Rustic silverware. Square Fiesta plates. A color theme of blue and yellow established by the placemats and napkins, white sailor’s knot napkin rings, and some auxiliary dishes. Off to a good start to make a Provence-themed table to allow us channel the vibe of the South of France!
After I got my table set, I realized I didn’t have enough time to run out to the garden and pic some flowers. Improvise! I grabbed the Italian Biscotti jar from the kitchen counter to use as a centerpiece. It has the same colors as the rest of the tablescape and the same “country” feel. Plus, it’s low enough as to not obstruct the view of fellow diners.
I purchased these long and narrow blue and white dishes without a clue about what I would do with them. I placed them on top of the square plates and waited for inspiration to strike. My first thought was that I would place little hor d’oeuvres on them. Then I spied the asparagus waiting to be grilled and inspiration struck!
Two navy plates, two yellow plates. I tried four of one color and decided the table looked better when I mixed it up a bit. I particularly like the way the blue and white asparagus plate looks on top of the yellow dinner plate. The lemon slice helps tie the two together.
We made just a small portion of broccoli salad, so the safest thing to do was to apportion it into little ramekins so that each person would have a fair share. (Note: Serve family style only when the serving bowl has more than enough for your hungry hordes. Shortages are not pretty, but you avoid the empty bowl syndrome if you plan in advance the dole out the portions yourself.)
The other benefit of using special small dishes for things like salads and side dishes is that if your main course is going to be messy and occupy the entire plate (as ours was), you can move the other containers aside and not worry about everything ending up in one pile. I’m not totally neurotic about my food not touching, but I will admit to being a little squeamish about it.
The table looks bright and happy. Magnifique!
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