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    A Loving Table: Creating Memorable Gatherings
    A Loving Table: Creating Memorable Gatherings
    A Loving Table: Creating Memorable Gatherings
    Ebook370 pages1 hour

    A Loving Table: Creating Memorable Gatherings

    By Kimberly Schlegel Whitman, Shelley Johnstone Paschke, Mark D. Sikes and John Cain Sargent

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    About this ebook

    Inspiring tables and entertaining styles of 34 tastemakers in their regions or society at large show how they keep traditions passed down from mothers and grandmothers alive in their families.

    Thirty style-setting women pay tribute to how their mothers and grandmothers have influenced their own styles of entertaining at home. Whether they proudly incorporate recipes passed down from a grandmother’s collection or follow a mother’s lessons for making guests feel comfortable, it is clear that family role models have had a strong influence. Blending inherited dinnerware or decorative pieces in their modern tables is also big in the way women embrace their heritage for entertaining. From formal to casual occasions, city to country, and grand to intimate, indoor and outdoor tables beautifully designed tell a story about how these women host guests at their tables. Each style maker shares tips and lessons in entertaining that she learned from the women in her life.

    Tip boxes from each generation will help the readers reproduce the ideas and perpetuate their own familial traditions.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGibbs Smith
    Release dateMar 15, 2022
    ISBN9781423657620
    A Loving Table: Creating Memorable Gatherings

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      Book preview

      A Loving Table - Kimberly Schlegel Whitman

      9781423657613.jpg

      A

      Loving Table

      Creating Memorable Gatherings

      Kimberly Schlegel Whitman

      and Shelley Johnstone Paschke

      Principal photography by John Cain Sargent

      Foreword by Mark D. Sikes

      Photo of logo.Photo of place setting.

      Photo by Hunter Ryan Photo.

      Digital Edition 1.0

      Text © 2022 by Kimberly Schlegel Whitman and Shelley Johnstone Paschke

      Foreword © 2022 by Mark D. Sikes

      Photos © 2022 as noted throughout

      Back cover photos © 2022:

      Top left from Kim Hersov, by Ingrid Rasmussen

      Top right from Kimberly Schlegel Whitman, by John Cain Sargent

      Bottom left from Penny Morrison, by Mike Garlick

      Bottom right from Alessandra Branca, by Ana Lui

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

      Published by

      Gibbs Smith

      P.O. Box 667

      Layton, Utah 84041

      1.800.835.4993 orders

      www.gibbs-smith.com

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2021946775

      ISBN: 9781423657620 (ebook)

      Photo of flower arrangement.

      Photo by Cynthia Lynn Kim.

      To our mothers, Myrna and Vicki,

      and all the women who have inspired and influenced us to set a loving table.

      And to our husbands, children, and extended families for your endless support. You fill our lives and tables with laughter and joy.

      Contents

      Foreword

      Mark D. Sikes

      Introduction

      Friendsgiving Dinner

      Ariel Okin

      Vietnamese Christmas Eve

      Nam Dang-Mitchell

      Mardi Gras Brunch

      Julie Neill

      Backyard End-of-Summer Dinner

      Shelley Johnstone Paschke

      Mother’s Day Brunch

      Chesie Breen

      Easter Entertaining Traditions

      Kimberly Schlegel Whitman

      Baby’s Bastille Day Birthday

      Cathy Kincaid

      Royal Luncheon in Portugal

      Diana de Cadaval

      Sunday Suppers

      Dara Caponigro

      Thanksgiving Luncheon

      Jan Showers

      Bohemian Mix of Old and New

      Kim Hersov

      Weekend Wedding Celebration

      Alessandra Branca

      Splendid Family Meal

      Orlene Valy Paxson

      A Maximal Eclectic Table

      Allison Speer

      A First Birthday

      Annabelle Moehlmann

      Preserving Food Heritage

      Ann Ittoop

      Christmastime Buffet

      Bettie Pardee

      Entertaining With Color

      Filipa de Abreu

      Birthdays in Bed

      Capucine De Wulf Gooding

      Fine & Formal Every Day

      Fruzsina Keehn

      Birthday in Blue

      Emily Hertz

      A Festive Mexican Christmas

      Cristina Lynch

      Poolside Garden Luncheon

      Gwen Langley

      Dinner Inspired by Travel

      Jessica Nowitzki

      A Birthday That Feeds the Soul

      Jamie O’Banion

      Globally Inspired Table

      Lisa Fine

      A Passion for Collecting

      Marcia French

      An Exotic Dinner

      Maura Kent

      Tables for Every Occasion

      Megan Stokes

      Bringing the Outside In

      Penny Morrison

      An Artistic Table

      Sharon Lee

      A Mother-Daughter Luncheon

      Stephanie Booth Shafran

      Festive Lunch in the Garden

      Natalie Steen

      100th Birthday for Grandpa

      Clary Bosbyshell Welsh

      Acknowledgments

      The Authors

      Photo of a flower arrangement.

      Photo by John Cain Sargent.

      Foreword

      Mark D. Sikes

      Growing up, I spent nearly every weekend as a young boy with my grandparents in Mattoon, Illinois. Grandma always festooned the table in her lime-green kitchen with simple, grandmotherly touches: place mats in vibrant Pucci-esque hues; a throng of serving dishes for sundry leftovers; and a nosegay of weedy daisies plucked from her garden. Nothing was beautiful or rarefied in the aesthetic ways I champion as a designer now, yet I felt so much love and was so warmly welcomed into their home that those meals were among the most treasured I’ve ever had. I later dedicated my first book, Beautiful, to my grandparents.

      My parents rarely entertained, but for our dinners as a family, they set a scene that intentionally matched the surrounding decor, running a natural fiber runner down the center of the table with woven rattan place mats and a powdery sky-blue striped tablecloth. (I dedicated my second book, More Beautiful, to my parents.)

      I didn’t learn about formal entertaining and hosting dinner parties until I was out on my own and developing my own style. One of my heroes: the ineffable Bunny Williams, whom I visited often at her home La Colina in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and in Falls Village, Connecticut. Bunny amazed me. At every single meal there was a different tablecloth, type of napkin, and floral arrangement. Her butler’s pantry was fully stocked, with an entire wall of decorative objects; still more walls of dishes; and drawers upon drawers of finishing pieces like tablecloths, napkins, and napkin rings.

      As I got older and started understanding more about entertaining and parties, I thought about the different types of dish collections we have in our own home and have made sure that we keep a drawer full of different tablecloths, with fine linens for the dining room and more boutique-y things for the buffets we often set up for guests at our kitchen island. But I firmly believe that as long as you’re setting up your tablescapes with loving hands, you’re doing it right.

      Coming together with friends old and new for a meal is a tradition as ancient as humanity itself. It’s less about having the latest Instagrammable flatware and more about the feelings and experiences you’ll share, not to mention the memories and stories you’ll take with you long after the leftovers are gone. So, I was thrilled to hear about Shelley Johnstone and Kimberly Whitman’s new book, A Loving Table. Arranging memorable tablescapes for family and friends is something both Shelley and Kimberly truly cherish doing, which is evident on every single page of this book. They have gathered experiences and photographs of unforgettable gatherings hosted by dozens of unstoppable women, including my friends Alessandra Branca, Filipa de Abreu, and Fruzsina Keehn, whom I admire so much. Every page in the book is pure eye candy, and each fête is one I’d certainly RSVP yes to! I once had the pleasure of staying at Shelley’s home in Lake Forest, Illinois, and spending time with her family. I don’t recall the specific tablescape she arranged for each meal—although, of course, it was exquisite—but what I’ll never forget is her overwhelming attention to detail that conjured a delightful experience for me.

      I’ve always believed that beauty is everywhere, and that it will save the day—it’s unequivocally a mood booster. That starts at home, whether you live in a Midwestern cottage or a private Caribbean compound. Setting a table beautifully has taken on new meaning recently, when the true importance of being together in person with friends and family came to light. Each moment we can spend together is a gift—and we should wrap it gorgeously! So, as we all come back together with our loved ones again, creative tablescapes that help inspire lasting memories are as key as the menu itself. (Plus, setting a table is so fulfilling. Like planning a much-anticipated trip, it brings so much joy.) When you’re hosting friends and family, the care and thought that go into preparing something special for loved ones is what’s really beautiful.

      Introduction

      It is hard to put into words the feeling of comfort that comes with a familiar family setting around a table. Maybe it is the tastes, the smells, the sights, the sounds, or the touch of the familiar. There is just something magical about recreating the special touches that your mother, grandmother, godmother, or aunt employed when hosting a family get-together. Traditions add texture and infuse a unique flavor to any gathering and we wanted to celebrate that in this book, a collection of images, stories, ideas, and traditions from some of the most stylish women around the world.

      You may smile when you open one of your grandmother’s recipe books and see her notes in the margins in her signature flourished cursive. When you taste the sweet potatoes right out of the skillet, delectable with brown sugar and butter, on Thanksgiving and Christmas, memories of the same meal around tables filled with family might flood your thoughts. When you smell a rose-fragrance candle burning, maybe you think of your grandmother and her signature scent. When you see light bounce off an etched crystal goblet, you may reminisce about stories that were told around your mother’s formal table. There is so much

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