Lacamas Magazine April 2013 Issue
Man Cave!
CfD
Friday, April 5, 2013
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Today I'm chatting about TABLE SETTINGS. Some fun and creative ways to set the stage for a great evening of entertaining and dining. When you are creating a table setting it’s important to incorporate your personal style or the theme of the gathering with some rules or guidelines of TABLE SETTING. So, making sure that the basics are in place and then working around them is what we’ll talk about first. There are standard ways for a table to be set, and if you get all of your silverware and dishes in the right place, the rest will fall into place naturally. So, generally the perfect table settings include five piece sets of flatware and place settings.
Five piece flatware settings include:
soup spoon
tea spoon
salad fork
dinner fork
knife
The corresponding five piece place setting includes:
cup
saucer
bread plate
salad plate/bowl
dinner plate
Now, if you don’t own a complete setting, don’t worry about it. These are just guidelines and are not hard and fast rules. You can still set a beautiful table even if you only have a fork, knife and dinner plate! Having said that, there are also guidelines or rules about where all your pieces should be placed on the table. Some table setting rules can be ridiculously complicated and there really isn't any reason to set a table that is so complex that your guest are intimidated. The basic rule is this:
Put glasses to the right of each place setting
Put the bread plate to the left of each setting (upper corner works best) – the butter knife can be laid across the plate
The silverware should be set so that the guest works their way from the outside in – salad fork on the outside, then dinner fork. If you have knifes for each course, follow that same pattern. Forks go on the left, knives on the right. If you have a simple one fork/one knife setting, then you can choose between putting one on each side or putting them both on the left, side by side.
Salad plates can be placed on top of the dinner plate, or you can have the salad plate at the center of the setting and remove it after the salad course, replacing it with the dinner plate.
If you have a dessert set of flatware, the spoon/fork should go at the top center of the setting.
To simplify planning your settings, include pieces in your tableware collection that can serve more than one function. Earthenware pasta bowls are wonderful for pasta, risotto and polenta as well as for salads and gazpacho. Dipping bowls are another summertime staple for presenting fine olive oils, vinegars and condiments or savory nibbles like nuts and olives. In addition to holding beverages, wine and margarita glasses can double as serving vessels for fresh fruit salads, frosty sorbets and chilled seafood cocktails.
With your basic place settings in place, you can start to experiment with the actual decoration of your table. This is the fun part, where your imagination can be your guide. The one rule to keep in mind is that you want to set a table that will make your meal a comfortable experience for your guests. For instance, if you plan on serving food that will need to be passed around the table, then using lots of candles on your table may make passing that food difficult for your guests…(and remember passing is always counter clockwise). Likewise, make sure your centerpiece decorations don’t obstruct the field of vision of your guests – you want them to be able to chat freely across the table.
After your table settings, the single most important part of elegant table decorating is choosing your tablecloth. A simple white table cloth is the most classic and the easiest to dress up and down but using color, especially if your china is white is really beautiful. If you decide to go with a white tablecloth, a table runner can be added to brighten things up a bit. Table linens help set the mood for summer dining. To create visual contrast, mix solids and patterns or combine linens of different textures, such as a quilted cotton tablecloth with wicker place mats.
For Centerpieces you will have a lot of room to show off your creativity. Summer’s bountiful gardens inspire colorful table decorations. Floral arrangements are often casual and spontaneous, showcasing whatever is in bloom. Display a bouquet of just-picked flowers in a rustic earthenware pitcher, or use bud vases or tumblers to hold individual blossoms or newly cut herbs at each place setting. Create an asparagus candle wrap or arrange some lovely Brussels pouts into a topiary!. The possibilities are really endless. Summertime really makes you think of freshness so fruits, vegetables, flowers all come together to inspire.
For THEME events here are a couple of ideas:
CARIBBEAN BEACH PARTY
Write the party details on a white piece of paper and send the message in a bottle to all the guests invited to your island getaway. Make sure people come in beach attire, such as summer dresses, shorts and flip-flops.
Set up sitting stations, a corner with pails and sand, a hammock or a picnic bench. Keep your guests entertained with sand castle competitions, sand art and a game of limbo.
Food should be simple. Think barbecue, shish-kebabs, fish and vegetables and for drinks, tropical drinks like pina coladas and daiquiris. For dessert, choose ice cream, fresh fruit and Popsicles.
MOVIE NIGHT
Transform your yard with Hollywood glam for a summer movie party.
Send out "admit one" tickets as invitations. Gather some directors' chairs reserved as the best seats in the house. You can play a game of Scene It before the featured presentation to determine who will get the premium seats. Rent a projector and hang a white sheet between trees to create the screen. Serve an assortment of homemade gourmet popcorn and set up a candy station or a homemade ice cream station. Let the movie inspire the meal you serve at the barbecue.
ECO-CHIC FARMERS' MARKET
To invite earth-loving guests, save the trees and send out e-vites. Use recycled materials to decorate the space. Ask to buy typical containers from the vendors at the farmers' market and use them as vessels to create your tables capes. Create your centrepieces with potted herbs or gather fruits and vegetables in earthy, wood bowls. Go green by using real china dinnerware, glassware and flatware. Repurpose a bunch of bamboo cutting boards as serving trays and use solar battery lamps and candles to light the space. Serve only organic local food: vegetables, meat or poultry and fruits. Stuff the inside of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers or an apple to create appetizers and small bites with a wow factor. Use napkins made of burlap, linen or organic cotton. Tea towels can also make great napkins.
Five piece flatware settings include:
soup spoon
tea spoon
salad fork
dinner fork
knife
The corresponding five piece place setting includes:
cup
saucer
bread plate
salad plate/bowl
dinner plate
Now, if you don’t own a complete setting, don’t worry about it. These are just guidelines and are not hard and fast rules. You can still set a beautiful table even if you only have a fork, knife and dinner plate! Having said that, there are also guidelines or rules about where all your pieces should be placed on the table. Some table setting rules can be ridiculously complicated and there really isn't any reason to set a table that is so complex that your guest are intimidated. The basic rule is this:
Put glasses to the right of each place setting
Put the bread plate to the left of each setting (upper corner works best) – the butter knife can be laid across the plate
The silverware should be set so that the guest works their way from the outside in – salad fork on the outside, then dinner fork. If you have knifes for each course, follow that same pattern. Forks go on the left, knives on the right. If you have a simple one fork/one knife setting, then you can choose between putting one on each side or putting them both on the left, side by side.
Salad plates can be placed on top of the dinner plate, or you can have the salad plate at the center of the setting and remove it after the salad course, replacing it with the dinner plate.
If you have a dessert set of flatware, the spoon/fork should go at the top center of the setting.
To simplify planning your settings, include pieces in your tableware collection that can serve more than one function. Earthenware pasta bowls are wonderful for pasta, risotto and polenta as well as for salads and gazpacho. Dipping bowls are another summertime staple for presenting fine olive oils, vinegars and condiments or savory nibbles like nuts and olives. In addition to holding beverages, wine and margarita glasses can double as serving vessels for fresh fruit salads, frosty sorbets and chilled seafood cocktails.
With your basic place settings in place, you can start to experiment with the actual decoration of your table. This is the fun part, where your imagination can be your guide. The one rule to keep in mind is that you want to set a table that will make your meal a comfortable experience for your guests. For instance, if you plan on serving food that will need to be passed around the table, then using lots of candles on your table may make passing that food difficult for your guests…(and remember passing is always counter clockwise). Likewise, make sure your centerpiece decorations don’t obstruct the field of vision of your guests – you want them to be able to chat freely across the table.
After your table settings, the single most important part of elegant table decorating is choosing your tablecloth. A simple white table cloth is the most classic and the easiest to dress up and down but using color, especially if your china is white is really beautiful. If you decide to go with a white tablecloth, a table runner can be added to brighten things up a bit. Table linens help set the mood for summer dining. To create visual contrast, mix solids and patterns or combine linens of different textures, such as a quilted cotton tablecloth with wicker place mats.
For Centerpieces you will have a lot of room to show off your creativity. Summer’s bountiful gardens inspire colorful table decorations. Floral arrangements are often casual and spontaneous, showcasing whatever is in bloom. Display a bouquet of just-picked flowers in a rustic earthenware pitcher, or use bud vases or tumblers to hold individual blossoms or newly cut herbs at each place setting. Create an asparagus candle wrap or arrange some lovely Brussels pouts into a topiary!. The possibilities are really endless. Summertime really makes you think of freshness so fruits, vegetables, flowers all come together to inspire.
For THEME events here are a couple of ideas:
CARIBBEAN BEACH PARTY
Write the party details on a white piece of paper and send the message in a bottle to all the guests invited to your island getaway. Make sure people come in beach attire, such as summer dresses, shorts and flip-flops.
Set up sitting stations, a corner with pails and sand, a hammock or a picnic bench. Keep your guests entertained with sand castle competitions, sand art and a game of limbo.
Food should be simple. Think barbecue, shish-kebabs, fish and vegetables and for drinks, tropical drinks like pina coladas and daiquiris. For dessert, choose ice cream, fresh fruit and Popsicles.
MOVIE NIGHT
Transform your yard with Hollywood glam for a summer movie party.
Send out "admit one" tickets as invitations. Gather some directors' chairs reserved as the best seats in the house. You can play a game of Scene It before the featured presentation to determine who will get the premium seats. Rent a projector and hang a white sheet between trees to create the screen. Serve an assortment of homemade gourmet popcorn and set up a candy station or a homemade ice cream station. Let the movie inspire the meal you serve at the barbecue.
ECO-CHIC FARMERS' MARKET
To invite earth-loving guests, save the trees and send out e-vites. Use recycled materials to decorate the space. Ask to buy typical containers from the vendors at the farmers' market and use them as vessels to create your tables capes. Create your centrepieces with potted herbs or gather fruits and vegetables in earthy, wood bowls. Go green by using real china dinnerware, glassware and flatware. Repurpose a bunch of bamboo cutting boards as serving trays and use solar battery lamps and candles to light the space. Serve only organic local food: vegetables, meat or poultry and fruits. Stuff the inside of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers or an apple to create appetizers and small bites with a wow factor. Use napkins made of burlap, linen or organic cotton. Tea towels can also make great napkins.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Feng Shui and Tea Tasting????
Glorious Sunday morning to one and all. Wow! We've had some sweet weather here lately and I've been taking FULL advantage of it. I hope each of you takes a little minute each day to admire the beauty before you. Nature is interior design at the height of perfection.
Speaking of Interior Design...who's interested in a little 411 on FENG SHUI? Beth and I are hatching up a plan for our next class (August 2009 ..exact date to be determined) on FENG SHUI along with some lovely tea tastings...Stay tuned and enjoy all the gifts before you.
Good Thoughts, C
Speaking of Interior Design...who's interested in a little 411 on FENG SHUI? Beth and I are hatching up a plan for our next class (August 2009 ..exact date to be determined) on FENG SHUI along with some lovely tea tastings...Stay tuned and enjoy all the gifts before you.
Good Thoughts, C
Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday Friday Friday is my favorite day:)
Happy Friday to one and all..and what a GLORIUS one it is! Had a GREAT time at Lizzabeth A's last night...a FABULOUS group of Designing Women....great food from Beth @ Lizzabeth A's...just an all around super time. A big thanks to one and all. Good Thoughts, Carma
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thursday -- Come to CAMAS:)
Well Happy Thursday to one and all! I hope to see many smiling faces tonight at the first in the series of "Ask the Designer" classes. Tonight's class is on bringing the Inside Out..Creating an Outdoor Living Space. I am looking forward to giving out some guidelines and pointers to anyone trying to increase their living space by incorporating an outdoor area. The weather is just right to be entertaining or just relaxing outside with a great book and cool beverage:). Why not make a little oasis right in your own backyard? Times are tough but one still needs a little Rest and Relaxation..so let's make it easy and fun! Come on down to Lizzabeth A's tonight @ 7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. -- the cost is only $10..but well worth it..plus we'll have some delish eats and tasty beverages. Good Thoughts, C
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
I love this town for so many reasons. The first item on the agenda is a design class held at Lizzabeth A on Birch St. in Camas. Thursday, July 9th from 7 - 9:30 p.m. It is the first in a new series of "Ask the Designer" and it will give you the "how-to" on creating that PERFECT outdoor living space. The hip-hop happy local designer...MOI:) will answer your design questions as well...you just cannot go wrong!
Next...Let me ask you this...do you like discovering great places to dine...??? How about figuring out the hottest little boutique this side of the river? Or even better....explore different artist? New Music? WHO DOESN'T????
I just returned from a downtown Camas Merchant Meeting and WOW what a great group of big thinkers, go getters, have funners and give backers...ok, ok I know I'm making up words but you do get the picture. :)
First of all, we (meaning glorius Downtown Camas) have First Fridays...way too much fun. It just wasn't enough that the last one (July 1st) featured a smokin' hot car show with some of the sweetest rides you could ever see...Next month is going to go way out there artistically. On Friday, August 7th, 2009 the feature will be CAMLIVE! Artists from an array of venues will be featuring not only their work but how they create! Can you imagine???..it's not enough to just show you some truly sublime jewels but the artists will show you how the masterpiece was made! How about some live tunes? Yep, that will be there too. Maybe a little belly dancing, some cooking, a little pottery....the list goes on and on!
Next...Let me ask you this...do you like discovering great places to dine...??? How about figuring out the hottest little boutique this side of the river? Or even better....explore different artist? New Music? WHO DOESN'T????
I just returned from a downtown Camas Merchant Meeting and WOW what a great group of big thinkers, go getters, have funners and give backers...ok, ok I know I'm making up words but you do get the picture. :)
First of all, we (meaning glorius Downtown Camas) have First Fridays...way too much fun. It just wasn't enough that the last one (July 1st) featured a smokin' hot car show with some of the sweetest rides you could ever see...Next month is going to go way out there artistically. On Friday, August 7th, 2009 the feature will be CAMLIVE! Artists from an array of venues will be featuring not only their work but how they create! Can you imagine???..it's not enough to just show you some truly sublime jewels but the artists will show you how the masterpiece was made! How about some live tunes? Yep, that will be there too. Maybe a little belly dancing, some cooking, a little pottery....the list goes on and on!
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