Table Inspiration for the Season

My seasonal table for everyday.

Holiday season is upon us. Do you have grand plans? Do you get excited or freaked out?  I get invigorated,  I feel a sense of renewal.  A feeling of winding down after an exhaustive summer. Time to settle in, get ready for hibernation.  Set a fire, do some knitting, make soups, pull out the blankets and down comforters.   I’m so ready to nest.  It’s also my busiest time.  Lots of aprons and napkins to be made, markets to sell at.  Usually I work at 3 to 4 markets. I end up missing a lot of fall festivities. I always want to host a Christmas holiday gathering and fail at that. Too much to do and too exhausted after doing it. So this year I’m doing 2 markets and focusing on online sales.  I hope to achieve my holiday party dream. It doesn’t even have to be a party, but a gathering.    

Holiday decor is already all around us.  It’s not Halloween and Christmas decorations are available.  I read somewhere the earlier you set up your holiday decor the happier you will be.  Nah... I’m a true believer and stickler for no decorations until after Thanksgiving.   So will you set up and decorate before or after Thanksgiving? You can always ease into it. Blend fall into Thanksgiving Into Christmas.   Or maybe just have some simple decor to add some festiveness to your home.  Enjoy the season. Bring the outdoors in. Here are some of my  favorite ideas so far that I’ve seen.    

Starting from the top: Better Homes and Gardens. This looks like a Thanksgiving or dinner party table but so much to choose from that you can add to your table for everyday. Head to the farmers market or the woods for a walk. There is eucalyptus, fall foliage, and other dried autumnal flowers. The second photo I feel terrible but I can’t remember where I saw it. It was on Instagram. I will continue to search. What I loved about this were the brown sunflowers and astramaris, a candle and a mini pumpkin. The last photo is from Cottage Farm on Instagram, based out of New England. Krissy is a photographer, writer, stylist and cook. Her photos are so beautiful and peaceful. Very inspirational. Possibly my favorite, a linen tablecloth in it’s natural hue, some walnuts loosely arranged, a grey pumpkin gourd and a few candles. Simple and rustic. She has a new baby, I don’t know how she does it all. I find myself constantly struggling with a 5 year old and trying to build a business and live life. But I digress….

Starting at the top, One Kings Lane. a online retailer and a blog I really enjoy. I would love this attached indoor dining area. What’s on the table, a few varied vessels with fresh flowers or branches from your yard. Below this, is from Instagram called Troutbeck, a well curated country house in upstate NY in the Hudson Valley. What can we take from this one? A burlap runner onto of a floral table cloth in fall colors. A few green vessels (good use for old bottles) with herbs and flowers in them and one main centerpiece which looks like a candle lantern. Green napkins that don’t exactly match but still look lovely. It definitely has an outdoor feel. Once again bringing nature indoors.

I hope you found some inspirations. If you did I would love to see what you come up with in your home!

Enjoy!

Tracey

Summer's End, September Florals

Flowers from the Park Slope Coop, delivered from Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op - sunflowers, basil, celosia, mint

Enjoying the month of September.

I was writing a blog post about the start of school and celebrating Labor Day signifies the end of summer. It doesn’t need to be. The post was bumming me out. End of summer, bummer.  I decided instead to write the Enjoyment of September.

Clay decorative plate from Elemthebrand

I received an email from Etsy and it had this picture in it. I thought, oh so pretty. It exudes the calmness that one craves by the end of the summer. Our bodies want to wind down, start getting ready for winter hibernation. Right now flowers and plants are so intense and overgrown. Colors are a deep saturation of hues and starting to droop. Aren’t we all like that? Tan, exhausted from the sun and heat ….maybe not overgrown. But I am wowed by the floral explosion going on. In my backyard, somewhat, we struggle with getting enough sun. The flowers delivered to my local grocery store, the Park Slope Co-op. I can’t stop buying them, they are amazing! Go buy or pick some flowers and put something together for your dining table.

Here are a few of my favorite arrangements.

Type up Lancaster flowers on Instagram and you will find some beauties. Check out these rudbeckias. This photo was shared by petalslnc

From the woman who did the flowers for my wedding, Soiree Floral in Nantucket. Dawn is always posting the most beautiful, rustic looking arrangements. I see sunflowers, chamomile, what else….

photo by Longest Acres in Vermont. Kate Maclean shares her life thru the most beautiful and moody photos. I saw this one today and couldn’t help but share it with you. At first I could not make out the duck. And then I though oh wow, those stripes on his head with the butter yellow sunflowers behind him, I want to hug him! Enjoy the sunflowers while they last!

Enjoy!

Tracey

Picnic / BBQ Prep - Food Platter Ideas

Nantucket Wildflower Farm flower truck on Main Street in Nantucket, Ma. The geese hold the spot until Charlene the truck arrives.  The farm specializes in growing native flowers and only sells on Main Street during the summer season.  If you can, grab some flowers for your picnic and put them in a mason jar or an old food jar. Easy to carry, it's an upcycled producct and will add a bit of summer fresh whimsy to your meal. 

With Labor Day upon us our days of enjoying a meal outside are winding down. Vacationing on Nantucket where I have been lucky enough to come every year for the past 10 or so years. And 4 years ago we upped it and started coming for 2 weeks. It is for me the most relaxing and beautiful place. Whenever I am here I think can I live here year round?

The crowds can be a bit much but just this morning I dropped off Harper and my husband at the docks for a pirate adventure and it was relatively quiet.  A ferry just arrived and delivery trucks were making their way to restaurants. I walked along the cobble streets to the coffee shop and thought this is one of the things I love about this place. Just walking around the quaint, historic New England village. AND pedestrians have the right away, cars and trucks stop for you and wave across. Complete opposite of life in NYC. 

Summer is wonderful here. An abundance of places to have picnics and barbecues; the beach, the docks or the wharf are all a perfect setting.  In our case we utilize the barbecue at our rental which also has a beautiful yard and garden with a quick 5 minute walk to the beach. We really are lucky.

So what to do when you pack a picnic and want it to look like the lovely dinner parties you give at home?  Here are some platter ideas that are picnic and environmentally friendly.

Simple sandwiches and chips.  Food52 using bamboo plates, paper straws, glass bottles and cloth napkins. 

Food52 crudite platter using a mesh net cover from Dot and Army. Starting from the bottom clockwise, yellow pepper sticks, cherry tomatoes keeping the vine intact, snap peas, orange pepper sticks, carrot sticks and celery sticks.  Notice how the green snap peas are placed to be diagonal from the artichoke dip; color coordination. 

Antipasto platter from Southern Living  - pickled okra, kalamata olives, roasted peppers, salami, breadsticks and cheese. 

Layered salad in a jar from Lavender and Lovage -  starting from the bottom, lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, green olives, salsa and sour cream.  Don't add the chips on top until you are ready to eat. No one likes soggy chips. 

Do you have any go to favorite platters you like to create for picnics or barbecues? There are so many wonderful ideas out there. Please share if you have a favorite. And thanks for visiting!

Tracey

My Favorite Homemade Salsa

Years ago I worked in Nantucket, Massachusetts for a summer. Nantucket if you do not know is a little island in the Atlantic off of Cape Cod, 30 miles out to sea.  I was in college and worked as a chambermaid, yes that's what I was called. I was basically housekeeping at a bed and breakfast called the Four Chimneys.  One of the many jobs we had was to put out chef made snacks around 4 pm with wine and beer for the guests.  The chef, who was a student at The CIA at The Hotel School at Cornell, made the most delicious, refreshing salsa I ever tasted.  I learned it was from a book called Home Cooking from Nantucket by Nancy Asche Ivas.  

Now closed, The Four Chimneys Inn

Now when I mentioned in the beginning that years ago I worked in Nantucket, I mean about 25 years ago.  At 18 I moved to Nantucket for the summer.  My second time to the island; my first being when I was 11 with my parents just for the day.   People say Nantucket is magical, a happy place and I think it may be.  I introduced my husband to the island when he was my then boyfriend.  He proposed to me on the island, and then we got married on the island.  There is something beautiful about it.  It is 30 miles out to sea and has a rich history.  A small village island in New England that is only a 30 minute flight from NYC.  

Looking back on it do all roads in my life lead to Nantucket? Even when I lived on the west coast I came to this island for vacations.

This is a great recipe to pack for a picnic because you can  make it a day in advance. And also this will last up to 2 weeks. That is if you don't eat it all right away. 

Your ingredients:

4 ripe tomatoes (hello summer tomatoes!)

2 jalapeños (get out to that garden or fire escape and harvest your peppers)

1 small can tomato sauce or 1/4 cup V8

1 teaspoon garlic minced

salt to taste

2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped (window box herb garden)

1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 scallions

juice of 1 lemon or lime (optional)

1  1/2 tsp. olive oil

Directions: Combine all ingredients, I usually am in a rush and use a mini chopper but you can cut everything up by hand if you want.  If you want a chunky salsa you should manually cut up the ingredients.  Pour into a bowl or storage container. Store overnight so the ingredients can settle and do the work.  If you don't have over night time, you can also make in the morning or afternoon for dinner.  The salsa is still quite good but the jalapeños definitely need some time to heat up the salsa.  Enjoy!

Here is a link to the book  this can be purchased thru Nantucket Bookworks which is a small, independent book store on the island, and my favorite bookstore ever.

Enjoy!