Tablescape Thursday - "The First Blush of Love"

Hello and Welcome to Tablescape Thursday. This lovely blog party is hosted each week by Susan at (Between Naps on the Porch) so be sure to pay her a visit for a complete list of tablescapers. Today's table is called "The First Blush of Love" and it has been created to pay tribute to those first tender stirrings of one's heart when true love is suddenly realized. I'd like to dedicate this table to my friend, Kathleen Ellis who has inspired me this week with her lovely and romantic posts highlighting Valentine's Day vignettes. For more romantic living ideas please visit her here.

For us women, romance is all about feeling pampered. Beautiful surroundings evoke feelings of pleasure, love and fantasy. I believe that special occasions should be celebrated with nuances that stimulate all the senses - sight, sound, smell and taste. Sitting down to an elegant dinner is twice as nice when the presentation has been thoughtfully considered.
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This table has been set for a special Valentine's dinner for two. Each element was added to heighten the romantic mood of the occasion.

The focal point of the centerpiece is this adorable garden cherub bust. This was on the clearance table at my local HomeGoods store. I am sure he is thinking about love.

I started with an ivory lace cloth, then layered on a quilted ivory placemat. I wanted to keep the color scheme to pink and ivory. My pinks range from a soft pastel pink to a deep saturated fuchsia. The dinner plate is ivory and the salad bowl is ivory with a pink band around the edge and gold trim. I found the salad bowls on clearance for $1 each! What a steal.

To add a little more romance, I used two ornate picture frames in antique silver and printed initials on pink card stock, then I cut them to fit the center of my frames. You could also use photos of your loved one or pictures of you and your significant other as a couple. I sat each frame next to a placesetting. For a large dinner party, use smaller frames, placing initials or names in each one to assign places at the table.

Of course you can't have a Sweetheart table without any hearts. This hot pink velvet heart box is the perfect place to tuck away a little Valentine's gift for later. ;-)

On the back of each chair, I attached a mini heart-shaped wreath.

A small votive candle holder shaped like a heart held a rose scented votive and was placed inside the shallow salad bowl.

Two small pots of pink Peonies (my Grandmother's favorite blooms) flank either side of the cherub centerpiece. Ivory napkins held by sterling silver rings cradle a silk rose in bright fuchsia.

Perhaps you will be spending Valentine's Day by yourself this year. You can still have a romantic dinner. Go ahead and treat yourself. Pull out that good china and crystal, make yourself a scrumptious 7-course dinner, light some candles, turn on some soft music and enjoy being alive! This antique wood and rattan tray has been set with the single diner in mind. A couple of birds perch on the corner of the tray to remind you that Spring is just around the corner and everything will be bursting forth with new life! That's cause to celebrate!

Meet Miss Daisy. This adorable plush bunny was a gift from my youngest son. She is just the perfect guest at my Sweetheart table - not overly talkative but pretty to look at. LOL!

The crocheted lace you see in this photo was handmade by my Mother-in-law, Ann who lives in FL. Through the years she has made me lovely doilies, placemats and tablerunners. These are cherished items - keepsakes that hopefully, one day but not anytime too soon, my own daughter-in-laws will cherish.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed "The First Blush of Love". I want to thank each one of you who left such lovely and encouraging comments on my tablescape last week. Your kind words let me know that you receive joy from looking at my table and that makes me very happy. I want to leave you with this thought:

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"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:10

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So whatever gift that you have I pray that you will offer it freely to bless the lives of those around you and to beautify the garden in which you've been planted.
Happy Valentine's Day!
~Alisa

Jewelry, Chocolate and Good Friends!

The "CHOCTAILS and Jewelry" party was a lot of fun! I had 12 guests plus my personal jeweler, Jerrie. Since we were encouraging gift shopping for Valentine's Day, I used a red, pink and white color scheme and of course we had PLENTY of chocolate. My Cherry Cheesecake Brownie Bites turned out delicious. They are so easy to make and tasted oh so yummy! I will definitely keep this recipe handy for the future.

Fresh strawberries with whipped chocolate dip were a big hit.

My heart-shaped cake turned out nicely. I decided to frost it with chocolate fudge icing instead of the marshmallow creme frosting listed on my recipe.

It was 6:25pm and everything was set and ready!

My "personal jeweler", Jerrie arrived to set up the jewelry display. I met Jerrie such a few months ago. She moved to my area from the coastal part of NC. She is a sweet, sweet lady, so funny and so good at accessorizing fashion.

She set up two tables of jewelry - everything was so pretty. Sterling silver, gold, rhodium, hand made glass beads, oh my!

This is my friend Christina. She works with me in the home interior business. She came out to support me and order some silver jewelry.

Meet Marsha and Michelle. Yes, they are sisters and from my home state of WV!

These ladies are always up for a "get together". Both of them have such wonderful personalities and are so funny.

I even had a couple of husbands in attendance. Here's John with his lovely wife, Teddie. I think a Valentine present was on his agenda for the evening.

The tulips I purchased Wednesday morning opened up just in time for the party.

This is another good friend, Shelly. We go to church together. Shelly loves bling! Before the night was over she was decked out!

Veronica (another sistah from WV) and Jerrie posing for the "blogcam".

The party was so fun. The food turned out so good. But the friendship and the conversation was priceless. You know with the current state of our nation, the trouble and concern that fills so many of the faces I see everyday, it is good to extend hospitality to each other, support one another in enterprise, love and encourage each other on a DAILY basis.

The Message puts it like this:

"Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.

And the best of the three is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13b

Find someone today and tell them you love them. Call someone you haven't spoken to in a little while and let them know how important they are to you. As the old commercial jingle used to say, "Reach out and touch someone".

I hope you all have a FABULOUS Saturday. I don't have any big plans - organize my closet, finish up some laundry and make a quick trip to a furniture consignment shop up-town. I'm looking for a couple of accent chairs for a "makeover" project. Next week I hope to share another "Junk to Gems" feature and my Grannie Isaacs' "Chicken and Dumplings" recipe on "The Cook's Corner". The powder room makeover is FINISHED! I was going to post the reveal yesterday but I volunteer at my son's high school and so I was tied up with that most of the day. Once I came home is was time to get ready for the party....

Since we are close to Monday, I will post the reveal for Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com so be sure to check it out. Until then,

Happy Decorating!

~Alisa

The Cook's Corner - Choctails & Jewelry

Welcome to The Cook's Corner! I wanted to share some delicious, quick and easy dessert recipes today. I am preparing for a "Choctails & Jewelry" party on Friday night and thought I would get some of my "do ahead" items off my list today. I also want to do a run through with my decorations. My very good friend Jerrie opened her own jewelry business last fall with Premier Designs Jewelry. You may not be familiar with it but it is high quality fashion jewelry. Many of the pieces remind me of Brighton Jewelry and the prices are similar. So I scheduled Jerrie to come on Friday night and present her lovely jewelry to a group of my friends while us girls celebrate Valentine's Day just a little early. The party is at 7pm and since most of the girls will have had dinner by then, my theme is "Choctails". Everything on my menu will be CHOCOLATE! I have 4 recipes to share. The first one comes from my Easy to Bake, Easy to Make cards.

Valentine Heart Cake

1 package white chocolate cake mix or cherry chip

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 large egg whites

1 jar marshmallow creme

1-2 tablespoons heart-shaped cake decors

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one 9-inch square cake pan and one 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper or waxed paper. I use parchment paper.
• Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers of cakes comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
• Mix sugar, water, and egg whites in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, beating continuously with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, add marshmallow creme; beat mixture on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes longer.
• Remove cakes from pans and remove paper liners. Place square cake on serving platter. Cut round cake in half.
• Place round cake halves against 2 adjacent sides of square cake to form heart shape. Spread top and sides with marshmallow creme frosting and decorate with heart-shaped decors as desired.

My next recipe was found in Women's World magazine a couple of weeks ago.

Cherry Cheesecake Brownie Bars

1 tube refrigerated triple chocolate chunk brownie batter

2 packages cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 can, 21 oz., cherry pie filling

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line 9" square baking pan with foil, leaving 2" overhang; coat with cooking spray.
• Spread tube of brownie batter in pan. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until fluffy.
• Spread over brownie. Bake 20 minutes or until cream cheese topping is set.
• Cool on rack for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1-2 hours. Use foil to help lift from pan. Just before serving cut into bars and then top with cherry pie filling. I use about a tablespoon of cherry pie filling per bar. Garnish with white and dark chocolate curls.

The next recipe I plan to use came out of Southern Living magazine a couple of years ago during the Christmas holiday season. This is easy-peazy and tastes oh so good!

Chocolate Passion Bowl

3 cups cold milk

2 packages Jell-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding

1 tub French Vanilla Whipped Topping, thawed and divided. Such as Cool Whip brand.

1 baked 9-inch square brownie layer, cooled and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 cups fresh raspberries

• Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of the whipped topping.
• Place half of brownie cubes in 2-quart serving bowl or trifle bowl, top with half of the pudding mixture, half of the raspberries and half of the remaining whipped topping. Repeat all layer.
• Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until ready to serve. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

I scanned the picture from the magazine. Doesn't this look like just the perfect dessert for Valentine's Day? Red, White and Chocolate!

Back in 2005, I was in a Williams-Sonoma and found these little heart-shaped silicon molds. They are perfect for making individual cupcakes, muffins or Valentine treats. I think I will make little heart-shaped Chocolate Lava cakes using this mold. For the beverage I plan to make an Iced Mocha Punch. The recipe is super easy and you can make it ahead of time and let it chill in the fridge until the day of your party.

Iced Mocha Punch

3 cups strong coffee

1 1/2 cup chocolate syrup

1 gallon 2% milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 gallon French Vanilla ice cream

Blend coffee, chocolate syrup, milk, sugar and vanilla extract together. Chill until ready to serve. Then, scoop softened ice cream into punch bowl and pour mocha mixture over it. Carefully fold mixture together. This makes about 50 punch cup servings. I am really excited about using my Grandmother's milk glass punch bowl and cups.

While I was at W-S, I also found these adorable pancake molds. The heart with the arrow through it makes a great cookie cutter too! The cookies are rather large using this, about the size of two regular sized Chocolate Chip cookies.

I decided I would do a run through of my decorations for Friday night. I had these two red, pink and white striped runners and decided to crisscross them along my island. I found these at TJMaxx a few years ago. About the only time I use them is at Valentine's Day. When decorating for Valentine's you really don't have to worry about matching your room's decor. It's more about setting a festive and fun atmosphere that reflects that special occasion.

I purchased a bunch of Pink Gerbera Daisies and Red Tulips from the market this morning. Remember my Grandmother's milk glass from a few blogs back? Well, I decided to use the collection of bud vases and place single stems in each one then cluster them in the center.

Since there is only going to be 10 of us on Friday night, I really wanted to use real plates and napkins. I pulled out 10 cherry red satin napkins and placed Pink Gerbera Daisy napkin rings on each one. I used 5 of the napkins to form a cluster on either end of the island. I found the napkin rings at Bed, Bath and Beyond for 99 cents each a few years ago.

The heart-shaped topiary is from Marshalls. This was another find from a few years ago. The topiary is made with fuchsia and red rose buds. It really adds a touch of whimsy and Valentine's Day flair to the centerpiece.

So pretty and girlie!

Now all I have to do is prepare my desserts and fill my silver serving platters. I should have the paramedics standing by just in case we truly have a "death by chocolate"!

I will take plenty of pictures and share them with you on Saturday. Until then,

Happy Entertaining!

~Alisa