Tablescape Times Three: Flowers

Showing posts with label Flowers. Show all posts

Sunday, April 24, 2011

I love my "Peeps!"

One of my favorite things is my mom's engraved William Arthur stationery. When I opened the Peeps this morning, the yellow reminded me of the pretty note cards, envelopes, and a china she has that she has not used for the blog yet. Even though today was a busy day, I asked her if I could set a quick table.

I had to hurry. I set this table between church and a trip to my grandmother's house. I love the black and yellow! Don't you think my mom's stationery reminds you of it?

My plan was to add more Peeps, and I wanted to put toothpicks in the Peeps and make paper flags as a place card. I ran out of time! When you're 12 and your parents tell you it's time to go - they mean it!

Happy Easter!
-Emma

Note from Andrea:

Place mats - Kmart
China - Ebay - Tabletops by Sheffield (I don't know the pattern name.)
Crystal - Ebay - Perspective by Noritake
Tea light candle holder - Marshall's, $3.99
Silver - Sir Christopher by Wallace
Pitcher with honeysuckle - Pier 1 and about 15 years old
Stationery - William Arthur - purchased from finestationery.com - I have no affiliation with them, but they were awesome. I had a new engraving plate made for this set of stationery when everything was on special. Super professional and very happy with the results. Will use them again and again... Also, I like Amy Adele on the internet, too. No affiliation there either, but I love their kids' notes.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

A Blues Table for Five (Recipes!)

I have been dying to use this TJ Maxx tablecloth for something pretty on the porch, but the pollen and weather are not cooperating. I was too impatient to wait, so tonight we dined on new thrifty finds in the kitchen.

Oh, where to start?

Well, the bargain on the table is the sherberts. I found them on eBay for less than $1 a piece! I can't even believe I almost passed them up!

And the china was another eBay find. It is the Carlotta pattern made by Eternal Stone. While it wasn't quite the deal of a $1 per piece, it was still a bargain.

There is some crazing on a few pieces, but I adore the pattern and the two shades of blue. It is at least 75 years old and so chic! I love, love, love the way it looks with the sherberts and blue in the tablecloth!

I could kick myself for not buying napkins in Homegoods that would have matched! I am one of those shoppers who (sometimes but not often enough) walks around with all the things I want, and gradually put most of them back only to regret it later! Do you do that, too?

The tablecloth is a good example of that very thing. I found four placemats and a runner in this same pattern at a TJ Maxx in Atlanta, walked around with them, and decided I didn't want just four placements. I left them there only to find the tablecloth in a different TJ Maxx a week later. This time, leaving the first stash behind was a good decision!

The Azaleas in the ice bucket are from the yard. I have one plant with a few flowers. The rest are still budding. The other green comes from camellia and honeysuckle leaves.

So, what's the menu?

Cocktail Shrimp

Frozen and thawed from the supermarket (easy recipe, huh?)
Serve with dipping sauces

Mandarin Orange Salad

Salad:
1 head of lettuce, washed and torn
4-5 green onions, chopped fine
3 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 11oz can mandarin oranges
Combine and chill.

Dressing:
1/4 vegetable oil
1 T white vinegar
5 drops hot sauce
2 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

Topping:
1/2 c slivered almonds
2-3T sugar
Caramelize on stove. Spread on wax paper to dry. Can be stored in an airtight container for a snack.

Combine salad and dressing. Toss. Top with almonds. Mmmmm. :)

Easiest Poppyseed Chicken

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Casserole:
1-2 lb of shredded or cut up chicken, whatever you have on hand
1 can of mushroom soup (10 3/4 oz)
8 oz sour cream
1/4 c. milk
Combine so that the chicken is covered, even if just barely.

Topping:
Place 1-2 stacks of Ritz crackers in a freezer bag and crush
add 1 stick of melted butter or margarine
add 2 T poppy seeds (if you have them)
Shake.

Spread over chicken mixture.

Bake until bubbly, (about 30 minutes).

Easy Rice Pilaf

Prepare 3 c. quick rice.

Melt a tablespoon or so of butter in a large skillet.
Add 1/2 c. green onions (chopped), 1/3 c. slivered almonds, and 1 crushed clove of garlic.

When almonds are lightly browned (3-5 minutes), add rice and seasonings to taste such as salt, pepper, thyme, etc. Blend and serve.

I also served a can of corn. Another easy recipe. :)

Enjoy!
-Andrea

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Pinkest Party on Earth!

In my city, March brings a festival which celebrates the blooming of over 300,000 Yoshino cherry trees. It is truly a sight to behold! Time to “think pink”!

Pink pancakes, pink poodles, balloon glows, free cherry ice cream being served in one of the downtown parks – just of few of the sights and tastes that we enjoy this time of the year. Even the local newspaper prints a pink edition each year.

We have our own cookbook, which contains only recipes using cherries as one of the ingredients. I will share one of the recipes with you at the end of the blog – White Chocolate Cherry Tart. Yum!!

My contribution this year is a luncheon table setting for six friends to enjoy, before going to the annual tour of homes. In keeping with the spirit of the season, almost everything is pink!

I so enjoyed bringing all of the pink together, but I started with a white “Peyton” tablecloth, which is made by Ralph Lauren and I bought it at Dillard’s. I thought that the pink would photograph better on white.

Pink placemats purchased at Big Lots for a ridiculously low price were added on top of the tablecloth.

Pink napkins and “pearl” napkin rings were purchased online.

The white plates on top of the placemats are Lenox Opal Innocence Carved. I love these plates – they are dinner plates, but large enough to use as chargers for older china patterns.

On top of the Lenox plates are smaller plates with marbleized rims. They are actually Johnson Brother’s “Rose Chintz” accent dinner plates. There are roses in the centers, but you cannot see them under the smallest plate.

The plate on top is a salad plate made by Narumi and is the pattern, “Mountain Cherry”, which fits into the theme perfectly!

The tall pink water goblets are from an unknown maker, although I saw some similar blue ones for sale on Etsy that were advertised as having been made by the Dugan Glass Company. I bought mine from Replacements. My daughter loaned me the other lovely footed pink glasses.

The pink centerpiece holding the flowers is an Indiana Glass compote in the “Teardrop” pattern. I bought this one on Ebay, but I have owned a clear glass one for many years. It belonged to my mother.

Also, decorating the table are two pieces in the Fostoria “Fairfax” pink pattern. One is a mayonnaise bowl.

The other is a bon-bon basket. I will use it as a butter dish with a round mound of butter in the center.

Pink Hocking “Block Optic” footed salt and pepper shakers are used at one end of the table.

Hanging from the chandelier is a Japanese paper lantern – who could resist, when setting a table to celebrate Japanese Yoshino cherry trees?

The place setting sterling flatware is “Strasbourg” by Gorham.

My favorite things on the table consist of the other two pieces of sterling silver. The pattern is a very old Blackinton pattern, which is named, “Cherry Blossom”! One piece is a master butter knife and the other is called a large cream ladle, although, it does not look that large.

I wish that all of you could join us in my city to enjoy the beautiful spring weather and witness the look of thousands of cherry trees bursting out in blooms at the appointed time, as though some magical alarm clock woke them just in time for our glorious Cherry Blossom festival!! Enjoy the recipe!

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHERRY TART

1¼ cups butter, softened

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 bar, 3 ounces, white chocolate

Crunchy Almond Pastry Shell

Cherry Topping

¼ cup toaster sliced almonds

Cream butter until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar until mixture is smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and white chocolate. Spoon into Crunchy Almond Pastry Shell. Chill until firm.

Spoon Cherry Topping over tart. Chill up to 8 hours. Remove from refrigerator about ½ hour before serving. Sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds to serve.

Crunchy Almond Pastry Shell

1 cup flour

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter

¼ cup diced toasted almonds

3 tablespoons water

Combine flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse corn meal. Stir in almonds. Blend in water to form crumbly dough. Pat into bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart or pie pan. Chill 20 minutes. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.

Cherry Topping

1 can, 21 ounces, cherry pie filling

2 tablespoons brandy

3 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon almond extract

Combine cherry pie filling, brandy and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Blend in almond extract.

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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Our First Giveaway Comes With a Little Story

(Winner announced here!)

Do you know what prompted this blog to come into being? A very sick little girl.

Spring, 2010

Emma, my daughter and fellow blogger, has been home sick with a bone infection since October of last year. Emma and I, (Andrea), have certainly spent a lot of time in hospitals, at doctors' offices, and at home together and with my mom, Diane. There are only so many entertaining things to do day after day, and that is one reason Emma became more interested in the passion we have for table goodies. When my mom and I spend any time at all together, the conversation inevitably turns to household treasures. It was a good distraction between consultations and treatments. Emma couldn't escape, bless her heart! She has a passion for HGTV, interior design, architecture, and writing, and being able to create and write a little has been good for her. You have certainly given her a big boost in your appreciation for her creations, so we are thinking it's time to give back to you a little.

Based on the feedback on a recent optimistic post, "Outdated Kitchens Can Be Pretty, Too," we decided to expand on that theme. I wanted to show you another lovely look in the same kitchen (my kitchen) with the outdated décor. I am so in love with my outdated kitchen now that I know how to work with it. And guess what! Four of these dinner plates will go to our lucky giveaway winner! I hope to share with you how something that might appear to be very limiting is full of possibilities!

Let's start with the fantastic plates! Noritake made so many different pieces in this pattern, Lineage, including flatware! The dinner plates normally sell for around $20/each on the major websites that sell vintage china, so four of them have a value of around $80. (The giveaway rules are at the very bottom of the page.) These plates have so many beautiful colors, but the green is dominant. Later in the post, I will show you how I could have picked any color to emphasize in these plates, making it easy for me. They go with anything! Blue, red, yellow...even purple! (Pics at the bottom of the post.) But I thought the green would be a challenge in my kitchen. Plus, St. Patrick's Day is this week! So I went with it!

The design reminds me a little of Indian Tree motifs, and the birds are such a great plus! I love that they are oven, microwave and dishwasher safe. Many of my vintage patterns can only be hand-washed, so I don't use them everyday. But this is durable enough for enjoying with my little ones!

These plates were part of a huge vintage set I bought at a local Goodwill. I love them! Can you imagine them in the kitchen from the earlier post?

In the advice from the earlier post, I recommended changing out accessories to give a new look. The first thing I did was change out everything in the cupboard to emphasize the green in the plates. I tried putting in more green than this, but adding other colors helped. I used the oranges to tie it to the peach in the wallpaper. The brown pieces and the pottery were other good accents with the wood in the room.

The little turtle in the front is from one of my children. I have their art all over the house as decoration. They are my favorite pieces.

A few other examples:

But I digress...

The oranges emphasize the oranges and yellows in the plates. And the large ceramic platter was a great TJ Maxx find that I found a while back.

I like the narrow dish which allowed me to add depth. But I have a secret...it's Holiday by Lenox. I placed it on a high shelf and the oranges hide the pattern.

One of the other things I recommended was using flowers as a color focal point. These are certainly a good match!

Are you ready to see the whole table?

I think the changes worked! By the way, the reverseable placemats here are the same ones from the prior post with the pink glass plates. $1.50 each at Big Lots and two great looks!

Do you think these plates would work in your kitchen? In your dining room? Here are some examples of the plates on different placemats of mine.

Yes, that one is actually a mulberry/pink placemat.

Really was surprised the green and purple one worked so well.

I hope you like them as much as I do!

And now for the Giveaway Rules:

The giveaway is for these four dinner plates. Click any of the Amazon links below and and find a great product to go with these plates on your dinner table. It can be flatware, goblets, linens, a centerpiece, etc.

Search Amazon.com

In the comment section below, leave a description and a link to what you found. You can leave one comment a day from Saturday, March 12 at 6pm EST to Sunday, March 20, 12pm EST. Each comment will equal one entry. We will use a random number generator to select the winning entry. (My doctoral program was in statistics, so I think it's a pretty good system!) The winner will be announced no later than March 21 along with a posted email for you to send us your shipping address.

Have fun and Good Luck! Happy St. Patrick's Day! (My mother, Diane, created a very pretty Irish tablescape for St. Patrick's Day here.)

-Andrea

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