A holiday table for six.

Posted: December 11, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I hosted a small dinner party Saturday night. Nothing big . . . just one couple and my daughter’s friend — an easy table for six.

The menu was tried and true: an antipasta to start (cheese, crackers, venison sausage, and olives), followed by a salad of field greens topped with apple and blue cheese, a piping hot lasagna, and a crusty loaf of bread. To finish, creme brulee.

It was lovely, and easy (okay, time consuming but easy) and served as a welcome reminder of why I love the holidays: good food, good friends, and time spent at home are life’s real gifts.

I had the most fun — as I always do — dressing the table. I thought this one turned out beautifully — a nod to the holidays without being overt. See what you think:

I paired vintage Noritake dinner plates with contemporary Pier One salad plates. I picked up the place mats and the table runner recently at Pottery Barn. The glassware is, of course, vintage, and the vase is blown glass by a local artisan.  With candles and flowers and greenery, the table came off prepared without being overdone.

There’s nothing like a little fresh greenery to dress up a table. I used to have a pine tree in the yard of my former home and I was never shy about clipping a few branches to dress my table. But I’m without a convenient source these days — despite our 15 acre homestead — so I had to buy these at the local florist.

The monogrammed napkins are ones I’ve owned for more than a decade. I highly recommend making the investment. I purchased my napkins on sale at a department store and took them to a local seamstress for monogramming. The versatility of the green and cream motif has served me well over the years.

I’m hosting a holiday open house next weekend for my office and I liked this table so much I may just repeat it for my food buffet. It will eliminate a little bit of thinking during a lot of cooking and preparation, and come to mention it — that’s a holiday gift too!

Fussy.

Posted: August 20, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

I’m a bit particular when it comes to entertaining.

But if you’ve read any of my posts or peeked at my china pantry, I guess you know that, huh?

I get to entertain a fair bit in my job, so my fussiness extends from home to office. Early in the week I sat peeved through an important luncheon because there were no flowers on the table, the tablecloth was undersized for the table, and salad forks had been substituted for dinner forks.  (Eating an entree with a salad fork is about like sipping tea from a doll’s cup. Annoying and clumsy for me, more so for the men at the table.)

Later in the week, I sat through a picnic where there was more people than food.  There’s nothing more dispiriting as a hostess than seeing a guest walk by with one chicken wing on their plate because that’s all there is.

I’m in a new job, so these kinds of kinks are not uncommon and our team is working on them.  On the home front, though, all is well.

Two weeks ago I had a dinner party for two new friends and it went off without a hitch.  I thought my table setting was lovely.

I’ve said it before, but just like with a cake, layers make all the difference. Tablecloth, charger, napkin, dinner plate, appetizer plate . . . all those layers give the table interest and dimension.  The table feels prepared for the guest, just like a bed with plenty of pillows and more than one coverlet.

Oh, and you can bet your bippy I had flowers.

The menu was simple: grilled elk steaks (compliments of our guests), mushroom and Asiago risotto, and marinated and grilled summer vegetable medley.  We started out with crab cakes, the ones I featured here a while back. For dessert, we had Molten Chocolate Cakes.  (You’ll be seeing them in an upcoming post.)

I’m sorry I have no photos.  It seemed a little weird to interrupt our gathering to take photos of the food.  Our guests don’t really know me yet (or know that I blog), so I figured I’d seem like a real kook if I snapped photos of our plated meal.

By the way, I sure wish I had more elk so I could replicate our steaks and show you.  If you’ve never had elk, you should jump at any opportunity to try it.  It’s lean and tender and not at all gamey.  Sort of like a more perfect beef.

I’m thinking of hosting a huge bash in our new home next month — a barbeque for three dozen colleagues. Obviously, I can’t feed that many folks inside my home, so it will have to be an outdoor affair. I’ll need to plan a few special touches to keep it from being a paper-plates-in-lawn-chairs kind of gathering.

Because I’m just a little too fussy for that.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

PS: I have a cousin who also blogs and who gets a little fussy sometimes (she calls it “bothery” and you’ll just have to read about it).  She’s young and beautiful and smart and has the most adorable apartment.

Give her a read.