Tablescape Thursday and Foodie Friday

Today I am joining two of my favorite hostesses for a double post. Susan at Between Naps on the Porch has invited us to share our table scapes on Thursday and Michael at Designs by Gollum is the Foodie Friday Queen. I'm so glad these two host on back to back days. They just go together...like summer and lemonade, like summer and watermelon.

We've gotten a break here this week. After over a week of temperatures with heat indexes of over 105, we've gotten a little cooler weather--high of a "cool" 92, but much less humidity and that's what makes the difference. It's perfect for a late afternoon snack at our little bistro table on the deck! What's better than watermelon and lemonade?

I recently saw a Target ad featuring cute little blue bandana melamine plates. Melamine is technical talk for plastic! They used a beach towel in the same collection as the table cloth! I can do this! Plates at $1.49 each and the beach towel on sale for $5.99. Of course, everything goes with the Big Lots white dinner plates! Remember I told you about my napkin secret? These yellow bandanas are $.99 at Hobby Lobby!

These are so cute and priced just right. I know I will find lots of uses for them. They might even go tailgating this fall.

I'm using a small galvanized bucket left over from the gift buckets we made for the out of town wedding guests--once again from Target on the $1 aisle. I filled the bucket with two bunches of alstromoeria from Kroger. I got these for $1.69 each--the Manager's Special. I love these flowers. They seem to last forever. Does anyone out there grow them? I think I would like to try my hand at these.

I like lemonade-almost any kind. But there is something special about lemonade made from scratch with fresh mint from your own garden. Here is my favorite homemade lemonade recipe. You will need: thinly pared zest and freshly squeezed juice of 6 lemons, 1 cup of sugar, and chilled sparkling mineral water or club soda. I like to zap my lemons in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds to get a lot more juice. Put the lemon zest, sugar, and 2 1/2 cups of water (the regular kind :) in a non-aluminum saucepan and bring slowly to a simmer, stirring to disssolve the sugar. As soon as the sugar is dissolved, and the syrup begins to boil, remove the pan from the heat. Partially cover the pan and leave it until it is cold. Squeeze the lemons and add the juice to the cold syrup. Strain into a bowl or jug, cover, and chill. To serve, dilute with chilled sparking mineral water or club soda at a ration of about 1 part syrup to 1 part water. Add lots of ice cubes and fresh mint. Rumor has it that this makes a fine "adult beverage" with a splash of vodka! This serves about 6-8.

I hope you'll visit Susan and everyone else at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ and click on the Foodie Friday button on the sidebar sometime Friday morning to visit Designs by Gollum for a food fest!

One more thing--If you haven't clicked on Susan's Best Eye Candy Blog Nominee button, hurry on over and show her the love :)! I hope you all have a safe and happy 4th of July with friends and family!