Dream Yourself A Fairytale

I would like to be a princess,

If but only for a day

Pretending life's a fairytale

Casting all my cares away

I'd like to live in a place where all I ever needed

Appeared before my very eyes,

And where every person embraces honesty,

Where there is no knowledge of betrayal; of lies.

I'd like to live in a place where everything holds beauty

Beyond all I can compare,

Where sorrow is but a gentle mist

That swiftly vanishes in the air.

Oh, can't I live in a place where there is no need for accolades-

For life is the most awesome prize,

A place where no person ever hid his feelings;

No reason for a masking disguise?

Indeed, I would love to be a princess

Or a damsel who knows not distress

No pretending life is a fairytale,

For all lives are lived with zest.

I want to live as if pain is just a thought

That left us all far, far behind,

Where love is an arrant right

No person is ever denied.

I muse a place where honor is to all

A quiet, unadorned truth-

Where character is a revered virtue

Instilled upon our youth.

Oh, to live where dreams are reality

And all to each are kind

Where suffering is bygone-

Not anyplace that I can find...

I contemplate a place where every child knows a smile

Of joy which has no self control-

I only crave this as the truth,

Facts we could all behold.

I know, you know...life cannot be all merry,

Just some glorious fable...

But still, dream yourself a fairytale.

Believe that you are able.

It would be so nice, just for a day...

To live my life with much laughter.

I will dream a fairytale anyway,

Endeavoring to live happily ever after.

~Nancy M Roberts~

Photo Danish photographer Ditte Isager for Bloomingdales

An Invitation to my other blog:

 Writing Abode

where writing is silent vocalization,

where words give life to life...

From time to time I publish one of my poems here at Nancy's Daily Dish.  My poetry, if it can be called such, is mostly derived from the more serious side of me...a part of me that I don't often reveal.  

Some of you have sent me such complimentary and kind messages and  with them, a handful of you have asked about me publishing more of my poems to this blog.  Several months ago I decided to start another blog solely for that purpose...to publish some of my poems.  That blog is called Writing Abode (I am seriously in like with the word abode!).

 So, please consider this an informal invitation to visit, or follow, me at my other blog, Writing Abode.  

I welcome you there.

Seasonal Sundays, Savvy Southern Style, Romantic Homes, 504 Main,  HodgePodge Friday, Finer Things Friday , HOH,  Creation Corner, Market Yourself Monday, Faded Charm

Prosciutto, Sausage, Spinach & Smoked Gouda Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Enter my GIVEAWAY for a dress from Shabby Apple and get a coupon code too!


Emeril Lagasse said, "food that is beautiful to look at seems to taste better than food that isn't".  I have to agree, and say that this tenderloin tastes every bit as delicious as it looks...and do you want to know what the best part about this gorgeous dish is?  The tenderloin came pre-cooked and packaged which tremendously cut down on prep and cooking time.   Actually from my vantage point, that may be the second best thing...the best thing is I didn't have to do anything but watch my hubs put this together and tie some butchers twine around the tenderloin.  Shawn did it all! I like, I like!

 This is really easy to prepare (or in my case, to watch it be prepared) and will easily fool your guests into thinking you've been cooking over a hot stove all day long!

Prosciutto, Sausage, Spinach & Smoked Gouda Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

2 1/2 lb precooked pork tenderloin

1 1/2 lbs cooked, drained & crumbled spicy pork sausage (any sausage will work)

About 6 slices Prosciutto, chopped fine

6-8 oz. Smoked Gouda cheese cut into slices

appx. 1 cup fresh spinach leaves

1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Pepper

Fresh Rosemary or Thyme for garnish (we are growing our own for the first time ever...fun!)

Cut the tenderloin open lengthwise to make a large, flat piece about 1/2" thick. 

Combine the crumbled sausage and chopped prosciutto with the parmesan cheese.  Stir to mix.

To the tenderloin, in layers, add the smoked Gouda, spinach, sausage mixture.  Sprinkle with pepper.  Roll the tenderloin up and tie with butchers twine every 2-3".

Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or until warmed through. 

Garnish with a sprig of fresh Rosemary or some Thyme leaves. 

This truly makes a beautiful presentation and tastes fantastic!  And by now you know that I think it looks most lovely served on a transfer ware plate! ;-)

I hadn't planned to post this dish originally but it was too good not to share, so I apologize for not having a full tutorial showing everything Shawn did to fab this up.

  A food supplier to the restaurant sent some Hormel samples home with Michael and Shawn.  Of those samples was a precooked Pork Tenderloin.  Wanting more than a plain, pre-fabbed slab of meat, he came up with this incredible creation.

Below are two photos from Once A Chef showing how to begin the cut and how your tenderloin should look afterwards.   

 Above & Below Photo:  onceachef.com

Ashton and I just had leftovers for dinner tonight....just as good the second time around.

Food can be so pretty...

 Don't you agree?

To give life to beauty, the painter uses a whole range of colors, musicians of sounds, the cook of tastes---and it is indeed remarkable that there are seven colors, seven musical notes and seven tastes."

~Lucien Tendret~

Enter my GIVEAWAY for a dress from Shabby Apple and get a coupon code too!

Joining:
Seasonal Sundays, Pink Saturday, Metamorphosis Monday, Savvy Southern Style, Romantic Homes, 504 Main, Funky Junk Interiors,  HodgePodge Friday, Designs by Gollum,Finer Things Friday, Simply Sweet Home , HOH,  Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Paisley Passions, Creation Corner,

Spoon Rests as Salad Plates Tablescape

I just love using things in ways they were not intended to be used...so...here I've used these cute flower spoon rests as appetizer plates.  

 These brown polychrome transfer ware plates by Wood and Sons make the perfect backdrop for the oversized spoon rests .  The pattern name is Hyde.

The napkins holders are square shaped, with a rusty bronze finish and decorated with leaves across the top.  

Galvenized buckets make cute napkin holders too

Last year, I posted a similar table using the same plates and spoon rests.  It was more of a Garden Themed setting, which you can see HERE.

I served my chicken salad from the spoon rest plates.  

Please enter my Giveaway for a dress from Shabby Apple: HERE

Joining the following parites:

 Between Naps on the Porch
 It's a Hodgepodge Life
 Savvy Southern Style, Romantic Homes, 504 Main,  Common Ground, Feathered Nest Friday,Charm of Home, Funky Junk Interiors,  No Minimalist Here

A Dress Giveaway from Shabby Apple

I was recently contacted by an online dress boutique that I simply adore..Shabby Apple, to give away a dress to one of my readers.

If you've been around blogland much lately you may be familiar with this wonderful company and the beautiful, timeless line of women's dresses they carry.

Shabby Apple offers an array of lovely, time inspired, wholesome designed dresses for women and teens as well as little girl's dresses and maternity dresses.  They also have a lovely collection of jewelry, shoes, and accessories.

Here are some of my favorite dresses from Shabby Apple...what's yours?

Penelope and Odysseus from the Golden Gate collection 

(love the dress, love the flowers, love her hair, love the photo!)

Le Neche Negra

Black, military style dress (love the shoes too!)

Freshwater Pearl

(I love white dresses and I love boots with dresses)

Atlantic Fog

(t-shirt material, ruffles, suitable for any time of year...and love the boots!)

This Side of Paradise

(love the ruffles and love the plum color)

For my readers, Shabby Apple is offering 10% off any purchase made over the next 30 days.  Just enter this code at checkout: nancysdailydish10off

To enter this giveaway, simply do any or all of the following and leave a separate comment for each:

1- Like Shabby Apple on Facebook and let me know you've done so. 

2- Visit Shabby Apple, choose your favorite dress and then come back and let me know which one it is

3- Follow my blog

4- Like me on Facebook HERE

The giveaway ends next Tuesday, June 21.

One winner will be chosen at random using a numeral generator at Random.org

Good luck! 

Pretty Ways to Store Cooking Utensils (yes, using transferware!)

I used to store my everyday cooking utensils in brown transfer ware pitchers.  Now that we've moved, I am decorating with red in the kitchen and have decided to use red transfer ware pitchers for utensil storage.  It is so convenient having our most used utensils in sight and close at hand, and it's a great way to show off a small collection.  

Isn't this rooster pitcher darling?

No, you don't absolutely have to use transferware pitchers to store your utensils.  Below, Martha Stewart uses white ironstone pitchers to house some of her cooking utensils as well as....

vintage crocks to hold other cooking utensils (I'm guessing these are two different houses or props)

Chez Larsson uses a flower pot to hold utensils

Toni, at A Bowl Full of Lemons, also stores some of her utensils in an old crock.  I love this!

If you choose to store your utensils in any kind of breakable containers I highly suggest that you stuff some old rags or napkins into the bottom of each container as this will help prevent cracking and breaking when putting your utensils in the pitchers.  It seems that when Shawn, the kids or I unload the dishwasher and put up the utensils we sort of just drop them into the pitchers.  I had a 100+ year old pitcher I'd been using and cracked it all the way through from dropping utensils into it.  Since I've used padding at the bottom of them I have not had this problem.  You can see another post HERE where I talk a little more about this and show other ways I've used transferware for storing everyday items.

Here's a photo of my utensils when they were stored in the brown pitchers.

And, here they are again in red.  As you can see, I've added a couple more pitchers to the mix.  We use lots of utensils!

Initially I tried placing them directly on the counter, like this:

...but since we are limited on space, I decided to place them all on a shallow tray as I did before so that they can be easily moved around as one unit when additional counter space is needed.

I think a collection of advertising crocks/jars would also be a fantastic way to house utensils.  How do you store yours?  What other things would make cute storage containers for your utensils?

Have a wonderful week!

Joining: Seasonal Sundays, Pink Saturday, Metamorphosis Monday, House in the Roses, Savvy Southern Style, Romantic Homes, 504 Main, A Stroll Thru Life,  Common Ground, Feathered Nest Friday, Charm of Home, Funky Junk Interiors, Faded Charm, No Minimalist Here, At The Picket Fence,  Stuff and Nonsense, House of Grace