Thanksgiving 2020

This was a quiet Thanksgiving dinner, thinking of our loved ones, and grateful for our family, our friends, our health, and so many other things.

I went out looking for something a bit more unusual in the way of flowers.  They had me at the pink.  So I brought out a few copper accessories to bring out the color a bit more.

Placemats from Pottery Barn.  Napkins from Crate and Barrel.  Napkin Rings from Williams-Sonoma.  Copper tray from Target.

French Countryside, by Mikasa dishes.

Woodland, by Spode flatware.  I love bringing it out in the Fall!

No traditional Thanksgiving dinner this year.  By special request from favorite husband, Baked Ham, Roman, Potatoes and a Vegetable Medley.

For myself, I experimented with a new recipe:  Ina Garten's Maple Pumpkin Flan.  It was delicious but it seemed a bit more work than my basic flan recipe, and I think my taste buds were confused:  Is it a flan?  Is it a pumpkin pie?  The jury is still out on this one.

Most of the mishaps were my fault.  The recipe called for an 8-inch cake pan, but I only had a 7-inch mold (shown above), and a 9-inch cake pan.  I decided to use the 7-inch mold, which is actually designed for the Instant Pot.  I baked it in a Bain Marie, in the oven.  Unfortunately, I had to adjust the baking times.  It took considerably longer to bake this way.

The caramel called for maple syrup, sugar and water.  It took forever to caramelize, and in the end, I wasn't even sure how it would turn out because the color looked wrong, and the sugar never completely dissolved.  I think those valleys in the top of the flan may have been caused by the caramel.

For some inconceivable reason, I decided to mix all the ingredients with my hand mixer, instead of dropping everything in the blender.  With the added mascarpone, I could not get a smooth consistency, and ended up having to strain the whole thing before putting it into the mold.

Who would have imagined that pink would look so lovely when added to Fall colors?  It provided the perfect touch to our quiet day of Thanksgiving.

And there he is!

We flew to El Paso to spend Thanksgiving with David and his family.  We got there a bit early, so he wasn't home yet . . .

And, then, there he was . . .

My world just lit up.

A Classic Thanksgiving

I stuck to the classics with paisley in the linens . . . 

Plaid in the ribbons . . . 

Hobnail mercury glass votives . . . 

The Fiddle and Thread pattern in the Mikasa French Countryside dishes . . . 

And the Monticello flatware from Reed and Barton . . . ?

Copper seems to be showing up everywhere lately . . . so I decided to play with it . . .

It appears in the napkin rings, the votive holders and the centerpiece . . .  The good ol' rule of three!

The color palette is kept traditional with various shades of orange, rust and green . . .

But the linen pattern feels young and fresh . . .  I liked the counterpoint of young and fresh with classic and traditional . . .

We lit the candles . . .

And we broke bread . . .  Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day 2013

Our celebration was small - just my husband and sons - but lovely, and made to feel very special with their favorite dishes set on a colorful table.

Here's proof that you don't have to spend a fortune to put together a pretty table . . .

 

You've seen before most of the elements that make up this table . . .

 

The one new thing are the dinner plates - Rachel Ray Double Ridge Cobalt Blue, recently acquired at my local supermarket (Jewel/Osco) on a stamps-for-china program!  I'm still trying to complete the set before the program expires!  

 

 

And now, my favorite part:  The flowers!  There's a new supermarket near my office called “Mariano's” that carries beautiful blooms, very fresh and a little out of the ordinary.  Their florist was very accommodating as she put together this lovely centerpiece . . .

 

It was made up of Purple Matsumoto Asters, Terracotta Yarrow, Red-tinted Salidago (that looks almost brown), Craspedia (Billy Balls), Red Hypericum berries and pinecones - so vibrant!

The meal was extravagantly conventional - you can't mess with tradition, but along with the pumpkin pie, we enjoyed a delightful new treat:  Ina Garten's French Chocolate Bark - I'll share the recipe soon!  

 

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with joy, loving family and friends, good food, and a delightful tablescape.  God bless!

 

Linking to Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Tea Bread Tuesday: Sweet Potato Bourbon Bundt Cake

WARNING:  This cake could become highly addictive.  DO NOT bake unless you have a house full of willing tasters!  It's too dangerous to have this much deliciousness just sitting around your kitchen counter! 

Since this was a trial run for Thanksgiving, we savored a portion for dessert, saved a piece for my husband for breakfast, then packed up the rest and took it to work to share with my co-workers, who didn't lose any time in gobbling it up!

 

Sweet potatoes, bourbon and pecans:  Could anything be more southern?  This bundt cake is very moist to begin with, and then, on top of that, you serve it with a delicious bourbon syrup!  I'd never cooked with bourbon before.  Actually, I had never even tried it.  Wow!  This is strong stuff!  Of course, the alcohol is evaporated in the cooking process so you won't get tipsy!

 

 

Look how the cake glistens with the sugar syrup!  The syrup was brushed on after the cake came out of the oven.  And I love how the pecans show up on the surface of the cake, like little promises of what's waiting inside!  This is a Martha Stewart recipe.  Good ol' Martha, she never disappoints me!  Click here for the recipe.

Thumbs up!  I'll be making this again tomorrow night!  Calling all tasters!

Thanksgiving Tablescape

This year, Thanksgiving was an intimate family dinner, with just my husband and two sons.  The youngest one had to dash off to work in the evening, so we dined early.  We prayed and broke bread over our kitchen table . . . 

The new dishes are transferware - Delamere Woodland Brown, by Spode.  Transferware was developed in England in the 18th century.  A pattern is transferred from a copper plate to a special paper, and then onto pottery.  Thousands of beautiful transferware patterns exist, and many are quite rare.

I've had a soft spot for woodland creatures since the first time I watched Bambi.  When I saw this flatware at Between Naps on the Porch, it was love at first sight.  Do we ever really grow up . . . ?

Pheasants . . . geese . . . deer . . . quail . . . hare . . .

Spode designed the flatware as a perfect compliment to the dishes . . .

A few pheasant feathers on the centerpiece to continue the theme . . .

These linen placemats, made by Sferra, were a wonderful discovery.  I loved the curry color and the generous hemstitched border. 

Marlis is entirely responsible for my having fallen in love with these napkins.  Here is the tablescape in her blog where I spotted them for the first time.  She never ceases to be a source of inspiration to me.  It's so nice that decorating rules have eased the restriction of combining checks with floral patterns.

A bird's eyeview of the table . . . I'm thankful for tall sons . . .

I used amber water goblets and my mother's crystal wine glasses.  I like how the diamond edge on the dishes is echoed in the pattern etched on the wine glasses.

Are white roses ever wrong . . . ?

I set the table early, but took more pictures as the light changed in the room . . .

I don't know that a lotus pod belongs in this traditional floral arrangement, but I liked the brown . . .

I am so thankful for our many blessings.  May God continue to watch over us all!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Dinnerware - Spode, Delamere Woodland Brown
Flatware - Woodland by Spode
Amber water goblets - French Countryside by Mikasa
Wine glasses - My mother's crystal (made in Hungary)
Linen Placemats - Made in Italy by Sferra, Curry (color), Horchow
Napkins - Pier1
Mercury Glass Pumpkin - Costco
Wreath - Crate and Barrel - Many, many years ago

Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Of Thanksgiving and Tablescaping . . .

We celebrated Thanksgiving at the home of my brother, Al, and sister-in-law, Kathy.  We had a wonderful time!  And!  As a bonus, I got to enjoy someone else's tablescape!  Kathy sets a beautiful table.  This time she used her cherished china, passed down to her from her great-aunt.  The transferware pattern is called Winchester, and made by Johnson Brothers.  It's one of the “pink” patterns that were produced in the early 20th Century for the American market by English potters.  I love this pattern with its delicate flowers, scrolls, and rope edge.

Kathy was able to pull out the gold color from the plates, and relate it to the gourds on the table.

Each place setting held a decorative paper leave, evocative of the Autumn season . . . Then she alternated her Winchester dishes with the simple, gold-banded dishes that belonged to my mother. There were a lot of memories on that table . . .

I think entertaining should be primarily about welcoming guests with genuine warmth.  Then, if it's possible, sprinkle this with a lovely table and delicious food to make them feel special.  Add some interesting conversation to the mix, and you have all the elements of a perfect dinner party.  Kathy and Al succeeded at every level . . .

First Thanksgiving and Cranberry Goodness

Below is a photo of our first Thanksgiving in the U.S. spent at my cousin Manolito's house. The lady on the left is a friend of the family. The food was absolutely wonderful - Manolito and his wife, Gladys, were known for their lavish, delicious dinners - but the meal could hardly be called a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, not with so many Cubans expecting their rice and beans. However, I do remember that roasted turkey was among the dishes served; and there was pumpkin pie.

Forty years later I'm still trying to figure out what constitutes an authentic Thanksgiving dinner. I suppose it's a little bit like trying to define what constitutes an authentic American. However, I've come to believe that cranberries must have a place somewhere on the menu. It appears very likely that those early settlers feasted on them, but, more importantly . . . I just love them.

Cranberry sauce made from scratch is simply marvelous, and, thankfully, very easy to make. I add oranges and Grand Marnier to mine, although it's doubtful the pilgrims had those ingredients at their disposal. I feel so sorry for them. And then, there's Cranberry Bread . . . This recipe, which calls for golden raisins added to the batter, balances beautifully the tart with the sweet. It is so good! But there are so many other variations to try out. Do I stop now or do I continue on this happy quest?