Oh, the agony of planning another special occasion dinner for a crowd – just kidding! You don’t agonize over Thanksgiving dinner; you love putting on a regal setting and serving up the finest bites around. In fact, you are known as the hostess with the mostest in your neighborhood, right? So, here are a few of the best ideas to make this year’s dinner the gala event that everybody expects and that you so enjoy putting on.
A Harvest Spice Thanksgiving
Get out your recipe books (well in advance of the occasion, of course!) and raid your spice cabinet. This theme is all about fall colors and rich, flavorful food. You’ll want to experiment with all the fall vegetables you can get your hands on – the more reds, oranges and yellows, the better. Welcome guests with a mulled wine or spiced apple cider and the tone will be set for the rest of the dinner.
Favors: The best of your bounty. Offer each guest a 4.2-oz jar of homemade fall preserves, topped with orange ribbon.
Table setting: Lay a fall-colored table cloth and complementary orange or brown cloth napkins. Place in the center of table glass or pottery bowls filled with tiny pumpkins, gourds, dried decorative corn cobs, and scentless votive candles. Scatter tiny pinecones between place settings.
A Simply Elegant Thanksgiving
Your dinner is elegant and the decor sleek and glamorous. Twinkling lights, glittery dishes, and a soft ambiance make this event a special one for your guests. Keep things simple with white, gold and other metallic colors that dazzle. Some soft music in the background sets the tone.
Favors: Golden paper horns of plenty. Make small golden cones out of stiff scrapbooking metallic paper. Attach with a dot of hot glue covered with a few dried fall flower buds. Fill with homemade treats or store-bought toffee candies wrapped in shiny twists.
Table setting: Lay a white tablecloth or one of any other solid color; use matching or purposely mismatched plates with elegant designs as well as your finest crystalware. If you have a collection of silverware, this is the time to bring it out. Folded and ironed cloth napkins are a must. Tiny pumpkins, elegant candles and pomegranates make elegant centerpiece arrangements.
A Rustic Country Thanksgiving
If time is short, a homey rustic dinner is perfect in all its simplicity. A buffet style spread works well as does the conventional sit-and-serve. Pull out all the turkey and pilgrim crafts the kids made over the years and set out a few vases of dried fall flowers. The goal here is simplicity and 100% comfort.
Favors: A paper bag turkey drumstick filled with candy treats. Place a handful of candy corn or other sweets into a lunch-sized paper bag. Gather together three quarters of the bag to make the bone of the drumstick. Tie the end closed with white paper strips or turkey paper frill booties.
Table setting: Choose a tablecloth with a country motif or a bright graphic pattern. Take the old family dishes down from the hutch and use canning jars as glasses. Bring out the hurricane oil lamps you usually keep for blackouts. Lace slender stalks of wheat around your tableware and make large braided and glazed yeast breads to use as edible centerpieces.
What are your favorite dishes and table settings? We would love to hear from you! Please send all content and images to publisher@nonahoodnews.com.
