Two Winter Tablescapes

February 21, 2022

Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

Just a reminder, I will be posting on Wednesdays and Sundays every week so be sure to check back on those days to see a new post......

It is still February and even though most Bloggers are doing Spring posts, Spring is no where in sight here in NEPA....

So I decided to put together 2 Winter Tablescapes for today's post....

In my last post, I shared what had been going on in my life along with some crafting that I have been doing.....

Click HERE if you missed that post!!

And now for a few Personal Notes...

I have been told that some of you enjoy seeing the food that we eat during the week, whether I cook it or we do Take Home...

These were the dinners that we got from the WB Scranton Penguins Reheat and Eat Meal Service....

I mentioned that I was surprised that Joe was going to try the pork shoulder....

He ate half of it on Wednesday....

Yep!

That was all he ate in addition to what he had for breakfast and lunch which was this!!!!

I am sure he ate more Reese's cups throughout the day as he keeps a supply of them in a jar in the fridge at all times.....

Healthy, huh????

Well, he did eat it and said it was "okay", meaning that he will not be getting that again....

Now, I tasted it and it was good but we are not pork eaters and never have been but I am sure that those that like pork, would love this dish.....

This was the Chicken and Shrimp Alfredo with peppers and seasoned with cajun spices that Joey and I got...

I removed all the shrimp and peppers from Joey's as he does not like them and added some of my chicken to his....

I added the shrimp and peppers to mine and it was very good.....

The cajun seasoning was on the chicken and shrimp so it was not overwhelming and added a nice taste to the dish....

We will get this Alfredo dish again....

Joe's Boss, Chef Steve, was a guest on the local TV show PA Live this week where he spoke about the Reheat and East Dinners....

Click HERE to see the show's segments featuring Chef Steve and Tux, the WB Scranton Pens mascot!!!!

On Thursday evening, Joe ate the other half of his dinner before he went to work as he works evenings Monday through Thursday now, I was looking for something to make for Joey and I.....

Baked Chicken Spaghetti...

I wanted something quick and easy and to use up some pieces of thinly sliced chicken breasts from Sam's Club and a half a jar of Ragu sauce...

Found tons of recipes online so I decided to substitute the heavy cream or cream cheese or shredded cheeses that they all called for with a can of Campbell's cheddar soup...

Cooked up the chicken after cutting in small cubes, added the cheddar soup and the Ragu sauce making a nice creamy sauce...

Added seasonings and tossed with cooked spaghetti....

Put a layer of spaghetti and then used half a bag of mozzarella cheese....

Added the top layer of spaghetti and topped with the rest of the bag of mozzarella cheese and sprinkled with parm cheese...

Baked , covered for 20 minutes, at 375 degrees...

I forgot to take a picture when I first took it out of the oven but it was really good...

Joey and I enjoyed it....

Joe would never touch this with a ten foot pole so glad he was at work!!

LOL!!

Friday is the evening that Joey treats us to Take Home since I feed him dinner every day....

He also has us hooked up to multiple streaming services which he pays for ....

This Friday was Mission BBQ which is 5 minutes from our house!!

Joe likes his pork in this form on a sandwich!!!

He got the pulled pork with a cheesy baked potato!!!!

Joey and I almost keeled over that Joe tried this potato and did not get fries but it was actually very tasty and I will definitely order it again as will Joe and Joey!!!

I got the pulled chicken sandwich.....

And Joey got the sliced turkey sandwich....

I gave Joey 3/4's of my fries as we also got the vat of mac and cheese!!

These are just 2 of the 8 containers of sauce that they gave us!!

They are very generous with the meat portions that they give you and everything is so good!!!

On Saturday, Joe picked up one of the pizza's from Price Chopper.....

This was one we never tried before...

Chicken Supreme!!!

Chicken, bacon, ranch dressing....

A lot of chicken on there for $10.99 only!!

It was really quite good and very filling!!!!

We hit 60 degrees the other day but that was at 3 am in the morning before a cold front blew through with heavy wind and rain and the temps. dropped into the 20's within a few hours....

All of our snow and ice have melted and it was strange to see bare ground out there in February....

BUT that was short lived...

A Snow Squall Alert was issued and within a period of 10 minutes, there was no bare ground!!!

Nature's own naturally flocked garland!!!

At least it did not stick to the roads....

I am sure that Winter here in NEPA is far from over.....

I want to Thank Dee, over at Grammy's Grid, for choosing my post, Winter at Nelson Crest and More Crafting, as one of my feature's from last week's Unlimited Link Party!

Thanks so much, Dee!!

Please stop by and link up to this lovely party!!

Okay, so on to the topic of today's post and that is Winter Tablescapes....

I wanted to do a Winter tablscape before I start to pack away my Winter decorations which I may be doing by the middle of this coming week.....

So here is Winter Tablescape Number 1.....

I started with an ivory tablecloth......

Joe bought this tree skirt at Big Lot's when all Christmas was marked down to 90% off and he had a 20% off coupon....

Originally $10..

It was 80 cents!!!!!

I folded it in half and placed it in the middle of the table....

I then added 2 round red place mats that Joe bought on Clearance in Wegman's a few years back....

Let's take a look at the place settings first....

I added a wood like charger plate that was part of a set of 6 I bought in Micheal's on Clearance one year...

I think it goes well with the burlap look of the tree skirt...

Then I added this plate with a Winter scene on it that I bought in Gabes for $2 each!!

You may remember seeing it before as I display it on this shelf in the Den for Winter.....

I added my red handled flatware bought by Joe on Clearance in Wegman's....

Pretty Winter napkins with pine cones, also bought by Joe last year on Clearance in Big Lot's...

Since I am using mostly red, which is considered a warm and cozy color, I went with just a simple mug....

This mug, with the pretty Winter scene on it, was gifted to me by my friend Mary....

I love the Winter scenes on both the dish and mug....

I envision this the place setting for a wonderful Winter meal of comfort food, like a pasta dish, with a mug of piping hot coffee to enjoy afterward while the snow is falling outside....

Now let's take a look at the center of the table.....

I pretty much walked around the house and pulled a few things.....

This is one of my neighbor Elly's sweet snowmen from her snowman collection....

Also a snow bird from Gabes, snow balls and pine cones....

In the center, is this cute snowman that my friend Anne Marie gifted to me last year....

More snowbirds, pine cones and snow balls.....

And a snowman tea towel that was also a gift from a friend.....

On this side, is one more from Elly's snowman collection....

And another snowbird.....

The lighted trees behind the snowman in the center is another item that Joe bought at Big Lot's for 90% off!!

I thought $80 originally was a bit high!!

90% off took it down to $8.00 and with a Rewards Members only coupon for 22% off...

The final price was $6.24!!!!

But for a little over 6 bucks, it was a steal!!!!

I used a set of snow ball like lights that Joe bought one year in Wegman's on Clearance....

If we did not have to eat at our Dining Room table daily, I would love to be able to leave tablescapes out but that is impossible to do so....

I really had fun doing this one!!!

Should I ever host another table at a Harvest Tea again, I think this will be my theme....

However, it is not looking like that will happen in our parish as it looks that our church is set to close and merge with several other churches....

There is going to be a HUGE restructuring of parishes in the Scranton Diocese as part of Vision 2030!

Unfortunately, there are over 100+ churches and a projected amount of only 60 -70 priests by 2030 in the diocese as many will be reaching retirement age...

As mentioned in Mass at a neighboring church, there will only be 4 churches left open in a 2 to 7 mile distance from our house on this side of the Susquehanna River...

There currently are 11 churches now in that same area!!

Our priest has been reassigned to his home parish and we will be getting an administrator and will most likely be merging with another parish that will be considered a "station" church that will be staying open not far down the road and one that is actually closer to us...

Sad to see this happen as our church is only 50 years old but it is a more easily marketed property as it is very nondescript in comparison to the older churches in the area...

So we are sure it will be closed and sold....

We suspect this will be happening by the end of the year as another church involved in this merger is slated to close in June but it may happen much sooner and ours was slated to be next after that one....

I have not returned to church in person since the Pandemic started and continue to watch masses in various churches online as the majority of people in our parish are not wearing masks...

The church that we will most likely be merging with is requiring masks which is nice....

It will also mark it's 100th year anniversary this year and is a beautiful Church...

Last year, I shared pictures of it at Christmas as it was gorgeous!!!

Stunning, isn't it???

They actually also do a Harvest Tea so we will see what happens.....

If we have to switch parishes, this will be the 5th parish that we belonged to since we are married.....

Next up is another Winter Tablescape ....

I used more blue in this one and since blue is considered a cool color, this is a more calming and serene tablescape....

With this one, I envision a nice Tea with a friend.....

Let's look at the place settings first again.....

I kept the same charger plates out.....

This time I used my blue and white transferware dishes....

And my Oneida everyday flatware which was bought for me by my Mother just a few years before she passed away....

For some reason, she insisted on buying a set for both my sister and I...

I bought the dinner plates, cups and saucers for a buck a piece in Salvation Army about 10 years ago!!

A simple white dinner napkin as I do not have a lot of blue linens or napkins...

And I used these blue glasses that I bought at a yard sale for 25 cents each!!!

Let's take a look at what I placed in the center of the table this time....

Again, I started out with the lighted trees....

I bought this cute wing chair at a church flea market many years ago....

Another one of Elly's Snowmen sits in it....

And another one in front...

On the left side is my Ice Church, gifted to me several years ago by my friend Anne Marie....

And a moose bought in Gabes...

On the right side is the matching Ice House.....

It is setting on top of a blue velvet box....

And a reindeer...

Once again I used the same snow ball looking strand of lights like in the first tablescape.....

I had a lot of fun putting these 2 Winter tablescapes together....

I hope you enjoyed seeing them......

Did you notice something????

I am frequently asked what does Joe say about all of my "Stuff"

Did you notice just how many things were bought by him????

About half, if not more, of the things in this house have been bought by him and not me!!!!

He has a shopping addiction and can't control himself when he sees signs for CLEARANCE!!!!

So the answer to that question is he has nothing to say as he is responsible for half of it!!!

Not sure yet what my post on Wednesday will be....

So I hope you will stop by to visit again on Wednesday to see what it is!!

Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......