HYACINTHS FOR THE SOUL: black and white

Showing posts with label black and white. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Table Talk ~ Galentine's Day

Ambiance Vintage Garden

Valentine's Girlfriends' Dinner Party ~ 2017

Those of you who follow along here at Hyacinths for the Soul

may remember that a group of my girlfriends

formed a small dinner group in the early 1980s.

We gather for dinner to celebrate

birthdays, holidays, or just because.

Monday evening, February 13th, we celebrated

Valentine's 2017 with dinner here.

I read that February 13th is Galentine's Day.

I had to google to see what that is.

~ Galentine's Day ~

I'd say that's exactly what we celebrated this year.

Last year I had great fun mixing my
MacKenzie-Child's Courtly Check

with a Queen of Hearts theme for a CAMEO meeting in our home.

You can read about this table here.

I wanted to do something different this year,

yet retain the same theme,

using both the black and white

and the Queen of Hearts.

I gathered my group of Queen of Hearts

figures on a tray for my centerpiece.

Patience Brewster's regal Queen was there, along

with Hop Hopping Boo's tall, skinny whimsical gal.

Lori Mitchell's darling Queen of Hearts

joined my collection this year.

As did this miniature version of Pier I's larger

Queen of Hearts that came home with me last year.

This petite lady has dangly legs, so I propped her on the edge

of the valentine tin used as a cache pot.

It's always fun to see the different artists'

creative interpretation of the Queen of Hearts.

Allen Cunningham's on the left,

and Mary Engelbreit's on the little box.

I set the table with black and white dishes

and a good helping of brilliant gold.
I thought it looked pretty regal!

Quilted red placemats with a scalloped edge anchored the stack.

White Charger ~ Ambiance Vintage Garden

Gold Fluted Glass Dinner Plate ~ Maker Unknown

Salad Plate ~ Cynthia Rowley

Crystal Dessert Stem ~ Maker Unknown

Crystal Wine Stem ~ Crystal D'Arques

Flatware ~ Sir Christopher by Wallace

At the brilliant suggestion of my sweet friend,

Monique @ La Table De Nana,

dinner was a one dish meal of

Baked Chicken Milanese with Arugula and Tomatoes.

Sweet Potato Cornbread Muffins

made in heart shaped tins were served on the side.

Thank you, Monique!

Dinner was delicious, healthy, and "kitchen friendly".

I highly recommend both of these recipes

which can be found Here and Here.

For dessert I offered each their own regal cookie crown

along side a Table Talk spoon.

The Table Talk spoons sparked a bit of fun

and lively discussion after dinner to stir up our conversation.

I selected six different questions from the box of 30.

Available here.

A hostess can select the questions of choice,

or one could simply put the spoons in a container

and have each guest draw out a spoon to answer.

Either way these conversation starters will

offer a lively conversation.

Would you rather take tea

with Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks?

What is your most guilty pleasure?

Miss Sadie and I wish you a very

Happy Valentine's Day!

Joining

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop @ Peonies and Orange Blossoms

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen

Home and Garden Thursday @ Delightsome Life

Share Your Style @ Vintage Nest

Foodie Friday and Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound

Dishing It and Digging It @ Life and Linda

Mosaic Monday @ Normandy Life

Monday Social @ Botanic Bleu

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Blue Monday @ Backyard Neighbor

The Scoop @ Cedar Hill Ranch

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Show and Share @ Coastal Charm

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Tiptoe Through the Daffodils

black and white

Easter has come and gone,

and April is knocking at our doors.

I had planned a "tiptoe through the tulips"

sort of theme for Easter 2016.

When I spotted these adorable golden bunnies

while in Dallas during February, I knew they

would be fun with my group of Courtly Check vases

and urns that I had used for my Queen of Hearts

table for Valentine's Day here.

My plan was to exchange the red tulips for pink,
use stacks of gardening books in
place of the red themed decorating books,

and trade out the Queens of Hearts for bunnies.

The crowns and

Courtly Check hearts

hanging from the brass chandelier . . .

Gave way to frolicking bunnies

and Courtly Check Easter themed figures.

It all came together easily, and we've enjoyed a lovely

spring table during the month of March.

Fresh tulips filled the vases each week
while tulip bouquets were available for just a few dollars.

But by Easter week, tulip prices were suddenly

two and three times what I had been paying.

I decided it best to tiptoe

through the daffodils instead.

With daffodils available for two dollars

a bouquet, it was an easy choice.

A few girlfriends came over early in the week

for a light but delicious chicken hack salad.

Before dinner we munched on chips and guacamole and

healthy "rabbit food," along with a glass or two of prosecco.

Lemon tarts were our treat for dessert.

It was a lovely spring evening

out on the terrace under the full moon.

Our Texas weather didn't cooperate for an

Easter Sunday alfresco brunch as planned, so

Saturday afternoon I decided to set the table inside.

The William Sonoma rabbit offered to load up his
basket with daffodils and hop on board as our centerpiece.
Limoges boxes, gifts from a sweet friend through the years,
were nestled in the grass below.

The other bunnies and daffodils that had been on the table

settled in on the buffet and on tables on the sun porch.

Wedgwood Nantucket Basket was the obvious

choice with the woven basket detail, and green chargers

added just the right color with the natural linens.

Petite vases of daffodils brightened each place setting.

The Texas Easter Bunny filled festive cones

with special chocolates for each of our guests to take home.

We enjoyed tasty appetizers with

champagne to start us off.

I had to have at least

one bouquet of tulips for Easter!

The vintage Easter toys were finds while

antique shopping last year.

They are J. Chein and Co. tin toys

from the 1940s and 1950s,

a bit of nostalgia from my own childhood.

Small bites of smoked trout and smoked salmon

are one of the chef's specialties.

~ Easter Brunch ~

French Toast Sticks with Maple Syrup

Open Face Ham and Scrambled Egg Sandwich

Caramalized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart

Bacon and Sausage Medly

Tri Colored Salad

Lemon curd tarts were my "go to" dessert for Easter week.
My inspiration was that cute lemon curd tart with a
pie crust bunny seen in the top left corner of the mosaic above.
Jain @ A Quiet Life shared the idea in a post here.
The bunny chalkboard was an Easter gift
from a friend that arrived in time to do dessert buffet duty.