Check It Out!

I know I really should

be doing some sort of summer

tablescape but,

this one has been rattling around in my

imagination for too long

and it was time

to un-clutter the brain!

No tablecloth.
I wanted the wood of the 
dining table to be shown.

I found the checked placemats
at Burlington Coat Factory, on sale,
at the first of the year.

I've had the black chargers forever.
I then layered my favorite Ikea 
oversized plates, black dinner plates
from The Dollar Tree
square salad bowls
that again, I've had forever.

The black flatware is from Family Dollar.
A full set for $3.50!

The black goblets are a recent score 
from The Dollar Tree too.

The checked napkins were a thrift store find.
4 for $1.00!
The napkin rings were a clearance score
at Home Goods at $3.50 for all four.

For the centerpiece
I used some glass tiles
left by the previous homeowner.
Next came 3 clear vases from Ikea
filled with Christmas fluff from my stash
and black mums from Michael's.

I wrapped some white ribbon around each
vase followed by thin black ribbon.
 I purchased the candlesticks
at Goodwill for $1.00 each
several years ago.
Spray painted black
with white candles,
they are perfect for this table!

 Whew! 
Now that this table is
finally done,
I think I may have
some room available in my old noggin now
to put together a summer table...
before it's no longer summer!

I always share my tablescapes with 

Kathleen at Let's Dish at Cuisine Kathleen 

Susan at Between Naps On The Porch Tablescape Thursday

and 

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life Table Top Tuesday

Click here to see where else I may be partying this week.
AND
Don't forget to come by on Tuesday's
for my link party.

 

You're Gonna Love It - Week 14

First, I want to thank you all for your

prayers for my city and state.

Although we weren't directly affected by the horrible

shootings, it still made us very sad and angry.

As I told some of you,

your prayers will surely

help us all to heal.

 

Unbelievably  July is almost over!

August will be pretty exciting around here.

First, my youngest son and his beautiful

girlfriend will be delivering my handsome

new grandson in August!!!

 (aren't they so cute!?)

 You can be sure, I will be sharing 

many pictures of Joshua!

Next, I will be getting a big

makeover here at the ole blog.

With my one year blogiversary in August

I decided things around here
needed some freshening up.
I plan for the new look to go live
starting on August 1st
and so things could be
a bit wonky here for a few days.

Be sure to keep an eye out for her new 'do!

And finally, as I stated,

my one year blogiversary is August 24th

and I am in the process of setting

up a big giveaway to celebrate!

I'm thinking of making it a week long event,

cuz, well, you know I like to party!

 And, speaking of which,

what say we get this weeks party started?!

The most viewed post last week

was a newcomer to the party and to blogging too by the looks of it!

Welcome Veronica and Daniel

from 

Adventures of D and V

(speaking of cute couples!)

and their post showing

A Better Way To Cut Watermelon

Grab an "I've Been Featured button", you cutie patooties -->

Now I want everyone,

to put on your party hats

and grab your red solo cups

cuz the 

You're Gonna Love It Party - Week 14

starts right NOW!

  Feel free to link up anything you created, baked, mashed,

 decorated, wrote, photographed, discovered etc.!
Anything you are just so proud of
you must share it with others!

As always, I don't require that you
be a follower
in order to link up.
 I want you to follow
Kathe With An E
because you want to.
Not because it is required.

Ohh and you can now follow me

on Facebook (Kathe With An E) 

and Twitter (@kathewithane123) too!

(Of course if you do decide to follow,
either with GFC or the newer Linky Followers,
you will be able to see on your dashboard

  exactly when the party starts each week
and, let's be honest,
you will make me smile and
I love to smile!)

As always,  I will ask that you think
about disabling your word verification too.
It makes it difficult to leave a

comment and some

bloggers, when they see 

you have it, won't bother to leave a comment.

Don't know if your blog requires word verification 

or how to remove  it?

 My blog buddy Shannon over at

Fox Hollow Cottage

wrote this great post on

how to remove word verification from your blog

And I have a new one!

I get so many

lovely comments from you all

that I can't reply to because

you are a no-reply comment blogger!

That makes me sad because, no matter

how busy life gets, I ALWAYS reply

to every single comment you leave. 

 

I would also love it if you would link back
in some way
so that others come and party with us. 

 Either grab the party button
or add my blog link
to your post or on your

 blog party page.
But again, it's not required. 

Only one real rule:

  I do ask that you
please DO NOT link up

  Giveaways, anything for sale,or Etsy shops.
Save those for the party on the first Tuesday each month.

Link to your specific post URL, not your main blog URL.
And don't forget to come back and mingle

with the other linkers!
Let them know you met them at
the party here.
That's it!

Link up buttercups!

This week’s party is sponsored by:

Did you know that you can earn money blogging

about brands you love?

Click on the image above to learn, and earn, more

Coconut-Maple-Bacon Cupcakes

You may remember a few weeks ago

I shared in this post how I fell in love in LOVE
with the maple bacon cupcake!
I decided to do my spin on it for the challenge.

Here are my ingredients

You know I'm all about semi-homemade!

I started by taking about a half cup 
of sweetened coconut and spreading it on a small baking sheet.

 I place it under the broiler for about 2 minutes.
I am here to help so, 
don't go off to throw a load of 
laundry into the dryer while this is cooking.
It toasts up 
QUICK, seriously QUICK!

 Here is the second batch of coconut all nice and toastedy.

Next, I prepared the cake batter per the instructions on the 
back of the box using just egg whites.
I added one and a half teaspoon of maple flavoring to the batter.

I then coarsely chopped up 5 slices of cooked bacon.
You can, and I should have, use more if you'd like.
Add to the batter making sure it is all nicely distributed.

For the first batch I filled the cupcake cups
and then put some of the toasted coconut on top.

For the second batch I just put it right in the batter.
I liked them much better with the coconut in the batter.

I had preheated the oven to 350.
After placing the cupcakes in the oven, I dropped 
the temperature down to 325 and baked for 20 minutes.
They came out perfect!

For the frosting I followed this recipe from Karlynn from
The Kitchen Magpie
My favorite icing is buttercream and when she says
hers is the best, I just gotta agree!
Sure, I could have gone with a tub of frosting but,
I don't like the artificial taste of tubbed frosting 
so, I went for homemade!

 Now, you real bakers out there may already know of this 
little magic bottle of sweetness but, it was new to me!
The Denver Cupcake Truck uses it on their cupcakes
and it makes a cupcake a CUPCAKE!
Plus, they are sparkly and I like sparkly things.

I frosted, added the shimmer gems and more of the toasted coconut
and topped them with a sliver of bacon.

How cute do they look on one of my candlewick dessert plates
placed on one of the candlesticks I scored on my big thrifting day?

So, how do they taste?
Let's just say that,
I no longer have to hunt down
the Denver Cupcake Truck!
Or, pay big bucks for a fancy cupcake!

Mr. B thought they were BETTER
than the Cupcake Truck!!
So, even if I don't win the challenge,
I scored big points at home!
He said that the addition of the coconut took them 
right over the top!

So, there you have it, my gourmet, semi-homemade
Coconut, Maple Bacon Cupcakes.

I hope you give them a try yourself cuz I know,
You're Gonna Love It!

   Click here to see where else I may be partying this week.

And don't forget to come by on Tuesday's
for the link party.