Finishing Touches - The Art of Gracious Holiday Entertaining: How to Create a Seasonal Tablescape with Motifs inspired by the Garden - plus Learn How to Mix up a Festive “Garden to Glass” Hospitality Cocktail Workshop

Thanksgiving Harvest Tablescape features Silver & Crystal - & silver-painted wishbones!

Finishing Touches Workshop at Atlantic Highlands Arts Council, Sunday, December 10, featuring Hospitality and Garden Design Specialist, Leeann Lavin -- (me!) 

Just in time for the season of entertaining, eating, and drinking, the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council announced its Holiday Workshop, scheduled for Sunday, December 10, 3-5 pm; with a cornucopia of elements:

• Tablescape Design
• Create a Craft Cocktail 
• How to Set a Table 

This is a fun, creative, Hands-On, DIY workshop, designed to inspire a memorable Tablescape design that will delight your family and friends.

What’s a Tablescape, you ask?
Although tablescapes often adorn the center of the table, they are more than centerpieces. 

A tablescape is an overall look that addresses the entire table or serving area and complements its surroundings. The art of tablescaping makes your guests feel welcome and relaxed. 

This is my entrance Welcome Hostess composition featuring seasonal chile peppers in black urns, dried hydrangea fro the garden, grapes, crystal, silver, the scent of fresh apples in a glamorous Murano glass bowl, & the holiday hostess cocktail: Applejack, lapsang souchong simple syrup, sparkling apple cider.

Tablescapes bring your event together with color, style, whimsy, and dimension. 

It tells a story of the season; making an impact and creating a strong story – whether its modern or traditional – it’s all about the ingredients.

It’s eye-candy for your table!

"Our tablescape presentation offers attendees a primer on how to choose color, texture, and visual stimulation, which in turn leads to fun and interesting tableside conversations,” said Mary D’Agostino, the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council. “The combination of a photo-rich presentation and the hands-on element is a double header – a great opportunity to learn first-hand how to create a sense of balance, harmony, and personal style to suit your celebration.”  Mary offers that this is a perfect meet-up workshop to be enjoyed with your family and/or friends.

I always recommend greeting your home guests with a special, mixed cocktail -- in a punch bowl or beverage dispenser so that your guests can readily get into the festive spirit without wondering what's appropriate to ask for, or checking to see what everyone else is drinking (is it wine, beer, or martini's??) or whether you're pouring their drink -- so the ready-to-go drink is fun and easy -- and elegant.  

So too the Workshop kicks off with a segment about creating a delicious and elegant “Garden-to-Glass” holiday cocktail, "Heart of Gold" and food pairing,

using craft ingredients -- especially selected from my soon-to-be-released book, Finishing Touches, The Art of Garnishing the Cocktail 

New York's Leyenda Brooklyn Cocteleria Craft Cocktail Mixologist Jessica Wohlers, and me, will demonstrate how to take your cocktails to the next level with a tasting! 

And I'll show a collection of garnishes from herbs, jewelry and candy, as well as other fun, decorative embellishments

along with a primer on how to make a Simple Syrup.

The next segment of the Workshop is a presentation I've prepared with lots of images and suggestions on how to build a tablescape of your dreams.  Everyone loves looking at inspiring, Pinterest-worthy creations, yes? 

Next, we'll explore the hands-on workshop element where you'll get to use ingredients you bring -- attendees are encouraged to bring their tablescape ingredients to design a memorable look. 

So, stir your imagination and design with intention; here's where you can let your decor ideas come to life.

I encourage attendees and at-home designers to explore your late autumn garden and yard - it’s beautiful!  The added benefit is you get to enjoy your garden and maybe even discover plants you didn't think about at this time of year.  There are flowers, twigs, seed pods, ornamental grass, and more.  

Or, you can use grocery store bouquets, or favorite blooms from the florist. 

Use whatever strikes your fancy or captures your eye. 

Still wondering what could work?  This time of year I reccomend any of the following:

• Japanese Maple 
• Beauty Berry 
• Kousa Dogwood 
• Heavenly Bamboo/Nandina 
• Viburnum 
• Virginia Sweetspire 
• Redbud 
• Magnolia Leaves
• Carnations 
• Roses 
• Seeded Eucalyptus 

Gather accessories you have around the house – or head to your local craft or garden center for:

• Vases 
• Urns 
• Lights 
• Mirrors/Trays 
• Table runners 
• Jewelry 
• Glitter 
• Artificial Snow 
• Cache pot/fruit bowl/sleigh -- a vessel for cuttings 
• “Animals” - toys - gift boxes 
• Accessories or Collectibles 

Or anything your heart desires….

The Arts Council will provide buckets for the fresh plant material, tables, scissors, glue – and the Finishing Touches Cocktail.

The fee for the three-hour hands-on workshop, tutorial, and cocktail tasting is $40.

Register online at the Atlantic Highlands website: aharts.org, starting Monday, November 27, or in person at 54 First Avenue (Tuesday-Friday 1-7 and Saturday & Sunday 10-3). Or call!

Space is limited.

The Atlantic Highlands Arts Council is located at:

54 First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716

Phone: (732) 737-7160

The mission of the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council is to strengthen community through the arts. We are a 100% volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit organization that believes in the power of the arts to transform and enrich communities. Our primary function is to develop and execute events and arts related activities for the benefit of our community.

Gingerbread Fantasies Sparkle the Holidays & Botanic Gardens

There is surely no better marriage than that of the garden’s plant parts and the kitchen baker than gingerbread -- with the enduring love interest swirled up by the pixie dust of unbridled culinary imagination. 

Take the spicy ingredients that come from roots, tree bark, flowers and seeds, mix in sweet sugar and molasses, along with some other things to stir the senses and cook up a holiday tradition that takes on shape-shifting forms and designs to dazzle all those sugar plum fairies – and confection dreams in all of us.

It’s no wonder that garden centers and botanical gardens turn to a gingerbread theme for sweet and magical inspiration during the holidays.

Botanical Gardens

Longwood Gardens

Sponsored and produced by Sickles Market recently-launched garden and food tours, a trip to Longwood Gardens revealed an elegant gingerbread-inspired theme. 

According to our favorite garden guide, John Bertram, Longwood boasts 30,000 "Construction Grade" gingerbread ornaments; 10,000 gingerbread cookies, made by local baker Liz Marden, www.lizmarden.com

John also explained the food has a long tradition at Longwood, starting with the DuPont family. (Did you know DuPont is French for "of the bridge?"  That is a perfect metaphor for Longwood Gardens too, as it "bridges" the worlds of edible gardens, display gardens and entertaining.
And January 1st remains "Calling Day"  - a heritage that honors the family women who bake the gingerbread for the community and the men who call on the neighbors to share the holiday home-baked treats.

“This year Christmas at Longwood is sweeter than ever as the gardens are transformed into a gingerbread fantasyland featuring fanciful and imaginative displays.

Longwood landmarks recreated in gingerbread stand beneath towering trees adorned with gingerbread ornaments and the candy-laden Music Room overflows with sweet and colorful holiday cheer that look like crayola-colored ornaments in the jars stacked on candy store shelves behind,” according to Longwood.    

The conservatory and original Du Pont homestead are lovingly rendered in a gingerbread house that will leave viewers breathless with their heart stopping architecture and spun sugar and “Cookie Construction!

Gingerbread wreaths hang with sweet dignity and gingerbread cookies drip from almost every tree and floral display at Longwood Gardens. 

Docents are on hand with spicy samples to describe and delight visitors about gingerbread’s starring role.   

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/christmas.html

Kirsty Dougherty, Director of Tours and Training, and Natale Siclare, Sickles Market, sprinkled a bit of their own pixie dust on the second luxury trip to Longwood in as many months.  And could a man whose name means Christmas (Natale) not be the ideal holiday garden tour guide?! He located everything from unique garden plants to secret doors!

Red Twigged Dogwood allee fronting the English Yew

Our favorite expert Longwood Garden Tour Guide, John Bertram, who volunteered just for us. How much do you love that bald cypress  mulch - and John! His garden tales & historical references make the Garden ever more exciting & interesting.

Along with Bob and Tori Sickles, and a chorus of Sickles elves, er staff, the trip was masterfully managed with just the right elixir to set the fa, la, la merry tone for holiday garden and food cheer. 

Who better than Sickles’ expert cheesemonger, Cheri Scolari to lead the fun wine and cheese tasting on the trip home.  After a delightful day strolling Longwood’s gingerbread-laden holiday horticultural displays,  travel guests were snugly ensconced on the bus, and were soon astonished to receive a box of treats, courtesy of Sickles’ food elves.  Oohs and ahhs soon led to mmmmm. 

Cheri guided eager guests to discover  a variety of three cheeses, and a choice of two wines. 

For the Holiday wine and cheese tasting led by Cheri, the gifted treats included:

            The Garden State’s Cherry Grove Buttercup Brie, soft ripened cow's milk

            Zamorano, aged raw sheep's milk, Spain (like Manchengo but better)

            Parmigiano Reggiano – aged raw cow's milk, Italy (Aged two years, from grass fed cows in the DOC = District Controlled Cheese, as authorized by the Italian governement.)

Accompanied by Marcona almonds and dried figs (be still my heart!)

            Pasticceri Filippi panettone artisanal handcrafted and wrapped in Vincenza, Italy.  Full story here by Cheri on Sickles’ blog: http://bit.ly/rpX2op

A show of hands voted the Reggiano the favorite. My hands-down winning taste favorite

is the Lawrenceville, NJ grass-fed happy cow-in-the-pasture petite, creamy, buttery brie.  This was especially good with chardonnay or a Fume Blanc, according to Cheri.  She is a treasure trove of knowledge about wine and cheese pairings and food stories and legends and recipes. Don't miss her blogs or her feature piece in www.currentsNJ.com -- "Wine and Cheese: A Marriage Made in Heaven."
And she is just someone you want to have to dinner to enjoy her food bliss!

Sickles' Natale Siclare & Maria Steinberg

My garden design client and muse, Maria Steinberg, took home the raffle winning Sickles confection, Gingerbread house, re-gifted by Lucy Matchett, our garden friend!  

And the good will didn’t stop there.

I received this gorgeous paperwhite composition designed by Natale, that “clever clogs” as Kirsty says.  And now the fragrance is in full, sweet throttle. I love paperwhites. 

I know there are those who find the smell too heady. But not me. It just spells Christmas in a stately, in-your-senses kind of way.

Sickles Paperwhites floral design & look at the glamorous gift bag!

And then, just when it couldn’t get any better, I received an email from Maria, saying she was going to Sickles to get all the tasting treats and would I want her to pick me up some?

You bet, I reply. 

On the following Saturday, Maria gives me the full foodie treat “treatment” (hmm, maybe that’s the genesis of that word!).  In any event, I was the lucky, lucky, happy recipient of the wine and cheese tasting – times two!  Every cheese and the hand bow-tied panettone is superlative.

New York Botanical Garden (www.nybg.org) visitors should make a second stop after the Holiday Train show to indulge in the Gingerbread Adventures found a short walk away in the Everett Children’s Garden. Families shouldn’t miss the display of gingerbread houses.

This reporter launched the gingerbread house holiday program while working at NYBG – beginning with the Soutine Bakery from the upper west side in Manhattan – and am thrilled to see the special gingerbread display has taken on a tradition all its own.

According to NYBG: “Some of New York’s best and most imaginative bakers prepare an exhibit of whimsical, one-of-a-kind gingerbread creations sure to capture the imaginations of children and adults alike, while evoking all the wonder of the winter holiday season. 

The bakers who are creating themed “Gingerbread Fantasy Houses” this year are: Lauri DiTunno, Cake Alchemy, Manhattan www.cakealchemy.com/

Irina Brandler, Sugar and Spice Bake Shop, the Bronx www.sugarandspiceonline.com/

 Kaye and Liv Hansen, Riviera Bakehouse, Ardsley, NY www.thewhimsicalbakehouse.com/

and Kate Sullivan, Cake Power, Manhattan www.cakepower.com/

Other botanical gardens featuring gingerbread holiday houses and displays include Cleveland Botanic Garden (www.cbgarden.org), Boerner Botanical Gardens in Wisconsin and Huntsville Botanic Gardens (www.hsvbg.org)

The United States Botanic Garden http://www.usbg.gov/  and the garden even provides gingerbread house templates online: http://www.usbg.gov/whats-happening/exhibits/upload/Green-Roof-Gingerbread-House.pdf

Look for gingerbread displays in local hotels and restaurants too.

Who better to get a classic gingerbread recipe from than the award-winning, best-selling cookbook author Claudia Fleming?  The following gingerbread recipe will be featured in this my soon to be published “Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook.”

Recipes

North Fork Table and Inn, Claudia Fleming, Pastry Chef: (http://www.northforktableandinn.com/)

North Fork Table and Inn GINGERBREAD

STOUT BEER                   1 CUP                       

MOLLASSES                    1 CUP                       

BAKING SODA                ½ TBLS           

WHOLE EGGS 3 EA

WHITE GRAN SUGAR ½ CUP

DARK BROWN SUGAR ½ CUP

VEGETABLE OIL ¾ CUP

FRESH GRATED GINGER 2 ½ TBLS

AP FLOUR 2 CUPS

BAKING POWDER ½ TBLS

GROUND GINGER 2 TBLS

CINNAMON ¾ TSP

CLOVES 1/4TSP

NUTMEG ¼ TSP

CARDOMON 1/8 TSP

1.  SET OVEN TO  350 DEGREES. COMBINE BEER AND MOLLASSES IN SAUCEPAN, BRING TO BOIL. ADD BAKING SODA. (USE A LARGE POT, IT WILL FOAM UP) ALLOW TO COME TO ROOM TEMPERATURE
2. IN A LARGE BOWL, COMBINE FLOUR AND SPICES.
3. WHISK TOGETHER SUGAR AND EGGS, ADD OIL, WHISK WELL. ADD BEER/MOLLASSES MIXTURE, WHISK WELL.
4. ADD LIQUID TO DRY SLOWLY, MIXING WELL. MIX IN FRESH GINGER.
5. BUTTER (WELL) AND FLOUR A BUNDT PAN. POUR MIXTURE INTO PREPARED PAN BAKE APPROX 45 MIN – 1HR. UNTIL CAKE SPRINGS BACK TO THE TOUCH.

BAKE AT 350 DEGREES

And from the “all things food and garden gurus at Sickles, is the following gingerbread recipe:

Sickles Market Gingerbread Cookies

3 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature, softened)

1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed

1 Tbsp ground ginger

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

Optional raisins, chocolate chips, candy pieces, frosting

Royal Icing

1 egg white

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)

Method

1 In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

2 In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add the flour mixture; combine on low speed. (You may need to work it with your hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.) Divide dough in thirds; wrap each third in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. Before rolling out, let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. If after refrigerating the dough feels too soft to roll-out, work in a little more flour.

3 Heat oven to 350°. Place a dough third on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper or wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate again for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to cut out the cookies. Use either a cookie cutter or place a stencil over the dough and use a knife to cut into desired shapes. Press raisins, chocolate chips, or candy pieces in the center of each cookie if desired for "buttons".

4 Transfer to ungreased baking sheets. Bake until crisp but not darkened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit a few minutes and then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.

Makes 16 5-inch long cookies.

Royal Icing

The traditional way to make Royal Icing is to beat egg whites and lemon juice together, adding the powdered sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks. With modern concerns about salmonella from raw eggs, you can either use powdered egg whites or heat the egg whites first to kill any bacteria. With the heating method, mix the egg white and lemon juice with a third of the sugar, heat in a microwave until the mixture's temperature is 160°F. Then remove from microwave, and beat in the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Using the powdered egg whites method, combine 1 Tbsp egg white powder with 2 Tbsp water. Proceed as you would otherwise. (Raw egg white alternatives from the 2006 Joy of Cooking)

If the icing is too runny, add more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency. Fill a piping bag with the icing to pipe out into different shapes. (Or use a plastic sandwich bag, with the tip of one corner of the bag cut off.) Keep the icing covered while you work with it or it will dry out.

http://sicklesmarket.com/a/make-gingerbread-cookies

Holiday Decor That Won't Make You See Red!

Save some "green" on your holiday budget and make your home, office or apartment a bit more garden-like by doing it yourself (DIY)
Most of our holiday traditions grew out of or stem from (love the garden puns!) an environmental need or solution.
For example, pre-winter pruning helps the shrubs or trees.
It makes them happy.
Bringing in the armloads of cut holly or red-twigged dogwood or box or andromeda will fill your rooms with joy. It will make you happy.
It will look beautiful matched with your vases, candles, and bows.
And it will save you money - which is especially important this year when everyone is making their list and checking it  -- not twice but maybe like 12 times...

I've always relied on mother nature to decorate for the winter and Christmas Holidays.  (see last year's holiday decorating post: http://tiny.cc/9bio4)

There is so much beauty all around if we just dream - and use our imaginations.

Of course Martha Stewart can always be counted on to tickle our creative juices.
And my friend Stephen Orr is now the Garden Editor for Martha Stewart Living Magazine (yeah!) and blogs too, so don't miss Stephen's magical writing.

as can my friend Suzy Bales.  Especially inspiring is her latest book, "Garden Bouquets and Beyond: Creating Wreaths, Garlands, and More in Every Garden Season."















Every year I take my poinsettias outside to the garden and then bring them back inside to the garden room just before Thanksgiving.  They soon turned their brilliant red.
I attended Spanish school in Cuernavaca, Mexico some years ago.
I promise I was paying attention ^:^ but at the same time, I couldn't help be seduced by the enchanting poinsettia plants that dotted the surrounding hills like brooches on a festive outfit.

I since learned somewhere along my horticultural studies that this most definitive of holiday plants was named for our first ambassador to Mexico: Joel Robert Poinsett - who first brought the plants to the United States.

Celebrate the poinsettia's very own national holiday, December 12th!
The idea behind this act of Congress (bipartisan support, I hope!) is to give someone a poinsettia plant.

If the thought of giving this ubiquitous plant or the now similarly seen everywhere paperwhites makes you break out in a rash, then think about decorating with cut evergreens, birch, berries, steed hollies, herbs, and conifer cones.
I did.

If you are in town and can't walk out the door to borrow from Mother Nature, head to the Greenmarket and/or the corner bodega.
Green pin cushion cut flowers, eucalyptus, or hypericum berries are all good choices to decorate with. I also used  with water resistant LED lights I order from http://www.acolyte.com


I used silver serving pieces filled with steed holly to accent the Advent wreath.
Then I took small cut twigs to fill a ball that nestles into two garden urn candleholders. (The greens replace the candle.)

 

For one of my most favorite garden aficionado, Maria, I used small conifers, wrapped with "icicle" garland and silver balls for the urns and finished with an icy blue and white and silver bow.
The coolly elegant colors highlight Maria's love of all things white in her garden.

Full view with myrtle topiaries in iron planters line with burlap - a great juxtaposition of design elements.  I placed a few gold balls and green-glitter pine cones in the planters too.

I did red holly and red ribbons and balls for another container garden.  Photos to follow.

At my place, I kept the tuteur in the front of the Garden State house and cut holly leaves to fill the planter.

I wrapped sparkly white lights on the mini boxwood in its planter.
I added pine cones and cut birch to a red planter, white twigs and red holly to the corner planter.

And the piece de resistance - is the whimsical, evergreen-filled skate I hung from the front door.
I did this for the Gotham apartment door too.

Both door decorations have garnered unsolicited and most welcome feedback.
It's so nice to make people happy!

The skate was a very old pair that belonged to my husband.  He hasn't skated since the last ice age (ha!) so when I spotted them earlier this year when tidying up the garage I made a mental note that I could do something with them.

So have some fun.  Save some money.  Bring nature inside.  Enjoy the beauty of the season.