There's a time that you forget about beauty, because the world is busy and fast, rushing you to move forward quickly... or difficult and challenging, leaving you full of tears.
Your soul is longing, though and the passing season will remind you about the desires, that are hidden inside of you. Live beautifully. Appreciate the gift of life. You never know, when it may be gone.
My summer was tough and sad, yet I gather my strength to notice the simple little beauties, that put together, grow to something special.
Since I eat a lot of fruit recently, I owe it to the beautiful apples, grapes, plums, peaches, pears, blackberries and blueberries. They are easy to prepare, healthy and delicious, either fresh or cooked.
The tablecloth is my stage, to set the mood for the gathering. It's old, brings past memories and sets the red, blue and in between hues. The colors are dark and rich, not my usually happy bright. There's calm and seriousness in them, which surprisingly, I like.
Looking over my collection of tableware and serving dishes I found the crystals.
Things that I don't recall using before, but with my nostalgic mood and the summer about to end, I figure I should check how they'll present themselves.
All seems to look good together.
As a star of the table, the fruit itself is going to be my centerpiece.
I always wish that my table is set beautifully as a whole, but I also want to master the plate arrangements, so that every guest feels my special attention and love for them.
As the tablecloth is busy, I use my simple, white fabric napkins. My big box of ribbons easily revealed something matching to the theme. Deep red, I wanted to avoid the Christmas bright color, plus a romantic lace and finished with a tiny bit of navy. The most important part of this set up, at least for me, is my home-grown eucalyptus. I read many times that it's a good greenery to work with flower arrangements, but now I had a chance to try it myself and I enjoyed it. Not only it looks good, but its lovely fragrance adds motivation for the creation.
With the still hot weather, I start with a refreshing fruit drink. The taste of it is the key, but the presentation must be pretty too.
It's a little bit of wine, sparkle with the green apple and blueberries.
Then, there's the fruity appetizer.
I prepare a fancy combination of flavor, texture and color, blackberry, mozzarella cheese and cucumber. Just so it's not too plain, I add a few drops of olive oil and crashed red peppers.
As much as my pride suffer, that not everything is made from scratch, and I must let it go... flatbreads.
They are colored with pears, arugula and feta and seasoned with whole colorful pepper.
For the desert, I serve grilled peaches with almonds and honey glaze.
The full plate is perfect for the summer, light and colorful.
My fruit table wasn't the only one, that I prepared this summer. I must share a little of my joy from the last IF event for the TABLE category. The main take away is, as I always say, it's not about the decorations or food, which of course, enhance the meeting, but there's nothing more important than the people, who gather around the table.
Besides the participants on my list of the successful event I'll place:
charming place
inviting decorations
tasteful food
educating lecture
inspiring questions
enjoyable activity.
In the previous event we had these boxes checked and it was a beautiful time, so I'm already planning the next one.
Hopefully you had a blessed summer and enjoyed many gatherings at the beautiful tables!
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