When I say nourishment I mean it in a very broad sense. It's physical health, it's the rewarding process of cooking, it's breaking bread with friends and family, it's lingering for longer than necessary around a table.
The table is an important part of a meal. The way it's set and the way it's lit make a difference, at least for me, in how I enjoy a meal. When there is mail stacked up near my food, I do not relax as much as when the table has a clean cloth and some fresh flowers.
This week, in honor of Kitchen Month, I'll be looking at simple ways of making a table support your nourishment...
I see the table, whether or not it is in the kitchen or another room, as an altar to the food that comes from the kitchen - it should honor it with simple, beautiful things, without being too ostentatious.
We will accept no complaints this week about not having enough sterling flatware, long-stemmed roses, or damask tablecloths. We also won’t be asking you to doing anything too crafty.
Remember – the table is an altar to your food, and it is an integral part of nourishment. Begin with that idea and you will not fail.
(The photo is of one of my favorite tables I ever set. It had a white sheet for a tablecloth and weeds, literally, in a vase.) SKGR
Oooo, snap! I have mail stacked on my kitchen table. (hangs head in shame)
AMEN to this post! The reason I'm moving is because I want space for a desk *and* a kitchen table. My ex- very thoughtfully dismantled my desk when he rearranged my apartment while I was at work (one reason he's now an ex-), and said, "you can just use the kitchen table as a desk." WRONG! My kitchen table is for eating, on real plates, not paper, with cloth napkins, not paper, and my desk is for the computer, writing letters, doing art projects (for lack of a better term), storing mail, etc.
That said, in the meantime, I eat on the floor in front of the couch (hides face in *shame*), and the kitchen table is covered in mail and the laptop. I can't wait to move....
Ruth--
Too busy surfing for porn on your new phone to keep up with the mail eh? ;)
skgr--
That table setting shot makes me wish for Summer, even though I am loving this snowy day. Very nice!
karenw--
did you get my email?
Patrick - me too! I should've said that white sheets and branches would work for winter. But the season of weeds is upon us, and for me, that means sumptuous table-tops are ahead.
Yep-- wrote back, gotta hop, be back later.
Patrick, you betcha. Did you get those links I texted over to you? ;-)
You know, I don't think I've ever eaten at a table as nicely laid out as the one in the photo. And it does seem that money isn't really necessary, just careful thought and planning. I saw Colin Cowie do a table once based on a random fabric remnant, bought dishes at Pearl River, had grass as a centerpiece and it was gorgeous.
Ruth--
GET 'em? I'm IN one of 'em!! ;)
Ah, tabletop GOD Colin Cowie! I can never decide whether he is brilliant or just a hilarious display queen. Which is why I love him!!
My new obsession- inexpensive fine china on Ebay. Yes, you have to pay for shipping and bubble wrap, but $8 for 10 1940's Limoges plates (unchipped) is great. There's lots of Loewy and Eva Zeisel stuff on ebay too.
I inherited my mother's sterling flatware. It's service for 8 and I was able to expand it to 12 through ebay. LOVE EBAY!
When my grandmother downsized to an apartment from a house, I got the good china. It's a Noritake pattern from the mid-forties, and even though I have to hand-wash them, I get a good feeling when I set the table for a special meal. Especially on the white cloth she hemmed as a girl.