Hooked on Beachy Tables, And a Foodie Friday for our Furry Friends!

What is that phrase?
Life is what happens when we are making other plans.

I planned on posting a Tablescape Thursday post, and a separate post Friday for Foodie and Hooked On . . . but right after I did my table setting, and I took some pictures, and sat down at the computer to begin writing . . . the phone rang.


It was the nurse from my father's assisted living place; Dad was not having a good day.

I spent all day Thursday at the hospital with him. He is probably OK,
but he's been admitted for observation. At 89, you don't take chances.

In the interest of my sanity --- I am doing one big ol' post and using it as an extremely late Tablescape (thank you Susan at Between Naps On The Porch), and an early Foodie Friday (thank you Gollum at Designs By...) and Hooked On ... (thank you Julia at Hooked On Houses).

At the end of this post are logos and links to these three terrific blog parties. Don't miss them!

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I am hooked on a lot of things -- among them dishes, dogs, and beach houses.

So we've got dishes with a beachy mood.
(But don't worry, doggies, there's a big pay-off for you at the end!)

Using Dollar Tree plates and bowls, an old tablecloth, some old restaurant ware,
and a few bits and bobs, I did a water-sand-shell-and-stone table:

The blue and aqua plates and bowls are from Dollar Tree.

The smaller plates are old Syracuse restaurant china, and were my Mom's.
She loved restaurant dishes, bought scads at yard sales.

My friend Betsy gave me these little shell patterned dishes;
they can hold a wee dinner roll and a pat of butter!

She also gave me this creamer and sugar,
bought along with the little dishes in Bethany Beach, Delaware:

The big hurricane is full of beach stones, and a big ivory candle...

and the little blue votive holders, from Dollar Tree,

are cheesy, glitzy, and fun -- one is at every place setting:

Mr. Fish is guarding the table, trying to look fierce:

My friend Mardi and I found him more than 30 years ago
at a street fair in Greenport, on Long Island, and bought him for my parents.

Be careful what you buy for your parents -- it may end up in your house someday!

The flatware is old hotel silverplate.

The big wineglasses -- another Dollar Tree find --

The napkins are old damask luncheon napkins, in a soft green.

(I know I also have them in soft blue, but they seem to have gone AWOL.)

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Now, for our doggy friends, who so patiently sit at our feet as we spend hours with our computer friends. . .
a recipe for Foodie Friday, a proven winner, and simple as can be:

Dion's Canine Cookie Treats

I don't remember where I found this original recipe, but I've modified
it over the years, and here's the version we like best:

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil (Dion prefers peanut)
2 TBS. grated cheese -- or more!
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup rolled oats

1. Lightly beat the egg, and stir it in a large bowl with the milk and oil.

2. In another bowl, combine flour and oats.

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Stir until mixture forms a stiff dough. (And it IS stiff.) Kids can mix this by hand -- nice and yucky!

4. Roll out or pat the dough between two waxed paper sheets to about 1/4 inch thickness. Do not make it any thinner. Take off the top sheet of waxed paper, and cut out shapes with cookie cutters.

5. Put the cut outs on a lightly greased metal baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. We sometimes let them bake longer, to get them really hard and crunchy.

You can find dog-biscuit shaped cutters, or make small hearts, or Santa boots for Christmas giving, or, do as Annie did on Saturday, and bring cat-shaped cookies for our hostess' dogs.

Dion approved.

Now... click here for Tablescapes galore....

... and click here for more Foodie Friday fun ...

...and to find out what everyone else is hooked on ... click here!

Thanks for visiting! I will try and get to as many of your blogs as possible, and I almost always leave a comment -- but I will be back and forth to the hospital on Friday, so please understand if I don't get to you! --- Cass