2013 has already been one of the most incredible years of my life. I know that this is a bit of an overstatement, given that we are a mere ten days in. But as it turns out, a lot of amazing things can happen in ten days.
The most recent highlight came on Monday evening, when I was delighted to learn that SFLuxe - San Francisco’s source for luxury living – decided to do a feature on Table + Teaspoon. Publisher Damion Matthews discovered my blog via Facebook, and was impressed enough to include it in his online magazine. I am overwhelmingly humbled and grateful. On that note, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support over the past few years as you’ve allowed me to discover and explore my passion for food and entertaining. I couldn’t do it without you!
I’m convinced that the reason 2013 is off to such a beautiful start is due to the way that I rang in the New Year. One of my best friends, Leah, lives in New York and hasn’t had the opportunity to partake in my notorious dinners. We decided to remedy this by throwing an intimate dinner party on New Year’s Eve while she and her boyfriend, BJ, were visiting. BJ is a self-professed die-hard T&T fan, so I felt particularly compelled to rise to the occasion. This meant that menu planning commenced in September…
Accommodating BJ’s kosher diet (a process that felt eerily akin to LSAT logic games) meant avoiding beef and dairy pairings. BJ’s tolerance for shell-fish resulted in the following menu: caviar blinis with truffle cheeses, french onion soup (subbing vegetable broth for beef), popovers with rosehip honey butter, puff pastry wrapped pear salad, scallops with tomato beurre blanc, and princess cake with homemade creme fraiche ice cream.
To up the ante, I spent as much time designing the tablescape as I did in the kitchen. My black and gold palette, sprinkled with white and neutral brown, set the perfect tone for celebrating with some of my favorite people. Check out the photographs and BJ’s adorable thank you note below. Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that it’s been as good to you as it has to me. xx tt
I. I started my table with a gilded chevron paper runner from Cake Vintage. To escape the overdone floral centerpiece, I opted to use tall cylinder vases filled with eucalyptus and dried branches.
II. Pineapples symbolize hospitality, so to welcome the new year I decorated the table with these white pineapple objets.
III. I hand-wrote individual menus and resolution cards using pre-cut cardstock from Paper Source, gold and black Le Pens, gold and black ink, and my alphabet stamp set. After everyone filled-in their resolutions, we shared them with the table. This was a fun way to glean each other’s hopes and dreams for the year ahead, and (per usual at my dinner parties) a few of the resolutions erred on the side of lascivious…
IV. To compliment the popovers, I whipped up a Rosehip Honey Butter by blending two sticks of room-temperature unsalted butter with a quarter cup of honey and a quarter cup of rosehip jelly. To give the butter a little crunch, I added a teaspoon of fleur de sel. Once combined, I transferred the mixture to a pastry bag, and used an icing tip to plate the butter on these tasting spoons.
V. Inspired by a Pinterest post that caught by eye the day of the party, I added a fresh rosemary sprig with four raspberries slid onto each end to my champagne flutes.
VI. I placed the champagne flutes, party hats (boys), feathered tiaras (girls), and metallic noisemakers in my foyer to welcome guests. I created the rustic white floral arrangement with flowers from Whole Foods (a great option if you can’t make it down to the SF Flower Mart). My cheeky resin deer head completed the display.
VII. Leah brought this gorgeous cake from Victoria Pastry. With the unusual nude marzipan frosting, it was almost too beautiful to eat! As Leah has tasted every princess cake that San Francisco pâtisseries have to offer (and decided that this is the absolute best) I highly recommend ordering one for your next celebration!!