder o...

Homemade Goulash

Last weekend I made meals for the freezer. It takes a few hours but this will save you time during the week (in case you have nights like I do when you don't feel like cooking) and your family will love it! I adapted this recipe from Paula Deen (it's called Bobby's Goulash). I used organic ingredients but use the products of your choice. I would have liked to use fresh tomatoes from the garden but my tomatoes weren't quite ready. You can also make it gluten-free by using gluten-free elbow macaroni. It's so tasty - my family loved it! Ingredients : 1 pound ground turkey 1 pound lean ground beef 1 -2 small onions, diced ( I used red onions) 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice 3 cups water 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 T Italian seasoning 3 bay leaves 3 T soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce 1 T seasoning salt course ground pepper to taste 2 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked) Putting it together: Brown meat and onions in a lar...

Natural Homemade Living

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