Bread and Roses

For those new to my blog, New Year's Eve is our wedding anniversary.   All year I thought we were celebrating #17, but after finally sitting down and calculating, I realized that it only been 14 years.  I was never very good with math.  I got it right the last few years which you can see HERE and HERE, but apparently had a senior moment in 2012.  

My table started with some inspiration from Z Gallerie on a recent trip to Atlanta.  I loved the look of the woven placemats dipped in precious metal.  

I found my round placemats at IKEA.  They were natural so I sprayed them with metallic silver.  I placed them on black satin runners which I made several years ago.  I used black chargers and my Lenox Maywood china.  Blinged out napkin rings were found at Target on clearance, but I had to go to three stores to find ten. 

The black marbled rose bowl was found at a local antique store.  It's not old, but I as soon as I saw it, I knew it had to have big fat red roses in it! 

In August we attended a family reunion.  Outside of our Kentucky Lake cabin was a dead Henry Lauder's Walking Stick.  Everyone laughed at me when I asked my husband to cut some branches at put them in the car.  

I sprayed them with the same silver metallic paint and then wrapped them in fairy lights.

I added my Orrefors votive holders, some silver balls and black birds with silver beaded collars to perch on the branches.  

The candleholders were found on clearance at Ross last year.  

A little silver ornament at each place holds a package of Joni's, from Red Couch Recipes, Grandmother Utahna Felix's English Toffee and a name tag.  You can find her recipe HERE.  She was right, it is totally addictive. 

Fred brought beyond delicious crab cakes and his significant other made goat cheese tarts with a pecan crust for our appetizers.  I made some caramelized applewood smoked bacon which was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I will share the recipe at the end.  It is not healthy, but once a year it's worth the effort. 

Double Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes and Crown Roast of Pork with Apple Pecan Sourdough Bread Stuffing.  

Served with Janie's Roasted Carrots and Broiled Asparagus and Thom's tender rolls. He makes wonderful rolls, but his desserts outshine everything.

Apple Cranberry Tart with Caramel Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream.  Sinfully delicious and seriously caloric. 

My precious FIL is always the life of the party!  

Happy New Year to everyone and Happy 15th Anniversary to us! In spite of me forgetting the champagne (another seniors moment) we celebrated a wonderful evening with family and friends. 

Come visit the following parties with me:
You're Going to Love It!

Let's Dish

Tablescape Thursday

Feathered Nest Friday

Seasonal Sunday

Caramelized Black Pepper Bacon

1 1b thick cut applewood smoked bacon

2-3 T fresh ground pepper

1-2 cups of dark brown sugar

Lay bacon on rack over a baking sheet lined with parchment.  Leave some space between each slice so they don't stick to each other. 

Sprinkle with ground black pepper and then the brown sugar.  The layer of brown sugar should be thick.  Pat down the brown sugar with your palm as much as possible.

Bake in 275 degree oven for 3 hours.  Let cool on rack and then separate.  Do not layer finished bacon on serving platter until it is completely cooled to room temperature or it will all stick together.  

If bacon fat coagulates on the top of the bacon, place in a warm (200 degree) over for about 10 min and blot fat with paper towel.

Pining for Silver Pine

Christmas morning is layed back and relaxing at our house since there are no small children.  As the day goes on, I get very busy with all the meal prep.

Luckily, like many of the other tablescapers, my table was ready early.  

It started with the Kent Silver Pine dishes I found in Oct at an antique mall.  It was love at fist sight, but I didn't buy them right any b/c I thought they only had the platters and serving pieces that were displayed. 

Later that day when I went back to take additional photos of the platters and my friend said, "Did you see this tag that says, EIGHT FULL PLACE SETTINGS!".  No, I didn't see it and I was so glad she pointed it out to me.  Within minutes, I was all over these dishes.  

The pattern is Kent Silver Pine made in Japan.  There are a few salad plates by Narumi, also called Silver Pine.  I was unable to find any information on either manufacturer, but the plates are identical. 

I fell in love with the elegant, simple lines, muted color pallet, and the tablescaping wheels started turning.

I wanted to use fresh greenery and The Hunter brought home some to try, but unfortunately, he brought it home in Nov and with all the warm weather, by Christmas, it was way past it's prime.  

I was fortunate to find beautiful artificial greenery that I loved.  The candles were a last minute addition from Pottery Barn purchased at 7:00 AM on Dec 23.  Crazy to be at the mall on Dec 23, right? Crazy like a fox!  Marked down twice!   You may notice in the following photos that as they burned, the light started glowing through the bark.  

Place mats from Tuesday Morning, Ralph Lauren napkins from Home Goods.  The chargers have a wood pattern and were ordered from Save-on-Crafts.com.   I wasn't sure if silver and brown would work together, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved the combination.  

The pine cones of all sizes belonged to my MIL and when she decided to clean out 40 years of accumulated collecting, I became the lucky new owner.  I struggled to get the largest pine cones to stand upright, but as you will see, I finally won that battle!

I discovered that the little aluminum bottom from a votive candle fit perfectly on the bottom of the pine cone allowing it to stand upright.  Candlestick from Tuesday Morning and the globe is Shannon Crystal.  I love how the pattern echos the pine cones.  

My newest flatware:  Sheraton by Oneida. 

Mercury glass votives tucked into the greenery.  

My daughter Melissa brought one of my Granddogs, Murphy, to visit for Christmas dinner.  

I hope your Christmas was filled with family love like mine was.  I will be joining the following parties:
Let's Dish!
Tablescape Thursday
Seasonal Sunday