Once Upon a Plate: Tablescape Thursday

Showing posts with label Tablescape Thursday. Show all posts

Wednesday

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating on Thursday!

Pictures but not too much verbiage today ~ lots to do in preparation . . .

I never go far from the traditional menu ~ because it only seems right to keep memories of past Thanksgivings alive, and comfort close at this time of year.

My wishes for you . . .

A casual table, with warm fall colors.

Detail of Salad plate.

Detail of Hay Ride Dinner plate

Little individual soup tureens ~

And detail of the dinner and salad plate rims.

The big soup tureen aka The Great Pumpkin!

Have a wonderful celebration ~

and thank you for stopping by.

I'm joining everybody over at Between Naps on the Porch,

click the link and come on over!

Tablescape Thursday ~ An Autumn Gathering & A GIVEAWAY!!

Welcome to an Autumn Gathering on this Thursday before U.S. Thanksgiving 2011.

(And scroll down for the GIVEAWAY information!!)

The table is set with traditional fall colors ~

Using things gathered from around the house (and garden)

I went for the 'organic' feel this time. Earthy tones and natural textures, they especially remind me of autumn.

The Dogwood trees flower in the spring, but their foliage is beautiful in fall, so before they all fell off the trees I gathered a few to make a casual wreath for the centerpiece. Around an acorn filled pedestal hurricane glass.

And arranged a few sweet apples here and there among the leaves.

Details of the napkins, napkin rings, charger, dinner and salad plates.

Both sets of salt and peppers are from Arthur Court Designs. I've had them for several years, but many of his pieces become classics so they may still be available.

I love the pear and pomegranate theme of this set, I live in a historic pear growing area here in Oregon, so I collect a lot of 'pear' things.

I love Fall . . . but the winter weather which is right around the corner?
Not so much . . . so we'll enjoy this while it is here.

The glass leaf plates are from a dear, dear friend. I admired them in one of her beautiful photos ~ and shortly thereafter she sent me a set!

Thank you sweet friend. I'm thinking of you. xoxo

The internet can be a cold place at times, but there are some good and true friendships formed here too! I'm grateful for that.

I'm more of a "green" person, and usually prefer cool colors (unless it's RED!)

So I accented with lots of green in this table setting.

Well, this isn't the traditional Thanksgiving turkey, but a stylized exotic bird, so let's just pretend. ;)

The other salt and pepper set on the table tonight is also by Arthur Court Designs,

a bird sitting on a grape vine among leaves and grapes.

I think it fits well with the Fall theme.

Of course acorns remind us of Fall, too.

Thank you so much for visiting today!

Please leave a comment if you wish, I'd love to know you've come by to take a look. And I would love to come by and visit your blog as well.

And last but not least!

Here is the current GIVEAWAY at Once Upon a Plate.

Please come enter . . .

Click HERE for the details! There are several chances for each entrant to win.

Contest closes Saturday November 26th. Winner announced on the 27th.

Click to read my review of this fabulous little coffee & espresso maker.

If you drink coffee (or know a coffee lover), you will want to WIN this giveaway!

Psst... makes a great gift, too.

~*~*~*~*~*

Tabletop Information:

Round place mats: Crate & Barrel (last year)

Woven chargers: World Market (I still call it Cost Plus, from it's origins in San Francisco years and years ago)

Faux Horn flatware: Neiman Marcus/Horchow

Napkins: April Cornell

Pedestal Hurricane: Williams-Sonoma

Dinner Plates and salad plates: Made by Varages ~ France

Green goblets ~ either Target or amazon.com (I've forgotten)

Napkin Rings ~ Pottery Barn (last season)

I'm linking to Tablescape Thursday, please come visit the party there!

Retro 40's ~ Ice Cold Milk and Cinnamon Roll Cookies!

Welcome !

I'm so happy you've stopped by for a visit ~ pull up a chair and help yourself to some icy milk and cookies fresh from the oven.

This week for Tablescape Thursday we're taking a trip in the Way-Back Machine.

Afternoon Milk and Cookies as may have been in the 1940's

Cinnamon Roll Cookies ~

The taste and texture is very similar big cinnamon rolls ~ lots of cinnamon-sugar filling, a crisp edge on the outside of the roll, tender center and a slight crackle from the glaze. A tiny bit lighter in calories for 2011 ~ some of the butter has been replaced with applesauce.

Some of the last roses from the gardens ~ plucked yesterday, just in time as we had our first freeze of the season last night, so we'll say goodbye to the roses until late next spring.

Most of these are David Austin Heirloom, English Climbing roses; fragrant, prolific bloomers, dependable and hearty. *heart*

Of course the milk has to be chilled in a vintage glass milk bottle.

This one happened to be a lucky find recently at a local antique store.

Imagine my surprise when I spotted it on the very last aisle, on my way out of the shop.

Yippee! A bottle from our hometown dairy in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The same dairy products my sis, brother and I grew up with ~ delivered right to the porch by our friendly milkman. You can probably imagine how my heart skipped a beat when I spotted this little prize. :)

From back in the day when there were dairy cows grazing the hills surrounding the Stanford University campus.

(Note that both those hunky Stanford U. athletes as well

as little growing boys loved their Piers Dairy ice cream, as advertised on the back of the bottle.)

This one predates me; I barely remember the switch to brown glass milk bottles.

The change from clear glass to brown occurred after it was discovered that milk develops flavor changes and nutrient loss ~ riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin A (particularly in added vitamin A), vitamin C, and added vitamin D when exposed to light.

As long as we're taking a trip down memory lane, I decided put the apples in a vintage Homer-Lauglin "Sunrise Brand" Dinnerware serving bowl, sold exclusively through Sears Roebuck as "first quality china", from the mid 1920's to early 40's.

As much as I love the clean lines of modern, as well as old world, country-style rustic, I really like the detail on the older everyday US dishware.

I acquired this one on the secondary market ~ I wonder what stories it could tell us . . .

The fluted luncheon dishes are vintage Staffordshire~
Manufactured by Myott the pattern is "Olde Chelsea" England.

The rose is a David Austin English Heirloom, climber (Abraham Darby), intensely fragrant, prolific bloomer, and virtually disease free. I absolutely love David Austin Roses!

The tablecloth is vintage mid 40's - early 50's.

April Cornell napkins

Flower vases are vintage English stoneware Marmalade jugs

Swirl glasses are European "no name"

If you would like the recipe for the delicious Cinnamon Roll Cookies, you'll find them on Once Upon Plate the Recipes site ~ click HERE.

Thank you for visiting today!

I'm linking to Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

and

Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum

Tuesday

Asparagus-Cream Cheese Rolls in Prosciutto with Vinaigrette

Note: As of June 12, 2011

Our blog host "Blogger" by Google seems to be having ongoing problems with some of their blogging accounts
(Once Upon a Plate included).

This post was originally published in May, 2011 yet the post time-stamp is June 10, 2011. (?)

I apologize on behalf of 'Blogger.com' for the redundancy .

Blessings, and I hope you have a good week everyone.

~*~*~*~*~*~

We're blessed to have some of the best neighbors imaginable ~ and for Mother's Day I received a beautiful bouquet of asparagus, freshly cut from their garden, along with a Mother's Day note.

Thank you Paul and Jane!

If you grow your own you know that it tastes infinitely better than the grocery store stuff ~ it's the delicate freshness!

For our Mother's Day Luncheon for two I wanted to make something a little special and decided Asparagus rolls wrapped in cream cheese and Prosciutto and drizzled with a fresh vinaigrette would be perfect . . .

especially so with the addition of a little Bubbly from Italy.

If you prefer, you could substitute the Prosciutto with thinly sliced ham, turkey or roast beef from the delicatessen

Some little tulips from the garden. If you are familiar with tulips you know that generally after a few years the bulbs fade and eventually don't emerge in the spring ~ so I plant some new bulbs every fall.

These red tulips surprised me this year ~ the bulbs were planted in a basket outdoors several years ago. I suspected the bulbs were nearing the end of their cycle and didn't expect any blooms from the basket this spring.

But instead of not appearing at all, they bloomed in miniature. I've never experienced that before!

The vinaigrette is a classic one ~ olive oil, good quality red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. And a sprinkle of chives from the garden.