StoneGable Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Before I get into cooking and recipes here at StoneGable, I want to have a little show and tell time.

Look what came in the mail! (I love my mail guy!)

I won the giveaway from Decor To Adore! Laura at Decor To Adore sent me this fabulous basket full of french inspired goodies! The giveaway was to celebrate her new blogtique, Metis Linens. Click HERE to visit this fabulous site!!!!!

Everything in that gorgeous basket was a true treasure! But look at this monogrammed vintage cotton sheet~ it is my favorite! Oooooh Laaaaa Laaaaa! Thank you, Laura! I am swooning over all of it!

Now back to our regularly scheduled recipe...

What's more delicious than a cozy bowl of yummy hot soup on a blustery fall day? Not much ... especially if it is this delicious Loaded Baked Potato Soup.

A few weeks ago Maryann at Domestically Speaking posted her favorite Potato Soup. And I agree! I made this luscious soup and fell in love with it's thick rich flavor! Click HERE to visit Maryann and check out her recipe. Thanks, Maryann!

As a twist on this recipe, I decided to make a Loaded Baked Potato soup using her recipe as a base.

I've made it 4 times since. Making changes along the way till it's taste is totally different but keeping the wonderful texture I so loved. This recipe makes a huge pot. It freezes great!

I hope you will try MY new favorite soup!

STONEGABLE LOADED BAKED POTATO SOUP

10 baking potatoes

2/3 cup butter

3 ribs celery, diced

2/3 cup grated carrots

8 green onions, sliced (use green parts too)

1 cup flour

12 cups milk

2 lbs thick sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

3-4 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese (I use 4)

16 oz. plain greek yogurt

salt

pepper

freshly grated nutmeg, a couple of good grates~ dash

6 hard boiled eggs, cooled, peeled and chopped in medium pieces

Bake potatoes. Cool, peel and cut into medium size chunks.

In a large stock pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add celery and carrots and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add green onions and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.

Add 1 cup of flour and stir. Cook and stir for 4 minutes. Add milk and whisk. Cook, stirring occasionally until it bubbles. Watch the pot so you do not scorch the milk. Add potatoes and bacon. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add cheese, greek yogurt, salt, pepper and nutmeg. When cheese melts and greek yogurt is incorporated add hard boiled eggs.  If the soup is too thick more milk can be added. We love it thick!!!!!

Garnish and serve.

Sprinkle the following over soup:

crumbled bacon

chopped hard boiled eggs

chives and puffed pastry crouton leaves

For recipe and how-to's for Puffed Pastry Leaves click HERE.

Autumn Patchwork Tablescape



Last year StoneGable celebrated the softer side of fall. But this year Fall is in all it's glorious color!

Today's tablescape was inspired by the wonderful table linens the kind folks at April Cornell sent me. Can you imagine my excitement when an April Cornell package showed up at my door!!!!!!!



Fall is truly a patchwork of harvest colors and textures. Browns, rusts, golden yellows, scarlet and green. I see these colors in the beauty of the country vistas all around me. So when I opened the package from April Cornell and found their Harvest Patchwork Brown place mats, napkins, button napkin rings and potholders I knew that I would set a table that would be a nod to the nature's Autumn Patchwork!



Instead of a tablecloth, two burlap runners anchor the tablescape. Placed in a criss cross fashion they give great texture to the table.



Beautiful patchwork place mats adorn each place setting. Their lovely gently scalloped edges and coordinating fabric add great detail. The patchwork on the place mats are little works of art! The other side is a beautiful brown plaid. Look for it on an upcoming post.

I wanted the elements on the table to also have a patchwork look and feel. Dishes of different colors and shapes are "patchworked" together. Alternating place settings around the table are just a little different, like the squares of a quilt. Different enough to give them interest but not be too busy. Can you spot the differences?

The bottom plate is a sturdy brown ironstone (Olde Millhouse Shoppe). A Yellow square plate (Wegman's) is next in the stack. It picks up the warm golden yellow in the place mats!!! All  four place settings have these plates.

The top dishes are alternated around the table. Two place settings have a rust colored square plate (Pier 1) topped off with a green leaf dish and matching leaf bowl (HomeGoods).

And the two other's are set with a round green plate with an oil rubbed bronze rim (HomeGoods). A rust colored leaf plate and matching bowl (HomeGoods) tops off those settings!

The edges are different and make a striking profile.





Just for a little added whimsy, a wreath of acorn and brown bead accents circle the leaf bowl. I like to have an unexpected element at each place!

Antique flatware with beautiful earthy handles sit on the pretty fall place mats. A mini ear of Indian Corn is placed next to each knife. All of the Indian Corn is different. And they are so delightfully variegated. Just like the colors on a patchwork quilt!

Extra forks rest on dessert plates.

Harvest colored plaid napkins coordinate perfectly with the Harvest Patchwork Brown place mats. They have a soft "hand" and a fringed edge that gives them a cozy, informal feel. I paired them up with a different solid colored napkin. They are gathered together with these ADORABLE button napkin rings, also in coordinating fabrics. I was so captivated with these sweet napkin rings! Homespun is the word I would use to describe how wonderfully they are paired together!

Yellow leaf bowl will hold an apple, beet and carrot salad. YUMMY!

Brown ribbed  glasses on a short stem will hold  sparkling cider.

Dessert plates on a dark brown turned pedestal wait for melt-in-your-mouth Pumpkin Roll!

The centerpiece is a rust mum, dressed up to be a big-statement arrangement.

If  it looks familiar, it is! I used it in my post yesterday on dressing up the humble mum! Click HERE to visit yesterday's post.  I added acorns, berries and leaves to give it  little more punch and to continue the acorn/leave/corn theme.

The variegated corn is gathered in luscious rust to brown ribbon that is tied in a big bow.

Small green glazed pots (Olde Millhouse Shoppe) are filled with Indian Corn kernals and soft orange votives are nestled down in the corn!

 

Individual acorn candle holders with slim green candles light each place (Wm-Sonoma).

I want to thank the kind people at April Cornell for sending me such beautiful and well made table linens  to enjoy!!!!  It was a true joy to set this table!

Please visit April Cornell's website to see all their gorgeous products. Click HERE to visit.

The Menu

Harvest Patchwork Luncheon

Apple, Beet and Carrot Salad

Baked Potato Soup

(recipe on foodie Friday)

Ruben Sandwiches

Oven Fries

Pumpkin Roll With Cream Cheese Filling

Sparkling Apple Cider

Coffee and Tea

I am participating in Tablescape Thursday atBetween Naps On The Porch. Thank you, Susan for being our gracious hostess!

Mum Makeover Magic!



Mum's are a traditional and abundant part of Autumn. Decorating with them indoors and out brings color, texture and a definite splash of Fall. These seasonal blooms are such a terrific buy. And they keep on giving. When their flowers are spent, they can be replanted in your garden for years of floral picking!



But let's be honest... a mum in it's plastic container can look a little dowdy!



I say, "Give mums a little embellished makeover"! They are so pretty and festive, let's just make them up a notch! Help them be all they can be... and more!

Think Outside The Pot!

Don't let that ugly black pot be part of your fall decor. Hide it, cover it or... if all else fails replant the mum!

Use a big bowl that goes with your decor. Just put the whole pot in a prettier container!





 Use an unexpected container, such as this silver champagne bucket or a soup tureen . An old basket works well too! Look around your house for a container to repurpose!

Transplant a mum in a big planter or urn. A mum will only last about a month so you are not committing your container for the long term.

Cover an unsightly container with burlap.

Hiding a pot with a vertical row of pretty Indian Corn is very festive. Put a rubber band around a container and slip ears of Indian Corn under the rubber band all the way around the container. Cut the husks to an appropriate height, fluff and add a beautiful bow!



Top It Off!

Don't worry that the ugly black container is  larger for your container. Hide the rim top of the container by adding a grape vine wreath over it.





Spanish moss, straw and reindeer moss also work wonderfully to hide a plastic pot while adding a little softness to the arrangement.

Adding pumpkins, gourds and leaves around the base of a mum gives a look of Autumn bounty!





Bling It On!

Add a little more interest by adding bits of this and that to the mum. Picks of berries and acorns work well with the Autumnal theme.



Add a big bow in a gorgeous color. Talk about a big statement! This luscious ribbon came on a giveaway gift from Decor To Adore (show and tell on Foodie Friday post). Click HERE to visit this very beautiful and inspiring blog!

Gilded fruits and squashes also add a lovely touch.

Include natural elements too! Don't forget the leaves! This is after all FALL!







Take It To New Heights

Adding "sticks and twigs" to the center of an arrangement adds great height and interest.

I keep a collection of natural elements in a plastic kitchen trash can in the garage, ready for use at all times!

Just a side note: No spray paint on my brass in my dining room!!!! These candlesticks and lamps( not shown) are from Japan. My father brought them back after a military tour over 50 years ago. They have beenn passed down to me. They are irreplaceable in quality and sentiment.

The humble and long lasting mum can be elevated from boring to the center of attention!

Make some of your own MUM MAGIC!

I am participating in Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters. These idea could be used to make a beautiful centerpiece!! Please check out all of the creative and fabulous fall centerpieces!!!!!