Is this New Year's at Seattle's hottest new restaurant? No, ladies and gentleman, this is a small dinner party that was hosted by my friend Kathy. Isn't her table gorgeous!? When everyone picked up their fork, I reached for my camera. This moment of delight needed to be captured.
We have been welcomed with open arms by our friend, Kathy. Her roots are in Michigan and an when old friend of hers told her look after me when I was in Seattle, she took it seriously. She and her sister, Paula and good friend, Mary have been there for me ever since, even coming to the hospital to sit with me during my mom's surgery. To cap off the holiday season, they invited Dan, my mom and me for a quiet dinner on New Year's Day.
Look at dynamite tablescape Kathy arranged for dinner. Mirrored trees, red votives and scattered gems gave the table a modern holiday feel. Dinner was the perfect prime rib served with mushroom orzo and carrot souffle. I have never felt so spoiled.
That is until she served dessert. We indulged in a perfect scoop of vanilla ice cream covered in white chocolate chards in a pool of raspberry sauce. Yum and yum.
I would never expect someone to go all out entertaining like this, but you know what? I love it. I love the formality. I love the sparkle of the wine glasses and the real cloth napkins. I love housewares and I love entertaining and when someone goes out of their way to make a night special, I appreciate it!
We laughed about our adventures in moving, told stories of life in Michigan and planned for fun times in the future. In fact, Kathy has called dibs on helping me unpack the many boxes marked "crafts/fabric/ANA/jewelry/duct tape" and organize my new home studio into a proper maker space. I don't know if she understands what she's in for, but I know we will have fun no matter what.
Thank you, Kathy. This peaceful meal was a wonderful way to start 2017.
I can't think of a gesture more kind than inviting someone from out of town, over for dinner. You can find every type of restaurant under the sun in the Seattle area, but none can rival a casual dinner on someone's deck. When the deck overlooks Lake Washington, even better.
Hotel living is fine in doses, but the square footage you have access to is "small x small." Going to a home for dinner and moving in and out onto the deck felt wonderful.
We could really breathe here. Fresh air. No hurry. A delicious meal of grilled teriyaki beef, asparagus with lemon and a big bowl of fresh fruit. An Angel Food cake was the perfect ending to a very peaceful meal.
Bill Gates lives on Lake Washington, so I gave a little wave when this large boat when by, just in case. I owe a lot to Bill in terms of technology and I am interested and proud of the work he and Melinda are doing at The Gates Foundation.
Look at the tip of Mount Rainier (above) glowing from the sun. It turned colors as the sun set and we stayed until the last bit of light was gone. We are so thankful for the generous spirits in Seattle. I will always remember this lovely evening on Lake Washington.
I had so much arranging the dining room for this casual dinner party. We were having 6 guests for dinner and I decided to serve white bean chicken chili, sugar-topped corn muffins, a big green salad and a chocolate cake.
I wanted the table to look special, but not intimidating, so I nixed the fine china and used a mix-and-match approach by pulling out all of my Spode "Blue Room" plates and cups/saucers. I bought classic white soup bowls at Crate & Barrel and used our everyday silverware. A friend had given me a package of Spode's Blue Italia paper napkins and it was fun to have an occasion to finally use them
For a little extra color, I placed a large April Cornell napkin in the middle of the table and set out four small bouquets of yellow roses, evenly spaced down the center. It looked so pretty! It was still March and after this year's Polar Vortex, no one could really believe that spring was coming. I knew that lemon desserts and bright colors would be pushing it. Shades of blue and yellow were the perfect segue into a spring table.
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