With Thanksgiving coming  up, there will be lots of family, friends, and food.  From elaborate to simple, you can create a pretty table to enjoy it aound!

Oranges with clove initials for placeholders are pretty and smell wonderful!

Cream colored pumpkins with cute placecards attached are easy to do and a nod to the traditional.

For centerpieces, something as simple and easy as candlelight is made a little more special with the addition of some dried citrus slices glued to the bases of the candles.

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The ABCD Design 2nd Blog-i-versary is celebration is coming to an end. So are your chances to win a Hip Hostess apron with a set of matching tea towels! Pop by ABCD Design and leave a comment before midnight Wednesday. Good luck!

Over last weekend we celebrated Mr. D’s birthday. Last year, I ordered him the Coconut Cake from the Peninsula Grill in Charleston. Talk about a delectable cake!

This year, I wasn’t feeling the hefty price tag that goes along with the Coconut Cake but felt that I really had to “knock it out of the ballpark” if I was going to live up to his birthday cake memories from when we celebrated 34. I dug far back into my childhood memories banks - I remember my mom making this cake when I was a kid but it doesn’t seem to be written down anywhere! - and recreated a recipe from what I remembered. Three words for you = A.HUGE.HIT

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My husband is turning 30 in December and as the party-loving wife, it sounds like the perfect occasion to host one heck of a surprise party. As the husband is a huge sports fan (baseball and football in particular) and an avid coach (both baseball and football…go figure), I’ve decided that a stadium-themed tailgate-style party is definitely in order. Luckily for me, all of his teams (the Atlanta Braves, the Buffalo Bills and the teams he coaches at school) all share the same colors of red, white and blue so that gives me a pretty good place to start when it comes to gathering inspiration.

{Cracker Jack photo from Passionate Eater}

{Martha Stewart does it again - I love these!}

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With berry season coming to an end, you may have a few last pints of fresh berries that you’re wanting to incorporate into a sweet treat for the weekend. I fell in love with these images from Martha Stewart. Each name below will lead you directly to the recipe on the Martha Stewart website. I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing, labor-free, Labor Day weekend!

American Flag Tart, Summer Shortcake, Berry Pound Cake, Red-White and Blueberries, Star Spangled Shortcake, Red-White and Blue Parfaits

Fair warning - there is just about nothing healthy when it comes to this recipe. But, honestly, this was too good not to share. I actually made this last fall, so while it may seem a bit premature to be planning for apple season, keep this one in your back pocket for when the cooler weather descends upon us. Here in Upstate New York, I’ve already noticed just the slightest hint of orange kissing the edges of leaves on a few trees so fall will likely be here before we know it…

At any rate, last fall M and I were excited to host our first set of out of town visitors, having just recently moved in together after battling the woes of a long distance relationship for more than a year. His brother and sister in-law (AKA our Best Man and Matron of Honor at our recent wedding) and two of our groomsmen came to visit us and check out our new abode for a little Halloween gathering, minus the costumes and candy, but with the addition of great fall foods and timeless Halloween flicks. I mean, The Simpsons are totally timeless, are they not? So I had a whole bunch of apples still lying around from our fun apple-picking adventure a couple of weeks prior, which I had picked with the sole purpose of baking a pie. With visitors on the way I went on a hunt through my recipe box for my tried and true recipe…..only then to discover it was MIA.

So what’s a girl to do when her favorite recipe has somehow stolen out of the recipe box in the middle of the night and lost itself never to be found again? Especially when this girl is very picky about recipes and can spend literally hours reading reviews of recipes online before committing once her mind is set on a specific dish she’d like to prepare? Why I did what any self-respecting girl would do and I cut the crap and called up my girl Martha. Unfortunately, Martha had a prior dinner engagement and couldn’t take my call so I did the next best thing and headed to her website, found what I quickly deemed to be the best classic apple pie recipe and, in the words of Tim Gunn, I made it work. Oh boy, and work it did. Even my mother, who also joined us for the shindig, was raving and my mother is more than a little bit confident about her own pies…and, frankly, she’s not lying. The woman can bake up one hell of a pie.

Yes. Martha calls for tiny pads of butter atop the filling before closing the pie. I told you. No good will come from this recipe aside from your taste buds crying with happiness and gratitude.

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Several inquiring minds have asked about my favorite items received off our registry and, while this may seem like a post more suited for the EAD Weddings, I decided to run with it over here in hopes that ya’ll like sneak-peeks into other folks’ homes just as much as I do!

Warning: I’m skipping over the items that I would guess 95% of American brides register for - we all know we love our colorful Kitchenaid mixers and our china pattern (if we went that route), and I would bet that most couples get great use out of their Calphalon / Le Creuset / All-Clad, etc.  So I’ll be concentrating on items that (a) surprised me with their usefulness and/or quality, or (b) are a bit out of the ordinary.

First up… a Good Quality Wood Cutting Board

We have the Artisan Cutting Board from Williams-Sonoma and I freakin’ love this thing!  Its big enough for a decent work station yet unobtrusive enough to leave out on the counter all the time.  Its light, making transfers to pots on the stove a snap.  And its good looks enable it to work double-duty as a serving platter (great for a cheese display).  Synthetic cutting boards definitely have their place in my kitchen, but I use this one every day and never put it away.

Basic White Dinnerware

If you know me, this one probably comes as a shocker because I love color!  I have candy-apple-red appliances, citrus-colored Le Creuset pieces, and the only thing in the “whites” laundry pile at our house are Evs’ undershirts and my athletic socks.  Even the china on our registry features a bright turquoise pattern.  But for some strange reason, my practical side took over when it came to everyday dinnerware (we chose Pottery Barn’s Great White Coupe collection).  I had half-convinced myself that we would end up taking all of it back in exchange for something more vibrant like Fiestaware (which I still adore), but food just looks so nice and clean and pretty atop the blank canvas of white dishes.  Plus, I love mixing these dishes with my collection of funky table linens and appetizer plates.

California Poppy Collection at World Market

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Watching a movie & Picnicking at Hollywood Forever Cemetery {From Author’s Personal Collection}

Memorial Day Weekend is upon us. Aside from a time for us to remember those who have died for our country, it is the unofficial start of summer in many locales. Summer for us means opportunities to dine alfresco. We picnic in the park, attend outdoor concerts, go camping, etc, etc. If there’s an opportunity to eat outdoors, we take it.

Rob and I picnicking at the Hollywood Bowl {From Author’s Personal Collection}

Rob prepares a spread {From Author’s Personal Collection}

When we dine alfresco, there are two things you can count on. The first is that it that we always have company. If we are going “out to eat”, we invite everyone we know. The other thing is that we always have a spread. No dry sandwiches here. Rob, the catering chef, feels compelled to offer a tantalizing array of food.

An example of Rob’s picnic spread {From Author’s Personal Collection}

With all this outdoor dining, we’re starting to find that using random plastic containers and throwing them in a bag is no longer working for us. Cheap containers leak and the food doesn’t arrive in the best condition. I’ve been searching for items to enhance our dining experience.  I’ve found some interesting items that I wanted to share.

Baskets

For the minimalist, there’s this basket.

{from Crate & Barrel}

Here’s a basket that is stylish and useful. This basket that has been showing up on blogs since last Spring.

{From the Container Store}

For those who want to escape to the outdoors during their lunch break, there’s this Metro Uno Picnic basket.

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How freaking cute is this party pack from Etsy seller Jack+Izzy?

Laura Hooper has just unveiled an adorable line of invitations - I’m not sure what she’s calling them but I call them the “cute girl collection”.  I just love the drawing on these invites (it looks a lot like the illustrations on the new EAD)!

*Image courtesy of Laura Hooper Calligraphy

So if you’re looking for special occasion cards you know where to go!

E.