Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin

I asked for this wonderful recipe from our friends, David and Beth in 2010 after attending a dinner party they hosted. We just love this recipe and it's a hit each time I serve it. 

Jamaican Pork Tenderloin was the main course I served at our Women's Only Dinner Party and it's also great for a romantic dinner or holidays like Valentine's Day or other occasions.

The recipe was created by Lori Welander and won the first place prize in McCormick's 2002 Cook-Off Contest.

Fall Leaf Place Cards

Fall or Thanksgiving Place Cards made with leaves.

I use the few days leading up to Thanksgiving to pre-bake desserts, dry the bread crumbs for stuffing, set the table and multiple other tasks to cut down on the work load on Thanksgiving Day.  

One of the things I made ahead is place cards.  I started using place cards a few years ago more for fun than actual assigned seating.

Along with these leaf place cards another of my favorites for fall is my Scrapbooking Place Cards.

These leaf place cards take only a few supplies are easy-peay to make and look beautiful on the table.

Supplies Needed:

Italian Meatballs

Delicious Homemade Meatballs

When you need to serve dinner to a crowd, spaghetti and meatballs is one of the easiest dishes that come to mind.  Why?  Because except for cooking the pasta, it’s a meal that can be made ahead or whipped up on short notice.

Add a tossed salad, bottle of wine and garlic bread and you have an Italian Dinner Party!

I have been making homemade meatballs for some time, well since discovering that commercially made are either bland or have a “frozen” taste, are really small and usually full of preservatives.    I wanted a hearty, tender, flavorful more natural meatball!
I have tried many recipes, all making the “typical” meatball and have also been experimenting by adding different spices, using bread crumb or crackers, with milk and without. 

Good Old Fashion Dinner Party

A Women's Only Formal Dinner Party
Women are unique, special, intelligent and gifted.
But a lot of the time, all our time is taken up with work, kids, husbands, partners, housework and lots of stress, leaving very little time to ourselves.

My daughter Alexis, my son’s girlfriend Jennica and I decided to host a girls only night.
Another friend we consulted, Heidi, suggested we make it a formal dinner party and all of us dress up.
What a great idea that turned out to be! We had such a fun time admiring each other’s outfits and the SHOES! Each lady had on just a fantastic pair of heels, all to die for!
Jennica put together a playlist for background music which included lots of love and romance songs (of course) and also songs about woman empowerment.

Jennica, Alexis and I spent an evening shopping for a new tablecloth, something feminine and with a summer feel, and kicked around ideas for the menu.

Watermelon Margaritas

Planning a Girls Only Dinner Party

I'm planning a girls only Dinner Party and I need to come up with a couple cocktails that women might love.
Today, while searching websites, I came across a Watermelon Margarita recipe!
Sounds so "summer" and delicious, (That blog that has since gone to blog heaven).

I changed the recipe a bit and came up with my own version:

Woman Sisterhood

Wow, it's been a busy summer!  I have been so busy with the yard, garden, chickens, and family that haven't had much time to be online.

I'm in the middle of planning a girls only dinner party and came across this quote I really like:

"What liberation of women has given us all, is not forcing us down a particular road.
Instead, it has given us a choice. We have a choice to have our families and run them as we want.
We may marry, we may not. We may have children, we may not. 
We may work, we may not.
But never, ever should what each of us do be devalued and denigrated in the eyes of others – especially by us women.
We are a powerful, purposeful sisterhood, and – differences or not – long may we all remember it."

~ Marilyn Stowe Blog

Italian Dinner Party

My son and his girlfriend Jennica

Italian (Birthday) Dinner Party In Our Barn
My son’s girlfriend Jennica’s birthday was coming up in June, so she asked me if we could have a party in our barn. We hashed over a few ideas, and came up with an Italian Dinner Party theme.

We searched the web for ideas, decorations and food because although I have had people over for dinner, and hosted larger Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, I have not had a semi-formal dinner party in a barn!
Jennica and I decided to keep it simple: Appetizers, wine, salad, garlic bread, the main dish and desserts.

Please keep in mind this party can also be in your backyard under a shade tree, on the patio or even indoors!
Jennica started out with an invitation list of 16, enlarged it to 20 and ended up with 18 guests for dinner.