Table Setting Challenge

When we are a guest at the home of one of our dearest friends, I love to cook a meal for them as part of the ‘thank you’ for the stay. It can be a respite for the friend who is the host. In our case last week, Devin was driving up late after work, so a home cooked meal just seemed like a great way to kick-off the visit.

Along with cooking the meal, I also love to set the table. I know, how surprising. I get antsy when I am away for the shops and not moving stuff around. If the host is up for it, it is a fun way for them to see a different version of how they might usually set the table.

My only challenge was we were only making one stop for the day, and that was at a smaller country grocery store, so I knew the selection would be limited. I knew I wanted to roast a simple chicken with a variety of potatoes (yams, white, sweet) as well as roasted carrots. This would all go great with the kale & purple cabbage salad I wrote a post about the other day. The small market had all the above. Check. The main meal portion was set.

I searched high and low for hazelnuts for the salad. No luck on finding any already shelled, but they did have a bag of whole hazelnuts in the shells. They would also be great in a few bowls on the table, as well as the salad. A quick look in the fruit section produced these amazingly sweet looking Seckel pears. These would be perfect scattered around. As I round the corner to the petite flower section, I spotted a lone single bunch of white tulips. It was my lucky day.

With what I found at the grocer, I was now ready to pull from his cupboards and set the table. Creamy plates would be perfect. I found a hurricane urn with a giant candle sitting in a closet, that Dev uses in the Summer outside. This would be fab in the middle of the table. 3 pretty blue-ish glassbaby glasses would work beautifully, as well as a few clear glass votive holders to light up the table. I found 3 ceramic cups that would be the vases for the tulips. We had given Devin a bunch of shells on another visit after we had stayed out at the Wells cabin in Southold–these would be fun scattered in groupings. Simple glassware, a napkin, and we were all set for a cozy meal at his beautiful round terrazzo table. It was an evening filled with many good stories, yummy wine, and much laughter.