The Kitchen Window

The Kitchen Window
Antique Milk Bottles with Herbs and Flowers

Welcome!

Welcome to the Frog Hollow Farm blog! I've been blogging since January 2010 and have switched from Blogger to Word Press, but I'm back to Blogger because, for me, it's easier to use. My husband and I live on a little farm in Northwest New Jersey. We have some chickens and a very large vegetable garden with asparagus and raspberries, and rows and rows of sunflowers, snapdragons and zinnias. Traveling, entertaining, gardening, spending time with family, studying Italian, blogging and reading keep us busy and happy. With all of this going on, moving towards a simpler life seems almost impossible but it's definitely a daily goal.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Back Porch Birthday Dinner Menu







Last night we had two dear friends over for dinner.  This is a couple that we have known for many, many years and we have so many things in common!

We love to cook...and to eat ~

We love wine and we love gardens~

and we love to travel  - we've been so many places together!  

It was SVV's birthday the other day, so this very simple dinner was a birthday dinner in her honor.  Here's the menu:

Aperitivo


Tuscan-Style Beans

Dinner

Grilled Delmonico Steaks

Steamed Frog Hollow Farm Asparagus

Frog Hollow Farm Field Greens Salad

Red Potato Salad

Dessert

Lemony Pound Cake with Macerated Fresh Strawberries


Of course I never remember to take photos of the food when I have company, or maybe it was the margaritas that made me forget - anyway I did remember to take photos of the table before our friends arrived.  The peonies are from FHFB's garden - aren't they pretty? 

You can see part of an old mirror (found in our garage!) hung on the stone wall to the right.  This mirror fills up that space and reflects the pond and woods, and helps to brighten up that corner.


I mentioned before that I was drinking margaritas - we made our simple Frog Hollow Farm Margarita recipe - it's always delicious!We also toasted SVV's birthday with a delicious Italian proseco - (SVV and I easily finished the bottle with our meal) never getting to drink any of the other wines that we had ready to drink from the Barboursville winery on our visit to Virginia in April. 

Even though it was SVV's birthday, she brought the dessert.  It was a deliciously light citrusy pound cake sprinkled with confectioners sugar that she served with macerated strawberries.  I really wish I had a photo of that cake, it was simpley perfect - I have to ask her for the recipe! 

We had a wonderful time talking about everything and anything.  It turns out that we had both been to the same nursery earlier that day and purchased the same beautiful buttery peach-colored rose bush called Easy Going



Isn't it pretty?  And it has a wonderful scent as well, not all roses do these days.  FHFB has already planted it in one of his new borders around the inside of the garden.    Last week we went to a nursery in Doylestown, PA and found a beautiful peony called Bowl of Beauty Peony



It's really a magnificent looking flower! 

I hope that you are enjoying your weekend, it's a little dark and drizzly here, the perfect day to catch up on things in the house and plant some vegetable seedlings in the garden.

Ciao, bella!



















4 comments:

  1. A great post. I really like your setting. For some reason I enjoy setting only 4 settings on a big table like that. Plenty of room for food, wine, dessert, so there's lots of visiting and not so much running back and forth to the kitchen. Everything looks so lush and green...inviting, and warm.

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  2. HI FARM GIRL,
    THOUGHT I WOULD TAKE A BREAK FROM CLEANING MY ROOM, AND GO ON MY BLOG. I DIDN'T POST ANYTHING YET, MAYBE TONIGHT.
    WHAT A LOVELY TABLE YOU SET.
    YOUR MENU SOUNDS SO DELICIOUS.
    I LOVE YOUR ROSES, AND THE PEONY PLANT IS JUST GORGEOUS, I NEVER SAW PEONIES LIKE THAT.
    WE ARE HAVING RAIN HERE TODAY, AND IT IS VERY DARK HERE TOO.
    HOPE WE HAVE SOME SUNSHINE TOMORROW. LOVE, AUNT RIZ

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  3. Hi Ann Marie,
    Your table, food and setting is just gorgeous! I love the peonies and the roses are so pretty. The sun has come out today finally so the boys have been swimming and we are gardening and cooking. I love Sundays. Your menu sounds great, we too drank margaritas over the weekend it was a crazy evening! There is something about tequila, it actually changes me into a different person it is hysterical to watch...so I have been told :).
    Well glad to hear you had such a lovely dinner with friends. Take care
    xoxo
    Bunny

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  4. We have friends that we love to travel and eat with too. It is so nice when you are so comfortable with each other.

    Thanks for stopping by during my little Texas adventure!

    Jo

    ReplyDelete

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