Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Tablescaping with Chefs

Do you do Italian night at your house?  We sure do!  In fact we have Italian dishes quite regularly here at our house.  Spaghetti is one of my most all time favorite dishes to eat and to make so I cook it  quite regularly.  One evening about a month ago, I was setting the table once again for one of our regular spaghetti dinners and thought to myself I sure would love to do an Italian night tablescape.  Not only, was I thinking about how I would put it all together, I was thinking about the perfect dishes to use as well.   Of course, I was thinking about those specific dishes because I have been staring at them at them everyday at work ever since last October and had grown quite fond of them.

  But....the last thing in the world I needed around here was more dishes.  Do you think I let that stop me? Oh Noooooo!!!!  Especially when I figured out how I could buy them without getting my Mr. all upset.

I'll be honest with you.  This was what started it all, and this was for all intentional purposes as far as it was going to go when I first purchased these little guys.

They are part of a collection of fashion ceramics we sell at Stein Mart that is labeled International Chefs that are designed by artist Jennifer Garant.  They are salt and pepper shakers, aren't they just so cute? The Mr. said the great thing about these is you can always know that the chef in the black pants is the pepper and the chef in the white pants is salt.  LOL!

Well, that's part of the conversation we had with my own chef about these this weekend when he came to town for a visit.  Little did he know I had just a few more surprises to share with him.

I was so excited that the time had finally arrived when I was able to bring out the new dishes.  Of course, I wanted to serve Spaghetti on them that night as well.  I almost hit a snag when I asked my son and his girlfriend if they would join us for dinner at home and he hesitated saying they had already eaten Spaghetti only a few nights earlier.  I was literally holding my breath!

Then, when they agreed Spaghetti would be fine, I pulled out the new dishes and rapidly went to work setting the table.

I even pulled out my forever unopened bottle of red wine for a great prop.  LOL!  Don't worry, my son decided to supply his on bottle of red wine instead, so off to the store they went.


I started our setting with my white dinner plates from Lenox.


I then decided to use my amber colored goblets because I liked the way they coordinated with the new dishes.

The black and white checked napkins were a must but the bamboo flatware was a stretch I know.  I used them anyway because they were black and the only black flatware I own.

Now are you ready to see the new dishes yet?  Okay, here they are!

They are chef plates!   All of these are also designed by Jennifer Garant.  They are also part of the International chefs collection but I think these are all actually French chefs though.  Oops!



Oh well!  I still think they were perfect for an Italian night dinner.  Honestly, the more I looked at these in the store the more I kept thinking how great they would look with Spaghetti.

So when the right opportunity finally arrived I cooked up a big pot of Spaghetti sauce...


 ...and pasta.

Chopped up a little salad....

....and baked a loaf of Garlic bread.


This is what my son picked up from the grocery store.  No particular reason for the brand other then he wanted to try it out.

So, with the table all set and dinner made it was time to dish it out.

Yummo!

How cute is that?

My oldest, the chef and his girlfriend certainly thought so.

Especially when they realized that the dishes and the salt and pepper shakers were theirs to keep and were going home with them!

See, didn't I tell you I figured out a way to buy these dishes without getting the Mr. upset?
LOL!

I love it!  I just couldn't resist buying these chef dishes for my very own chef.
Could you?

I am so happy to finally be able to share this post with you at
I've really been waiting on this one!

Hope you enjoyed your visit here, I'm glad you took a look.  Thanks so much for stopping by!
Have a great weekend Everybody!

9 comments:

  1. I love every minute of this! The new plates are wonderful, and I love that you bought them for your sone. Thanks for inviting us for a peak. Cherry Kay

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  2. How sweet of you to do that for your very own chef! I think the dishes are so neat and the dinner looks so good, it's one of my favorite foods! Loved the s&p shackers!

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  3. Awwww... you are so sweet! Those plates were adorable! The spaghetti looked yummy! We are spaghetti fiends. We have spaghetti/movie night just about every Friday night! I love traditions!

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  4. Your salt and pepper shakers are so cute! Perfect for your Italian tablescape!

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  5. I wish I knew some Italian so I could really comment appropriately. All I can think is "Mangia!". Pretty pathetic for a gal with an Italian mother, huh?

    The table is great, and I couldn't agree more that they just look Italian and fit for spaghetti. I laughed about your unopened bottle of wine as a prop. We have several unopened ones from Germany around here that I like to use as props too.

    Great table, and even greater that you shared it with your son and his girlfriend.

    Having computer issues so it's hard to get around and visit. This was worth the effort for sure. Hope you had a great Valentine's Day too.

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  6. Cute table...spaghetti is one of my favorite meals, too.

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  7. After reading this sweet post, I am about to demonstrate just how shallow I am: YOU WORK AT STEIN MART?!??!?!!! That's incredible! I LOVE Stein Mart! They always have such cool stuff!!! And great sales!!! OK...now that I'm finished gushing over your great job....VERY sweet post! That was so thoughful!!! You're a good Mom. Don't let this gesture get out to my son. I don't want him to think that's the way Moms are supposed to act! :-) :-) :-) And what was thatline that could be used to cop a temporary insanity plea about "too many dishes"??!??!! What you talkin' 'bout, Willis? There is NO SUCH animal!!! Great job with the table, Mary! Your spaghetti, too, looks very tempting! I'm like you...can't get enough of the stuff! Have a great weekend!!!!!!!

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  8. HOw very sweet! Love this post and love that your son and his girlfriend got such a nice surprise! LOVE IT!

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  9. Hello Mary,
    I really enjoyed this post. My husband and I are both "foodies". I hope your son is enjoying his new pasta set.
    Certified International did 3 different lines with my Paris Waiters, 2 handpainted sets and one decal set in boxed sets at Bed Bath Beyond. Hopefully you will be able to replace the set you gave to your son with one of my new chef or waiter lines coming soon. Please send me an email at jenn@jennifergarant.com with your home address and I would love to send you a gift box of "Jennifer Garant"
    products and/or signed prints. I'm craving spaghetti!
    Thanks for sharing,
    Jennifer Garant

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