FABBY: Walnut Coffee Cake

I have a full house for four days for local holliday. So our two daughters, sil and  my two grandgirls are here, and mother of course... forgot, and our grandpuppy Chloe too!  I baked this delish Walnut Coffee Cake from a Good Housekeeping Book, recipe they all love... and I fixed a small table, so my daughter Alexandra who's a professional photographer can shoot some pics for her digital magazine. Alexandra gave me some pictures for me to share with you, and she kept others for her digital magazine.  I'm also sharing a photograph my husband took of our daughter Alexandra.

 Here is the cake with walnut filling.  The silver spoons were my mother's and were used in her First Communion when she was 7 years old back in 1937.

 With a red candle it would look great Christmas time, as this fall candle is orange. Alexandra loves my reticulated china set, so she used the teacups for the photo shoot.

 Don't you just love that sky in the background?

 The tablecloth  I had made from my living room moire yellow draperies and they came out great for the round table and, I had enough material for the large rectangular one too.

 Than later Alexandra thought it would look great putting the walnuts inside the cavety below. If anyone likes to enter Alexandra's web page and see her work, she'd love to have you, as she's our No.1 fan of us ladies and gentlemen from blog land.     http://www.editorialstudios.wordpress.com/ 
   Here is our daughter Alexandra in a photo hubby took of her for a magazine.  She lives in the capital, Quito.

I am also sharing the recipe as I've made it a few times and everyne loves it, I remember my dear MIL loved it so much she had me make it for her "Saints day". 

THE PERFECT COFFEE CAKE

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 Cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flouer
3/4 Cups chopped pecans or walnuts (I use walnuts)
1/3 Cup brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 Cups granulated sugar
3/4 Cup butter or margarine, softened
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 container sour cream (16 ounces)
1 Cup confectioner's sugar
4 to 6 spoons milk.....(I prefer to use lemon juice instead of milk)

Preparation
1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease 12 cup fluted baking pan; dust with flouer...(my mil taught me to use fine bread crumbs instead of flouer to gurantee non sticking and it's totally true!)
 2)  On waxed paper, combine b. powder, b. soda, salt and 3 Cups of flouer.  In small bowl, combine pecans, brown sugar,cinnamon and remaining flouer.
3)  In large bowl of mixer at medium speed , beat granulated sugar, butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla until creamy.  Beat in eggs, 1 at a time.  Alternatelly beat in flouer mixture and sour-cream
beginning and ending with flouer mixture.  Beat just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl.
4)  Evenly spread 2 cups of batter in prepared pan; sprinfle with half of nut mixture.   Top with 2 cups batter.  Sprinkle with remaining nut mixture, then spread with remaining batter.
5)  Bake cake 55 to 60 minutes on until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 10 min.  With small metal spatula, loosen cake from pan; invert onto rack to cool completely.
6)  Prepare glaze:   In small bowl, stir confectioner's sugar, milk or lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until smooth.  Drizzle glaze over cake  using a tablespoon.

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Falun it Fridat at:  http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
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Beverly's Pink Saturday at:  http://howsweetthesound.blogspot.com/
Seasonal Sunday at:  http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/
Sunday Favorites at:  http://happytodesign.blogspot.com/
Just Something I Whipped up at:  http://thegirlcreative.blogspot.com/
On the Menu Monday at:  http://stonegable.blogspot.com/
Amaze me Monday at:  http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/
Metamorphosis Monday at:  http://betweennapsontheporch/
Tea Party and Tea things Tuesday at:  http://silkenpurse.blogspot.com/
Tabletop Tuesday at:  http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/
Tea Time Tuesday at:  http://ladykatherine.blogspot.com/
Tea Cup tuesday at:  http://marthasfavorites.blogspot.com/
Trish for Tea Party Tuesday at:  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/
Sandi for Tea Time Tuesday at:  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/
Wanda Lee and Pam for their Tea Things Parties at:  http://theplumethpen.blogspot.com/
Friends Sharing Tea at:  http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/
    
Thank you for your lovely visits, I always love and appreciate them very, very much.
I will be entering some great parties too.... so thank you darling hostesses for having me again.
Lots of hugs,                               
FABBY

FABBY: Cloche Party

 I was inspired by my vintage Italian table in the foyer to make a fall tea with a cloche with gourds.

 I love the candle holder made in Poland because  it has many uses, as a flower vase is great too and filled with candy, cookies, etc. 

 I took advantage that the gorgeous roses were still fresh, they are from my bil's Rose Farm he sent them to me for my birthday a week ago.....he's roses are exported for the royals's weddings.

 One of the four cute cloches I received from dear Chie's giveaway...blog: Chubby and Chieque. Here I have it with blueberry home made marmolade.

 A close up of the  gorgeous roses, natures best!

A fall vignette with cake stand with gourds and crystal lid... in my kitchen with one of the sets of china we made at our former Ceramic Co.

 My favorite dog race are pugs and here is one under a cloch with the black face....we  lost our 12 yr. old Ben last year in 2010, we still miss him.

 A buffet fool of little friends.

My darling collection of dogs, here they are under some cloches,  crystal lids and even apothecary jars!

Look at this tiny ones inside a couple of the small cloches that were a  giveaway from Chie.

Are these so cute?!

Some cuties!

 This was another giveaway I was so lucky to win from dear Melissa at:  http://shabbylove.blogspot.com/   If you haven't visit Melissa she has a beautiful blog, don't miss it!

 Aren't these hand towels so pretty and they go so well with the gray in my visit bathroom. She also included a beautiful shabby chick door-knob I will be using on my bedroom  door when we remodel our bedroom- which is in our next year's agenda.

A cloche with a couple of puppies got to the bathroom somehow too!

       Hi everyone!  I bet we are going to have a fun time at Marty's Fall Cloche Party, I can't wait to visit all of you and see all the beautiful posts  you've done.  I was inspired on a few things...first of all my Italian mable table in the foyer,  some fall gourds and my dog collection, which I love to put them under cloches, all together they look like they're making  lots of noise barking to get them out of the cloches, lol!   Also a very generous giveaway I won from Melissa at: http://shabbylove.blogspot.com/  Anyway, let's party and hope you enjoy my cloche post.
   I'm so happy to join Marty at a new Cloche Party she's hosting again.  Thank you lovely lady for making Tabletop Tuesday more special today and for having me.
   I will also be joining  other great and fun parties as well and  thank you in advance to all the lovely hostesses for having me.
   Last but not least, thank you so much to all my dear friends from blog land for your wonderful and lovely visits that always make me so happy and  your comments are all so very appreciated.
  Lots of hugs,                                   FABBY

Tabletop Tuesday Cloche Party at:  http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/
Lady Katherine for Tea Time Tuesdat at:  http://ladykatherineteaparlor.blogspot.com/
Sandi for Tea Time Tuesday at:  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/
Wanda Lee and Pam for their Tea Things Parties at:  http://theplumethpan.blogspot.com/
Martha and Terry for Tea Cup Tuesday at:  http://marthasfavorites.blogspot.com/
Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday at:  http://silkenpurse.blogspot.com/
Trish's Tea Party Tuesday at:  http://sweettology101.blogspot.com/
Tea for Two at:  http://theplumethpen.blogspot.com/
Miss Spencer's Tea Cup Thursday at:  http://missspencers.blogspot.com/
Bunny's Blog Hop Wednesday at:  http://bunnyjeandecorandmore.blogspot.com/
Wow Us Wednesday at:  http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at:  http://primp.blogspot.com/

FABBY: Francoise Sagan's Coffee Table

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Here is French writer Francoise Sagan in her than Paris's Left Bunk residence in an August 1991 Architectural Digest Magazine of interior design.  I love AD and I have collected them for many years.

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 Here is the gorgeous round marble coffee table I fell in love with.. and hers is made of Portuguese burned orange marble and I was so lucky the Ecuadorian marble mines also produced the very same color, so we immediately had it made to order; already, some twenty years ago.


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 A closer look of the top...ours is perfect and exactly alike, I haven't met anyone that didn't give us a compliment when they saw it for the first time, needless to say, I'm still in love with her...I also love Francoise Sagan and her book: Bonjour Tristesse as my dad loved and had the book.  I always keep the French antique bronze black dog figures here also and now my hand made Chinese young ladies holding a bird.  The gorgeous roses are from my my Bil's Altaflor Rose Farm.

 Since we were so lucky to have it made to order, we took advantage and had a half moon, small side table made as well for the small space we had next to the sofa...isn't it great?!

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 Here I have some brass things along with this Art Nouveau mirror with mother of pearl that was my Fil's mother, so it's more than one hundred years old. There's a bird at the top of it, I guess I didn't see that, so it did not come out in the photo.

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     I love Architectural Digest Magazine of interior decoration and several years ago when we were first making this apartment because we lived in a very big house in the suburbs with so much grounds as well and when our daughters where teens we decided to move to this quite big enough apartment and we've loved it ever since.  

While looking at one 1991 AD than- I ran across a gorgeous apartment in Paris of famous French writer Francoise Sagan...remember her book-Bonjour Tristesse" she wrote in 1954. To make a story short, I saw she had a gorgeous round coffee table in burned orange,  Portuguese marble and I fell in love with it and knowing there are fabulous marble mines here in Ecuador-as our black and white floors are and  were inspired from an AD apartment that belonged to Rudolph Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer... I took advantage with Alejandro and went out and had the beautiful flooring made too and they are also like the magazine photos- exactly alike!!  

We had a small half moon table made to match the coffee table  for the side of the sofa, because the space there is very small and this one fitted perfectly there!

Thank you my lovely friends for your wonderful visits and thank you in advance for your very appreciated comments. 
         
   I'm going to be joining some parties and I would love to thank the gracious hostesses that run them every week.

                                                                       FABBY

Feathered your Nest Friday at:  http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
Vintage Inspiration Friday at:  http://commonground.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home at:  http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
Thrifty Things Friday at:  http://thethriftygroove.blogspot.com/
Show and Tell Friday at:  http://myromantichome.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home at:  http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
Open House Friday at:  http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/
Addicted to Decorating at:  http://addicted(notso)anonymous.blogspot.com/
Potpourri Friday at:  http://apotpourrioflife.blogspot.com/
Pink Saturday at:  http://howsweetthesound.blogspot.com/
Few of my Favorite Things Saturday at:  http://burgainhuntingandchattingwithlaurie.blogspot.com/
Saturday Spotlight at:  http://sasinteriorsandgreendoorsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Sunday Favorites at:  http://happytodesign.blogspot.com/
Seasonal Sunday at:  http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/
Metamorphosis Monday at:  http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

FABY: Elegant Tea Tablescape for Me

 Hello sweet friends !

I bought this eight place setting tea china, complete with teacups and saucers, 8 cake plates, a cake platter and two cookie plates. I also got 4 purple water goblets and 4 pink ones and of the same style, I also acquired 4 pink compotes and 4 purple compotes to match.

 The complete tea set, teapot, creamer and sugar bowl. 
The best part is that I acquired this beautiful teaset the day before my birthday, which is today, Oct. 20th. The brand is "Grace Porcelain."

I won the small marmalade bowls at 'A Stroll thru Life' where we joined Marty's great and fun Cloche Party... they are a set of four cute little sweet crystal cloches with four small adorable spoons as they can be used for so many purposes such as marmalade, butter, sauces,etc., I've posted them today, as they came Oct. 18th. just in time for my birthday tablescape for a high tea.
 
   I thank you sweet and lovely 'Chie' for your adorable gift crystal pieces and I'm crazy about them!

With that said.

Here is one of my favorites "Gracie Porcelain" complete tea set which I bought several years ago, with eight cups and saucers, 8 cake plates, a tea set and two small candy dishes, which I bought later in the same store, I mentioned after the last photo.

The tea set has such pretty flowers of multi color, the teapot has a butterfly and a dragonfly on the other side of it and they all have pedestals.

I used the dinner plate of my reticulated dinnerware as a small charger for the cake plate, the shell cute spoon is for ice-cream that could be used for desserts, in this case with the glasses here.

Here is the compote glass in pale lilac, or purple I bought them a month ago four in pale pink and four in a pale lilac to mix and match them, along with four in each color of the water stems.

Here is one of the set of four small cloches and spoons I won on a giveaway from sweet Chie from "Chubby  and Chieque," which 'Marty at Tabletop Tuesday' hosted.   
Lovely Chie has a beautiful blog:  http://chubbyandchieque.blogspot.com/ and she lives in Sweden.

 You can see a little of the beautiful organza place mat in green and beige with an embroidered stem with leaves, they are from India and  they are my favorites too.  Here is the pretty tea cup with pedestal and saucer.

 The big platter where the tea set stands I've used it before with different cookies and small tea sandwiches.

 The water stems and compotes I bought a month ago, I saw them and I said: umm..they would look great with my mil's antique dinnerware with pink roses and the tea set I'm showing here...so you can imagine me!

 The tablescape in my honor' (by me) for my birthday-today Oct. 20th and I explained my plans for today after the last photo.

 Just with candle light- I kind of like it- in real life it is a little too dark but so romantic.  The crystal candle holders are 'Bohemian' from the 'Czech Republic' and I also  purchased them several years ago.

 I love the tea pot, it has a dragonfly too.

 A closer view of the tea set, it also has an orange flower, a different twist from usually pink.

 The set has multi color flowers like, orange, lilac, pink, a little yellow and green leaves.

 Thank you my dearest friends for coming to my 'birthday party tablescape'...today Thursday Oct. 20th. at Susan's Tablescape Thursday.  You know your visits are so very appreciated and wonderful.

   I also want to thank the sweet and lovely ladies that host such great parties every week with the only purpose for us to show off our lovelies.        

Lots of hugs,      

 FABBY

Tablescape Thursday at:  http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
Vintage Thingy Thursday at:  http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/
Open House Party at:  http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/
Delightfully Inspiring Party at:  http://thefrenchcup.blogspot.com/
It's a Party at:  http://creativeprincess.blogspot.com/
Feathered Nest Friday at:  http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
Vintage Inspiration Friday at:  http://commonground.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home at:  http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
Show and Tell Friday at:  http://myromantichome.blogspot.com/
Inspiration Friday at:  http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home Friday at:  http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
Potpourri Friday at:  http://apotpourrioflifeat2805.blogspot.com/
Pink Saturday at Beverly's at:  http://howsweetthesound.blogspot.com/
Sundays Favorites at:  http://happytodesign.blogspot.com/
Seasonal Sundays at:  http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/
Masterpiece Monday at:  http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
Amaze me Monday at:  http://dittaledattle.blogspot.com/
Tabletop Tuesday at:  http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/
Lady Katherine for Tea Time Tuesday at:  http://ladykatherineteaparlor.blogspot.com/
Tea Time Tuesday at:  http://sandymyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/
Wanda Lee and Pam for their Tea Things Tuesday at:  http://theplumedpen.blogspot.com/
Martha and Terri for Tea Cup Tuesday at:  http://marthasfavorites.blogspot.com/
Trish's Tea Party Tuesday at:  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/
Bunny's Blog hop Party at:  http://bunnyjeansdecorandmore.blogspot.com/