Tag: thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Table: The Spendor of Autumn

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This Thanksgiving I used all my restraint to resist the urge to let our Christmas decor arrive early. So often I cannot resist that urge and we end up with a Thanksgiving/Christmas fusion. 
 
Everything stayed well within the Autumn color theme this year without even a hint of Christmas!
Burlap has always been an inexpensive fabric mostly used for making things like potato sacks or for wrapping shrubbery for the winter, but somehow it has become very popular in decorating as well.
It does offer a nice warm neutral base and lots of texture so it makes sense that decorators would be bringing this into their designs. 
 
What does NOT make sense is that this traditionally inexpensive fabric is now carrying a designer fabric price tag! I had to shop around a bit but finally found a nice large bolt of burlap at Walmart for a reasonable price.
 
So, on with the show… The table and the buffet are both topped with the above mentioned burlap. Burlap is a fairly open weave, so pairing it with a nice pumpkin colored table cloth really worked well together.


Gold beaded charger plates and white china (retired pattern Alsace by Farberware) with the salad plate swapped out for a lovely leafy pattern plate that harmonizes well with the autumn theme.


I know right now that tree slices as chargers is all the rage in decorating, but for me this is a sentimental accent. These tree slices are from the tree in our yard. 

I grew up with this tree and when a hurricane took it down I was heartbroken and I requested some mementos in the form of tree slices. I had no idea what I would do with them, but all these years later and they have finally found a home on our Thanksgiving table.


I fell in love with these white porcelain pumpkins. I’ll admit I am a bit pumpkin obsessed, but these just sent me over the moon. I want more! Here they are sitting on some silk autumn leaves and my beloved tree slices.


See that silverware? Yes, I do too. I swapped it out for gold flatware, but not until after discovering the error in this photo shoot. Details, details!

 

Peppermint Eggnog — Candy Crushing it for Christmas

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It’s officially the Christmas Season — time for fun and festive food and drink. 

I don’t know about you, but I am just too busy to go out gathering eggs and nogs to make eggnog from scratch. We buy a jug of it at the supermarket  — but just because it isn’t home-made doesn’t mean it can’t look and taste like it is!

We topped it with a swirl of whipped cream and a bit of crushed candy cane — then tossed in a whole candy cane as a festive swirly stick. 

It’s not all about looks though, (♪♫ It’s all about that bass, ’bout that bass, ’bout that bass, no treble ♫♪) we want it to taste great too! Adding a candy cane really adds a pop of peppermint that tastes, smells and looks like Christmastime. 

This same whipped cream and candy cane treatment is amaze-balls on hot coco as well. Go the extra step of adding some peppermint schnapps if you really want to be full of the holiday spirit — and spirits.

If you are wondering how one might go about crushing the candy cane, I am sure there are lots of ways to do this — none of which involve playing the insidiously addictive Facebook game Candy Crush. 

We used a mortar and pestle. It worked well and made me feel like I was concocting a magical holiday potion — maybe one that cures mistle-toe in elves.

I am sure a hammer and a ziplock bag would work just as well though in a pinch (for crushing candy canes — not treating elves with mistle-toe. That would be cruel).

Now when a candy cane breaks as I pull it out of the box I don’t feel so bad  — all the more for beverage garnish!

UPDATE! Some of you have written in sharing that you are crushing your candy canes in a food processor set to ‘pulverize.’ What a great idea, especially if you are making a lot of it for a holiday party! Thank you all for sharing your tips!

UPDATE AGAIN!: Some of you have asked where I got these gorgeous clear glass pedestal mugs. If you’d like some of these mugs to grace your holiday table, or a lovely mortar and pestle similar to the ones pictured above, I found some on Amazon. Links added below. Enjoy!

Cranberry Sauce!

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If your family is like mine, and wants the jellied cranberry sauce from the can — jazz up that oh-so-classy can shape with a few fresh cranberries on the side as garnish. 

I think I’ll tuck a few fresh mint leaves among the cranberries next time as well! 

♫ I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly…cranberries’s too foodilicious for ya babe♫

Please accept my apologies for putting the song Bootilicious in your head, but my thought is that maybe if it transfers to your head it will stop being in mine!

Silliness aside, I hope you had a happy, healthy and beautiful Thanksgiving. I also hope that you are able to fully and deeply feel and see all the love, beauty and everyday miracles that surround you!

Happy Thanksgiving!