It's been a wonderful weekend and not really over yet. Cooler weather - sit on the deck weather and we all know that's my reason for living! - nothing scheduled to do. Have done a ton of work in the garden - unfortunately it was mostly deadheading. This heat has not only caused things to bloom early, but has also caused shorter blooming cycles in so many of the summer perennials that I am well into fall deadheading already - and not liking it a bit! But it will mean that things are cleaned up earlier this year, or maybe that I will get finished this fall and not in the spring - wow! that's a great thought.But what I really want to do is thank some of you for Friday night's dinner. Jeanne at Collage of Life had a lovely post on Thursday or Friday about summer table settings. She inspired me to actually "set" my table for a small dinner party that evening. Close friends came for an impromptu dinner [on the deck] so I spent a [very] little time and made it special. [Ok, here's the deal. I didn't think to take a photo before they came, and was embarrassed once they arrived, so no real photo. You will have to use a bit of imagination. I fail as a blogger!]
I pulled out a turquoise cloth and folded it so it would fit the wrought iron table and then made individual vases of flowers [from the garden] for each place. Not much interesting in bloom, but a posey here, a posey there and I liked the effect. Then a big candle for the table and voila', I had a table. *
Then Marie at 66 Square Feet stepped in and posted
her recipe for Green Garlic Risotto and I was set. Add the family recipe for ribs, a fruit salad and we had a meal. I made my grandmother's recipe for "Berry Roll" using fresh blackberries from the CSA and we dined like kings.The best part of all, tho, was the next morning Mitchell [seriously] said. "I really liked the table last night. It was like a party. We should do it more often." "We" in the previous sentence should be translated as "you". He even suggested looking for a tablecloth that fits correctly. That's one shopping trip I shall take soon.
So big thanks to Jeanne and Marie for the inspiration [and recipe]. You can teach an old dog some new tricks!
* Cheap, imitation dinner the next night. Reused the flowers with regular place mats. A little festive, tho, with beets and tomatoes [from our garden].
What a lovely way to spend a holiday, gracious friends and beautiful food! Thanks for stopping by... please come back... you're always welcome...
ReplyDeleteTwitter: SolarChief
There is nothing like dining (or lunching, or breakfasting) al fresco, and with stuff from the garden to eat and look at, it does not get any better.
ReplyDeleteI think Neal really loves it when I "set" the table...but who has time to do such things on a daily basis when there's laundry to be folded and cats under my feet. Not to mention, there's a pool to be visited. As soon as it cools off a bit, I think we will dine outside more. I vastly underestimated the summer in Georgia. But until then...how about sharing that recipe for ribs?? The only one I have is for the crockpot and while it is simply DELISH...it also requires quite a bit of planning. Not good for when you lose track of time at the pool....
ReplyDelete'Cheap imitation' my foot! It looks delicious and the setting looks beautiful. Flowers just seem to bring a certain beauty to a place setting. Your chicken looks perfect.
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