Quail Christmas, 2012

First things first...We are truly blessed to have the means to set a pretty table and invite our friends to join us for good food and fellowship. I am mindful that many are not so fortunate. My daughter has a passion for the work of the Food Bank. As a singer-songwriter, she has written and recorded a song that is the anthem for the world wide Crop Hunger Walk project. Her song, "Raise Your Voice" is featured in their video. I've included a link in the side margin of my blog. I hope that it will encourage you to support projects in your community that contribute to the effort to overcome hunger.

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It's the day after Christmas, and I'm happy and worn slick. Christmas Eve morning, we drove 3 1/2 hours to spend Christmas Eve ( dinner and church service) and early Christmas morning with our son, daughter-in-love, and two precious grandsons.

Six a.m. found us opening presents with the boys and enjoying a delicious Christmas breakfast prepared by Jami. Ten a.m. and an approaching snow and ice storm placed us back in the car for a now 4 1/2 hour drive home to share a Christmas evening tree and dinner with our daughter, son-in-love, and the newest blessing in our family, Beatrice Emaline, 3 months old...plus four friends who were without family for this Christmas.

Part of Sweet Mister's Christmas tradition always included a Quail Breakfast. This year, he requested that we prepare Quail Breakfast for our Christmas dinner. I designed my Christmas table with this in mind...

Come on in...You'll notice some familiar elements from the last few weeks...with a tweak here and there.

Red, white, and blue for Christmas? Why not? I decided to go for it.

I've had the Haviland "Twelve Days of Christmas" collection of plates waiting in the wings for some time. I was excited to have an opportunity to feature them in one of my tabletop productions. They were the crowning touch for my design. They were removed for our dinner/breakfast and returned for an encore as our dessert plates.

The red glass charger plate turned out to be an important design element. I wanted to keep the shimmering green accents, and I wanted to add blue. Increasing the touches of red allowed the design to achieve an effective balance of color and still remain Christmasy...is that a real word? Once again, I've used the Reed & Barton Francis I silver flatware.

For our Quail Breakfast, I knew that I wanted to use the Furnivals Blue Quail dinner plates. We've had a large service of this pattern for more than twenty-seven years. They were originally our dinnerware at our lake house...the house was sold many years ago, but I couldn't part with the dishes. The rim of this plate was the perfect amendment for the Haviland plates.

Continuing the red, white, and blue theme, I chose the red Fenton Empress goblet and the French Blue Whitehall Quilted Footed Tumbler. The light blue damask napkins belonged to our dear Nana. This evening I caught them in the red and green beaded candle ring that I chose to employ as a napkin ring. Are you beginning to see how my mind is working here?

For the centerpiece, I replaced the green shimmering ribbon, that you've seen the past few weeks, with a wired red and white checked burlap ribbon. I recreated the same looping design that I used with the other ribbon. Gone are the red quilted cachepots. Now the white poinsettias are ensconced in a pair of light blue stoneware jardinieres from Hobby Lobby. The hurricanes remain the same, minus the candy striped ribbon surrounding each pillar candle.

The buffet has also received minor adjustments. A touch of the red checked ribbon and the addition of another pair of the blue jardinieres completed my design.

Because the menu features a number of items that must be prepared last minute, our guests will take their plates and fill them in the kitchen...very laid back and relaxed from start to finish. Dinner will feature Fried Quail on toast with Cream Gravy, Scrambled Eggs, Crisp Bacon, Sour Cream Waffles with a choice of Warmed Syrup and Melted Butter or Fresh Peaches topped with Whipping Cream. Dessert offerings will be Homemade Cheese Cake and/or Mama's Brandy Ice. I had both...Diet to begin on the 26th.

This has been a fun, change of pace tablescape design for me. As exhausting as the Christmas holiday always seems to be, I am eagerly anticipating another round of Christmas designs for next year. After all, it's always special to be able to celebrate the most important birthday of each and every year. Happy Birthday, Sweet Jesus!

Wednesday is the 41st edition of Cuisine Kathleen's meme, "LET'S DISH". I'm excited to be a charter member. Pop over (pun intended for the Chef Supreme Kathleen) and join the fun!

Lots of great ideas to be gathered when you visit Yvonne at Stone Gable for TUTORIALS, TIPS, & TIDBITS. Don't waste another moment...hurry on over!

Thank you, yet again, to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting her magical meme, Tablescape Thursday. I'll be linking my post to "BETWEEN NAPS ON THE PORCH." Hop on over and check out the myriad of marvelous tablescape designs, after 10:00 AM on Thursdays. You'll be glad that you made the trip...it's a wonderful adventure.

When I think of December, I think about precious family traditions built through many years...this week, we relished celebrating Christmas with our family. How about you? With thankfulness for her dedication and efforts, I'm joining the multi-talented Tablescaper for her fabulous meme SEASONAL SUNDAYS. Hope to see you there!

You can check out KC's music at www.kcclifford.com, on iTunes, and on YouTube. I hope that you'll take a few minutes and give her a listen. You'll also enjoy reading back through her blog on this site. The girl can really write! Her latest CD is called "The Tag Hollow Sessions"" It is available on iTunes or through her website. I hope that you'll give her music a chance. I know that I have zero objectivity where she is concerned, but I think that you'll fall in love with her music and her!