Setting your Holiday Table

When I was a child my mother enjoyed creating a beautiful table – candles, cloth napkins, napkin holders, music – you get the picture.  She also put her sterling silver to frequent
use.  She didn’t do it because it was “fancy”, but because she felt that the right setting and tone, plus good food, created an experience far different than simply good food. I believe she was right. The ambience of her meals was far from “fast food”.  We had a tendency to settle in more, talk more, linger more, take the meal more seriously.  It was an event, not just a re-fueling.

While I always found my Mother’s tables inviting, I have to say that it was in my Mother-in-law’s home that I really appreciated the variety and frequency of fresh flowers.

My husband grew up on a family farm and my Mother-in-law, Rhoda, was a master gardener and her gardens were glorious.   Nothing made her happier than to spend her days weeding her flower beds, and bringing some of those flowers into the house so that every meal in her home featured a simple but beautiful display of fresh flowers.

She once shared a piece of “farmwife wisdom” with my husband that is relevant to this story.  It was simply, “Don’t save the cream”.  To understand that you have to realize that when you milked your own cows you ended up with both milk and cream every day. Cream, of course, was always something sweet and special – something you might set aside for a special occasion.  The problem with that approach is that the cream would too often spoil before it was used.  Too special to use, but not too special to waste?  The simple wisdom was to not inadvertently waste the opportunity to enjoy things just because they are “special”.

It was in that spirit my Mother set the table with her fine silver every day (it never did wear out) and made each of those meals a bit more special.  It was in that spirit Steve’s Mom cut some of her flowers each day and brought them in where more people could enjoy them – even though they would have lasted a few more days if left in the garden.  And in that spirit you can make each meal more of an event, and a bit more special, each day.

Jane loves setting her table with fresh flowers too.  Her young girls Lily and Connie often pick garden flowers and fragrant herbs for the dining table on their way home from school.

This week, we’ve changed our 20 minute meal for a 20 minute post on a simple flower arrangement you can create for your holiday table.  We chose one of my favorite local floral shops – Twigs of Lake Bluff.  The owner Jeannie created an elegant arrangement you could create for your own holiday table.

Holiday Centerpiece by Jeannie

Flowers/Components

1 5″ x 5″ glass cube
1 Tablespoon Flower Food
1 stem of Nandina (cut into individual 9 inch lengths)
2 Large stems of Seeded Eucalyptus (cut into 4-5 individual stalks)
3 white hydrangea
3-6 Red Roses or Winterberries

Step 1 Start with a clean 5″ by 5″ glass cube and fill it 3/4 of the way with water.

Step 2 Add 1 tablespoon of flower food to your water- Jeannie recommends FloraLife.

Step 3 Green the vase by inserting layers of nandina followed by seeded eucalyptus.

Step 4 Cut hydrangea five inches from the bottom of the bloom and insert them in an angle so the stems point to the center.

Step 5 Take the leaves off the roses.  Cut each rose 7 inches from the bloom.

Step 6 Insert the first three roses on the top of the hydrangeas and/or continue to add 3 addtional roses at opposite angles around the vase.

For an alternate arrangment you could include winterberries.

Zen Toolkit

Always cut your flowers at an angle for better water absorption and a little flower food makes the flowers last longer and water remain cleaner.

Zen Moment

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence.  When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh