St. Patrick's Day 2018

One of my favorite St. Patrick's Day dinners, which took place in 2016, and I never posted the table!

I love this flower combination for St. Patrick's Day:  Bells of Ireland, Daisies, Carnations, and Chrysanthemums.

 

I found these cabbage rose napkin rings and the brown gingham napkins at Pier 1.  Those napkin rings make me think of vegetable gardens, like Mr. McGregor's, of Peter Rabbit fame, which then, lead me to ponder that they might work beautifully in a Spring or Easter table!  I can already tell I will be enjoying these rings for many years to come, in a variety of settings.

All set for a corned beef and cabbage dinner - a traditional American way to celebrate St. Patrick's!  What do you cook for St. Patrick's Day?

"If you lived on cabbage, you would not be obliged to flatter the powerful."  To which the courtier replied, "If you flattered the powerful, you would not be obliged to live upon cabbage."  

—Diogenes, ancient Greek philosopher's advise to a young courtier

(But I do like cabbage!)

The perfect excuse to indulge in some Kerrygold Irish butter.  Everyone gets their own butter dish, to go with the Irish Soda Bread!  I'm so glad that sanity has returned and butter is once again back on our tables!

And here is the happy bunch, a gathering of English, German, Italian, Mexican and Cuban ancestry, to celebrate St. Pat's!  Erin go Bragh!

St. Pat's - Part 2

Two St. Patrick's Day parties this year, and we are not even Irish!  Well, not much anyway . . . It was a lot of fun, but with two meals to cook, one in the middle of the week (after work!) there was no time (or energy) to plan two distinct tablescapes.  Besides all that, I'm a lingerer, and I wasn't done playing with this tablescape.  So I laundered the napkins, and it was déjà vu all over again . . .

I did make a couple of changes from the earlier tablescape, click here to see the first one.  I used my every day dishes, Tradition dinner plates by Apilco, instead of the Mikasa dinner plates. 

When I first saw these salad bowls at Crate and Barrel, I looked at the bottom and they were marked "Cavolo."  I was so excited!  I was thinking Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Leonardo . . .  All great Italian artists whose names ended in "o" . . . Was I holding a future masterpiece in my hands . . . ?  I googled the name the minute I got home . . . Alas . . . cavolo is Italian for cabbage!

And, instead of the Tava chargers from the previous post, I used these woven brown placemats from Bed Bath and Beyond.  It added a lighter feel to the setting to counter the color-saturation of the napkin . . .

Shamrock plants made an easy centerpiece, their lovely green color brightening the table; and afterwards, guests took them home as party favors . . .

A thorough watering really perked them up overnight . . .

We served Irish coffee after dinner . . .  A little advance prep kept this hostess out of the kitchen and enjoying the company of her guests . . .

And a cute little pillow that I couldn't resist . . .

St. Patrick's Day is officially over at our house!

Now I can start thinking about Easter . . . yikes!

Here are the details:

Tablecloth - White, linen, Williams-Sonoma

Placemats - Bed Bath and Beyond

Dinner plates - Tradition by Apilco for Williams-Sonoma

Cabbage "Cavolo" Salad Bowls - Crate and Barrel

Napkins - Raymond Waites at HomeGoods

Napkin Rings - Bed Bath and Beyond

Goblets - The Dollar Tree

Candlesticks and candles - The Dollar Tree

Glass coffee mugs - Bed Bath and Beyond

Silver charger - Pottery Barn

Flatware - Costco

Shamrocks - Dominick's (our local grocery store)

Pillow - Joann's

I'm joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday and Cuisine Kathleen for Let's Dish!  I encourage you to stop by to enjoy the creativity of these amazing tablescapers!