Table for Two on New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve 2009

Layers, layers, layers.

A red toile bedspread makes a colorful tablecloth, and it tells a story of French milkmaids, chateaus, and courting couples.



My mother brought a ton of ivy, and I wound it though organdy napkin sheaths, dishes, crystal, old silver, and a glass candle stick. For the centerpiece, I used a clock.
Our menu will appear on Foodie Friday--well, unless I burn something.

Here lately, I've even been burning toast. The kitchen gods are not pleased. But Mr. Linky will be here Thursday evening if you want to share your menu.

I bought the pink champagne glasses a long time ago. The white dinner plates are Wedgwood, mixed with retro china from the 1950s.

Tablescaping Notes:

Mixed china

organdy napkin sheaths -- Horchow

red checkered napkins by DII

Please stop by http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2009/12/welcome-to-71st-tablescape-thursday.html to visit with our sweet hostess of Tablescape Thursday, Susan, and to enjoy beautiful tablescapes from across blogland.

Quick & Comforting Supper (with an Edible Igloo for dessert)

At twilight I found myself wandering around Publix with an empty shopping cart. Everyone around me seemed to have a purpose. They didn't stare gloomily into the bakery case or pick through the deli chickens. I had a shopping list, too, which makes this story even weirder, but I flat didn't want to buy the things on my list.

Emotionally speaking, I could pick between the Sads and Wildness, so I picked Wildness. I bought puff pastry, marinated chick peas, romaine, brie.

I made supper while I talked to Dr. Gollum about his day. I wrapped the brie in two sheets of puff pastry (thawed, rolled/flattened, egg washed) and popped it into a 400degree oven.



While the brie baked (20 minutes), I gathered a few leftovers, including bacon, tomatoes, thyme, chives, and cornbread, then I made a salad.

I wish I'd toasted (or grilled) the cornbread because it didn't stand up to the pomegranate vinaigrette, but it was still soothing and tasty--a comfort salad for people who haven't put away the Christmas stuff and for people who are lonesome for family members who've gone back home.

Sugar is a quick fix for holiday angst, too.

After supper, we ate the rest of the Christmas igloo cake,except for the fondant polar bear. He went into the deep freeze, where he will live happily ever after--well, at least for another year.

Winter Menu:

Brie en croute

Bacon-cornbread-chick pea salad with pomegranate vinaigrette

Fondant igloo cake

Pino noir

Dealing With Leftovers: Turkey Pot Pie

The French know what to do with leftovers--add cream sauce and wrap in puff pastry.

Me, I've been known to leave side dishes in the fridge until they resemble Chia pets. It's the truth. I have the best of intentions but then I get busy writing and before I can say Jack Frost, my ice box has become a bio-hazard.

But this Christmas, Bandwidth and I decided to take leftovers and turn them into a savory pie.

Smoked Turkey Pot Pie

chopped, pre-cooked turkey

green peas, pre-cooked

glazed carrots, pre-cooked 

sauteed mushrooms

finely chopped onions and celery (sautee)

flour, butter, chicken stock (quantities depend on how much turkey and leftover veggies you have, and the size of your casserole--start with 2 T of butter and flour. "Eyeball" the stock--it's hard to mess this up! I don't measure; I add a few tablespoons at a time until the sauce is the way I like it).

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 package puff pastry, thawed

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, gray French sea salt

Saute onions and celery; add mushrooms. Set aside. In a separate saute pan, melt butter (I used 1/2 stick) and a glob (I used 2 T.) of all purpose flour. Blend well.

Slowly add chicken stock and bouillon to pan. Whisk. Aim for the consistency of a store-bought pot pie--not too thick, not runny.

Sprinkle flour over puff pastry sheets (there are only 2 sheets in a package) and roll out (again, choose your own thickness). Place 1 sheet into the bottom of a baking dish. Trim the edges of puff pastry and set aside. (You can roll these out and cut them with a cookie cutter for a cute "topper" on the crust.)
 

Add turkey/leftover vegetable mixture to the baking dish-put on the bottom layer of the puff pastry. Pour cream sauce over the leftovers and stir. Add a bit more sauce, if you like (depending on the consistency you want). Stir.

Top the veggie/turkey mixture with the second puff pastry sheet. Trim the edges, crimp (or fold), and score with a knife.

Garnish with leftover pastry.

Preheat oven, 400 degrees.

Beat one egg and brush it over the crust.
Place pie in oven and bake 25 minutes or until puffy and brown.

Top with gray French sea salt (we found it at Publix in the spice aisle).

It sounds complicated (and it was for me), but the preparations are so soothing, you will find yourself in a relaxed, Zen-like state.

I thought the cream sauce was the most challenging part; Bandwidth said the pastry was by far the hardest.

The taste is down-home and heart warming; it's true comfort food, the perfect one-pot meal on a cold winter night--and, it's a form of house cleaning.

Foodie Friday: Christmas Day 2009

Merry Christmas, Foodies!
Bandwidth and I made Christmas Eve gumbo. . .
A family tradition. He opened the oysters--first time ever--and made a roux. Also on the menu:

Smoked turkey

Dressing

Salad

Fruit

Rum Cake and Mascarpone

Tomorrow, the epic cooking begins.

If you are linking to Foodie Friday this week, Mr. Linky awaits.

Please Do Not Eat the Cake

The faux cake in my mind's eye never materialized, but I ended up with a workable prototype: a faux cake with gussied up chocolate covered cherries.

First, I drizzled icing over cherries from the Dollar Store. Next, I put together two Styrofoam blocks.

Many wild hairs later, I iced the "cake" and adorned it with the cherries, white mums, candles, and greenery.
I guess we all need to play, right?
For a small gathering, this would work because you could warn people to stick to the cherries. At a large gathering, you'd have to do a Paul Revere.

(There! I hope I made you laugh, or at least smile. Because even though this started out to be a serious fake centerpiece, it turned into a laughfest for Bandwith and Dr. Gollum, with me out laughing them both. A good time was had by All. Totally.)

Lots of possibilities here for other holidays and tablescapes! :-)

I'm joining Susan at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for Tablescape Thursday this eve of Christmas Eve. See y'all there.

P.S. Foodie Friday will be up tomorrow at 8 pm central.

Make Your Own Christmas Crackers

Just ask my friend Kathy at http://www.casa-dolce-casa.blogspot.com/ about the British and Christmas "crackers." These little foil-wrapped wonders are a tradition in the UK. When Kathy was in London last spring, she sent me Easter "crackers," which I love dearly.

I've just about let the holidays slip up on me this year (but I have been writing, right?), so I decided to attempt homemade "crackers."

I saved paper towel rolls, bought wrapping paper, glue, ribbon, and candy. I even found lumps of coal, but they're candy.

Here's a tutorial:

Basically, cut the paper to fit the roll and leave a few inches on both sides. Tie one end, fill with trinkets and candy, and tie.

That's it!

Here's a peek at the edible centerpiece (more tomorrow):

Bandwidth Bakes. I Decorate.

Bandwidth and I are baking cakes for gifts. He did the normal thing--cook.



You can just imagine what I did.






I'm trying to talk Bandy into starting a food blog. He's not thrilled with the idea. However, I haven't given up.

Hope everyone isn't too frazzled!
XX00

Met Monday: Breakfast Room Spruce Up

I love Metamorphosis Monday. All my food and design projects are in the "oh, it's a mess" stage. So I thought I'd show an oldie: the breakfast room's before/after.
Here's before.

After: I moved the draperies from the library and added panels.

Before, the room felt a little cold with all of the tone on tone. With the fabric scraps, I had pillows made.

I've read that neutrals are supposed to be better with tablescaping, but I have never given a flip if my dishes matched my draperies. Or even if the dishes match EACH OTHER. Life isn't matchy matchy is my motto, and it's my mom's motto, too :-)The day that dishes start having rules, I'm outta here, baby. It's back to paper plates.





Please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday to see inspirational before and afters. See you there.

Foodie Friday: On the Table in 20 Minutes

December and stress seem to work in tandem. If you are too tired to put together a traditional "meat and three," pasta is the frantic cook's best friend.

Linguine for Weary Cooks

Level of difficulty: Easy

Prep time: 20 minutes

chopped onions and bell peppers

grilled pork cutlets (deli chicken is a worthy substitute)

sliced mushrooms

linguine

Italian flat-leaf parsley

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Saute' onions and peppers in olive oil and butter. Add mushrooms and saute' 5 minutes. Find someone who likes to grill and hand them a package of boneless pork cutlets (you can season them with salt, pepper, paprika if you aren't terribly frenzied).

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain. Mix with sauteed vegetables. Toss. Slice pork and arrange on pasta.

Serve with bread.

Chocolate-Raspberry Cups

Prep time: 3 minutes

8 ready-to-fill chocolate shells (Mrs. Fields, etc)

vanilla bean ice cream, slightly softened

fresh raspberries

drizzled chocolate

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Spoon softened ice cream into chocolate cups. Add raspberries and drizzle with chocolate.

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Starting in January 2010, monthly drawings will be held for Foodie Friday's participants. If you have suggestions for culinary gadgets, cookbooks, or cookware, please leave a note.
Mr. Linky awaits your link and recipe for this week's Foodie Friday.

Not A Creature Was Stirring: Tablescaping with Paperwhites & Portmeirion

Twas the night before Tablescape Thursday. . .

When all through blogland. . .tablescapers were arranging dishes inside their cozy lairs.

The dishes were placed on tables with care. . . in hopes that none would show dust, thumbprints or even wild hairs.

The napkins were all nestled in bows and beads . . .while dust motes danced and dazzled over their heads.

That's all the poetry for now. I'm too full of sugarplums to think!

I love any kind of Christmas dish--edible or otherwise--but I specially love the ones that tell a story. The dishes in today's tablescape illustrate "The Christmas Poem."

The pattern is "A Christmas Story" by Portmeirion, and each plate is embellished with artist Susan Winget's inimitable flair.

Bread and Butter plates.....

10 1/2 dinner plates

I found a container (it usually sits on our coffee table and holds feathered balls) for the paperwhites and added sheet moss.

Tablescaping Notes:

Dishes: Portmeirion's "A Christmas Story"

Plaid napkins: Lennox

Glassware: Fostoria "Jamestown" and antique liqueur goblets

Flatware: Wild Rose

Mercury glass votives: Ballard Designs (years ago)

Chargers: Horchow



Visit the talented Susan, author of Between Naps on the Porch for over 100 tablescaping ideas from across blogland.