Setting the Table for Your Perfect Holiday Fête
Taking Design Cues from Nature for a Chic, Cozy Celebration (Plus a Not-to-miss Winter Welcome Cocktail!)
One of the soul-nourishing pleasures of the holiday season is creating an extra-pretty table for family and friends, isn’t it?
Spending the time to think about which platters and plates you might pull from the cabinets, and how you might accessorize your feast to delight your guests. I find that allowing myself “play” time to set my table (when I plan well) can be meditative and really fulfilling. I enjoy placing les couverts (the silverware), checking all the details, thinking of how I can make my loved ones smile when they heed the call, “Aaa taaable !” (Let’s eat!).
Since I am always eager to celebrate the elements Nature offers us each season, this year I’m focusing on keeping our holiday décor rooted in ingredients that are minimally processed, abundant and mostly edible or at least partly reusable.
I’ve taken inspiration from the surroundings here in France. At the market right now there are pyramids of sweet clementines and varying juicy oranges, and nuts of all kinds are piled up everywhere, with shoppers asking for deux ou trois belles poignées (two or three nice handfuls, pronounced pwa-nyay, accent on the last syllable).
So I decided to work with those as my main table design components, along with des pommes de pin (pinecones), des branches de sapin (fir branches), quelques petites roses (a few small roses) and des bougies, bien sûr (some candles, of course).
I wrote another post with lots of ideas for hosting a French-inspired holiday drinks and nibbles gathering, also known in France as l’apéritif or l’apéro for short.
Read on below for some tips and inspirations for a naturally inspired, simple end-of-year sit-down dinner gathering, which we’ll be hosting in the French countryside. If you make it all the way to the bottom, you’ll find a special treat: a link to a documentary on the intergalactic 1978 Christmas special “they” didn’t want you to know about.
Oh, and I made a playlist, in case you like that kind of thing.
Every great party at home needs a Wow welcome drink.
By “Wow,” I don’t mean big or fancy or complicated, but I do mean interesting, matched to the season, and délicieux ! That’s why this year, if you’re interested in serving a cocktail, you’ve got to try my variation on a French classic called Le boulevardier.
Debuted in the 1920s, the “boulevardier” refers to a “man-about-town.” Well, this “gal-about-Paris” (moi!) has tweaked the idea, and I’m calling it L’étoile d’hiver (the Winter Star, pronounced lay-twol-dee-vehr, accent o the last syllable). It’s a very easy recipe. I’ll give it to you with the quantities in parts, and you can make it in a pitcher for your number of guests. I suggest you serve it in small glasses as it packs a bit of a punch, being bourbon-based.
Cocktail of the Season: L’étoile d’hiver
INGREDIENTS
This recipe is for one drink, but you can easily multiply it up to 8 portions (and you can serve 16 guests with 8 portions made ahead if you use a smaller glass, which is very European and may be a good idea if you envision a long evening ahead :-) )
Equal parts bourbon, sweet red vermouth and fresh clementine juice (for one drink, that’d be 1 oz of each for a small sipping glass, or 2 oz of each for a more generous pour)
A few shakes of your favorite bitters (I like Peychaud’s), or substitute 1 tsp Aperol (just like in life, you need a hint of bitterness to make the sweetness shine)
1 tsp orange or clementine jam or marmalade, mixed with 1 tsp of hot water to loosen it up (let it cool slightly before adding it to the drink, and it’s okay with me if there are a few little nubs of fruit or peel. If you don’t like that, you can strain it before adding to the drink)
1 slice (or twist) of clementine for garnish, depending on your glass size
PREPARATION
In a pitcher, mix all the elements in the order of ingredients listed. Stir together, and chill in the refrigerator until party time. When you’re ready, serve unstrained over ice in smallish tumblers, or go ahead and run it through a cocktail strainer (for an “up” version) into mini martini glasses. Très sophistiqué !
How to design your holiday table beautifully, and practically.
Using edible and natural elements to make a centerpiece is both affordable and practical. I like to keep things generally separated by item and then grouped into small bowls, with anything that can be nibbled set closer to guests’ place settings (like the almonds in my version, which make a great snack between courses or later to enjoy with cheese).
Arranging clusters of smaller bowls and vases saves money on ingredients, but en plus (also) it makes for easy shoving aside or removing if you plan to place bigger platters in the center as the meal progresses. A shorter décor profile promotes conversation, too, which may or may not be your intention, given current events or family politics ha! (If you should need a purposeful alternative, consider creating “conversation soft walls” with small natural Christmas trees in pots, for example. That may at least temporarily deter Uncle Dale from annoying the s*** out of the nice neighbors!)
Starting with a fabric runner adds texture (and may also partly protect a fine lace tablecloth like the one I use every Christmas, purchased at a flea market in Lyon and cherished for years before I ever knew I’d be living in France and setting a table for my new family).
Next, laying down a few flat-ish pine or fir branches clipped from your yard (or from a garland or the back of your tree), helps to tie the design together and make the elements seem effortlessly nestled and warm and cozy.
I also suggest breaking out the best candles you’ve got, of differing sizes if possible, and just making sure they’re not directly under something that can start on fire.
Side Note: In my decades working in restaurants and the events world, I unwittingly learned to identify by smell exactly which type of material in the dining room/ballroom/gallery/farmhouse was currently on fire—a menu (paper or plastic), leaves or flowers, napkins (cotton or polyester), or something electrical, for example. And I could tell you stories about all the times the fire department would show up at my events and set something purposely on fire to see if it was actually fire retardant.
Also, Monsieur B (for anyone new here, that’s my French hubs) believes that candles are the Devil in wax form, so while he very kindly indulges my decorative dreams, he drills me regularly on where the fire extinguisher lives in our kitchen, au cas où (just in case).
All that glitters.
You can add a few pops of metallics here and there if you like to layer in more elegance. I did that with little gold coasters and our brass candlesticks.
The best part about this tablescape is (aside from its warmth and charm), you can recycle the pine boughs, you can use the pinecones and candlesticks next year, and you can eat (almost) everything else!
A fun(ghi) place card idea
There’s nothing cuter than using natural elements as place card holders (and place card holders give us control freaks the seating assignment autonomy we crave so deeply). With their quirky shapes and earthy hues, des champignons (mushrooms) are a winner. Just make sure they’re dry, then flip ‘em upside-down, and cut a slit in the stem to hold your hand-lettered card. If the tops are too round, you may have to slice off a wee bit to make them sit stably on the tabletop or napkin. Et ben, voilà !
Want to take the natural look to your wider holiday decor?
If you’ll hang a garland or put up a tree, check out this video I found on Instagram that shows how to dehydrate your own oranges and turn them into ornaments.
If you’ve made it here to the end, have I got an interplanetary holiday treat for you!
Did you know that in 1978, during that wacky era of celebrity-hosted variety TV spectacles, there was a Star Wars Christmas Special with dancing Stormtroopers and Chewbacca’s wife? And did you know that it was so bad, they tried to hide it from us? And that now there’s a documentary about it? You can watch it while you cook or set your table this season. Je vous en prie (you’re welcome).
Je vous souhaite de bonnes fêtes, mes chers (et chères) ami.e.s
Bisous,
Karen
What a wonderful table. I'n sure the dishes will be as delcious!