Easter 2015

We had a lovely Easter this year, with both our offspring visiting with their families for the weekend.  The weather cooperated, with sunshine and comfortably cool temperatures for lots of backyard play and patio sitting.

My older granddaughter loves to cook, so we made desserts together.  One fun project was making chocolate-dipped strawberry "carrots" to garnish pots of chocolate mousse. Her younger cousin enjoyed watching the process.

The "carrots" turned out really cute! And the mousse, topped with chocolate cookie crumb "dirt," was delicious, too.

Of course, we also needed to dye some eggs for hunting!

There was also some cute cousin cuddling time on the patio.

Sunday morning the grandchildren donned their Easter outfits.

After church, four generations sat down for Easter dinner in the dining room.  The table was set with my Castleton Gloria china, and each plate was topped with gingham napkins from Pier 1 last year and Lindt chocolate carrots.  Yellow tulips and silver dishes filled with candy eggs were the centerpiece.

Our menu was traditional -- ham, macaroni and cheese, green beans, rolls -- but we tried a new dessert, Emeril's banana cream pie. It was spectacular!

Planning for Easter

This table is something of a dry run for Easter.  We may have as many as ten around the table this year, as our son and his family are moving to the Austin area the week before Easter.  I will finally have all my chicks in one state -- yay!

I knew I wanted to use the pretty Castleton Gloria china that my mother surprised me with two years ago.  You can read the story of that surprise here.  Gloria has a thin robin's egg blue band around the rim, so I pulled out these coordinating placemats, which were a gift from my sister.

I also wanted to use these cute dessert plates, as well as some pastel gingham napkins, all from Pier 1 this year. I added egg cups in colors to match the napkins and some paper mache eggs I've had for years.  Here's the pink version . . .

the lavender version . . .

the green version . . .

and the yellow version.  I was pleased with how well all the different pastels worked with the robin's egg blue. 

 For a simple centerpiece, I pulled out two nests and added robin's egg blue eggs.  (Is that redundant?)

For Easter dinner, I will remove the candles and add fresh flowers, more placesettings and real eggs in the egg cups as placecards.  And the grands might "need" a chocolate bunny at their places, don't you agree?

Thanks for stopping by!  I will be linking to the party at Cuisine Kathleen, so hop on over to see other tables featuring eggs, birds, and/or nests!

How Do You Like Them Apples?

The theme for this week's Let's Dish at Cuisine Kathleen is apples!  Alas, I don't have any apple-themed dishes -- yet -- so I'd have to bring apples in another way.  I decided to use my Castleton Gloria dishes that my mama surprised me with last year.  So, Saturday morning I pulled out a plate and went to the closet where I keep table linens and tried it with several different colors.  I finally settled on layering my twig placemats over some green ones. 

With the green background, Granny Smith apples were called for.  I piled a bag of small ones into my trifle bowl, added water, then stuck in carefully arranged some mums.  So easy, but I really like the look!

 I wanted to add some more color, so I used the handy tool my son gave me and cut out the tops of some larger Granny Smiths, then used it again to cut some soaked floral foam to fit the opening.  The tool makes holes the right size for tealights, but I wanted to use flowers this time.

I inserted some mums and they turned out pretty cute!

Here's another view.

The placesetting:

And a few photos of the table. . .

Thanks for stopping by!

An Easter Table

We aren't actually hosting Easter dinner this year, but when my husband brought home a large bunch of daffodils from HEB, they practically demanded that I set a festive Easter table.

I've been wanting to use the pretty Castleton Gloria china that Mama surprised me with last year, so I pulled it out of storage.  As you can see below, it has a thin robin's egg blue band inside the gold-trimmed scalloped edge and taupe roses in the center. 

The placemats and napkins from my Nashville sister work perfectly with this pattern.  This photo shows the "lizard" pattern in the placemat.  Belvedere is the silver pattern.

I added a single daffodil to my bud vase napkin rings to bring a little yellow to table level.

Couldn't resist this close-up!

To add a bit more yellow, as well as an Easter touch, I remembered some faux eggs I've had for several years, so added one to each coffee cup.

Then I remembered a couple of small nests I'd picked up when my mother and sisters and I visited Salado a few years ago, so I added those to the table, along with some eggs to match the placemats.

Here's what a placesetting looked like after I added crystal and silver.  I think these shades of blue and yellow play well together!

Here is a diner's view across the table:

Here are the stars of the show, the gorgeous daffodils:

Here's the table, set for four. 

Thank you for stopping by this week!  I will be linking to Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish and Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursday, and you will see many pretty spring and Easter tables there.

My Collection Grows. . .

Last month many of my family members gathered in Little Rock to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday.  We had a wonderful, four-generation weekend together, with lots of love and laughter shared.  Here's a photo of Mama, ready to go teach Sunday School.  (She teaches a group of women ages 85 and up -- the "Heaven Bound" class.)  I hope I am as active and healthy as she is when I'm her age!

Shortly after I arrived at my parents' house, Mama said she had a surprise for me.  "But it's YOUR birthday!" I protested.  She led me into her living room, and there on her table was a set of china!  That very morning while reading the want ads, Mama had seen a set of Castleton Gloria for sale -- eight place settings for a very good price.  She called the seller, told him she wanted it, and he delivered it -- all before I arrived that afternoon.  Mama knows I love china, so she decided I "needed" this set.  Who was I to argue with my mama?? 

Now, the tricky part was -- how was I going to get home with the china, since I'd flown?  Mama had already thought of that.  My daughter and granddaughter were driving up from Houston, and they could take it back to Texas, then bring it to me the next time they came to my house.  Problem solved!

And if new china weren't enough, my sister from Nashville had brought me a gift from my favorite store there, Color -- a set of placemats and napkins that went perfectly with the Gloria, as well as some wonderful hydrangea napkin rings!  Do I have a great family, or what??

I know you're ready for some pictures now, if you're still with me after that long backstory.  This past weekend my daughter and her family visited us and brought the china, so at last I've been able to play with my new dishes and set a table using the placemats, napkins, and napkin rings from my sister.  Here's a look at the dinner plate -- taupe roses on cream, trimmed with robin's egg blue near the rim and a gold-trimmed pearl edge.

Castleton Gloria pattern

Here's a look at the placesetting.

  This closeup shows the perfect color match between the plates' trim and the table linens my sister chose.

Here's an even better look, and you can also see the wonderful pattern of the placemats.

Of course, to go with those adorable napkin rings, I needed some hydrangeas for the centerpiece!  I was in luck -- HEB, our local grocery store, had them in just the right color. 

Here's a view of the table, set for four.

One little detail I love about Castleton patterns is that the inside of the teacups is usually decorated. 

Here are some other examples, from my mother's and sister's patterns.  I've enjoyed posting tablescapes with their china before.  Click on the captions if you'd like to see more.

Castleton Empire

Castleton Ma Lin

Castleton Mayfair

Here's another view of the table.

And one more look at this pretty pattern. . . .

Now the only challenge will be finding a place to store all these new dishes!  I will be linking to Let's Dish at Cuisine Kathleen this week, so be sure to visit to see other dish-related posts!