Thanksgiving tablescapes, toile and hungry games!

Downton Abbey-themed tablescape turned toile

We kicked off the holiday weekend at the movie theater Wednesday night to see the third installment of the Hunger Games, "Mockingjay, Part 1". After movie night (which made for an entertaining evening), the next day was devoted to tablescapes, games and making sure no one was hungry.

My goal was to make a Downton Abbey themed table this year, but sometimes place settings have a mind of their own. The off-white tablecloth I had selected was a little small for our table, so I used a back-up dark red one buried in the linen closet.  We needed some new soup bowls this year and a last minute to trip to Kohl's left us with an assortment of red and white bowls which just screamed to be paired up with my Christmas tree toile plates. Those, in turn, were the perfect match for a set of red white napkins my sister-in-law had made for me a few years ago.

But, that was not enough! This was the year to not only bring out soup bowls and dinner plates, but dessert and butter plates, forks, knives and spoons times two and a drinking vessel for every beverage including water, wine, sparkling juice, coffee and, of course, tea.

Measuring for precise place setting alignment

  Although I did not achieve the Downton Abbey theme I had planned, I did maintain tabletop control worthy of any English country manor. I carefully aligned plates, glasses and silverware with the aid of a tape measure. Carson would be proud. (my sons, Rob and Matt, sneaked in a few photo ops to impose their interpretations of -  or perhaps to mock - my need to measure).

Rob and Matt help themselves to my camera and tape measure.

Mocking jays?

 The burden of clean up, however, was not relegated to the downstairs staff, but to a loyal dishwasher that ran all day long and into the evening.

The carving of the turkey next to the loaded potatoes

Lord Gulley once again commanded the kitchen with the flair and skill of a manor chef with a brined turkey, french onion soup, brussel sprouts cooked with bacon and loaded twice-baked potatoes. I attempted to overthrow tradition by not making my usual over-dry stuffing. In a radical move, my dressing was overly moist and a bit mushy. Next year's attempt is sure to be perfect.

Too dry stuffing replaced with too moist dressing. Wait until next year!

Another custom of the Thanksgiving Day holiday is a game of Risk where Chris adheres to a strict Australia-based strategy. Although not victorious in world domination, his turkey fete was a real winner.

Chris victorious in dinner but not world domination.

Finally, Rachel and I carried out our annual post-Thanksgiving Day trek to the mall for Black Friday to get a few good deals and a free tote bag. With the agility of Katniss threading a path through a dense forest, Rachel and I worked our way through the crowds to secure an assortment of discounted candles and some festive holiday sweaters.

With the holiday season officially off and running, we did take time to kick back with a few pots of tea. With much to be thankful for, we are grateful for all these traditions of the holidays spent with family and friends - except for maybe the stuffing. We'll keep working on that one. . .

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to All!

A tea plant grows in Detroit

New "flush" of growth this week, while snow falls outside

This week my tea plant greeted us with a bounty of pretty white blossoms, right in the thick of an early November snow shower.  Like a tree growing in Brooklyn, this tea plant has continued to flourish despite being outside its native comfort growing zone.  Some of its impressive progress is due to its heartiness, but most of the credit goes to the great care my husband, Chris has provided.

Our new tea plant in 2010

We started with a small tea plant back in the summer of 2010. (Camellia Sinensis: Tea Garden takes off in Michigan).  Inspired by Angela Macke, of Light of Day teas, who grows tea at her farm in Traverse City, we planted our small sampling four years ago. We keep it in a planter for easy moving indoors when the temperatures start to dip. Usually, we house it up at Pemberly Pines, our up north cabin, but this fall we brought it to our home in southeast Michigan – and I’m so glad we did. We can see its progress daily instead of occasional weekends. It’s thriving in our living room window sill, in a location that gets full sun throughout the day – that is, when it’s not snowing.

According to Wikipedia, tea plants, if left alone can grow as tall as 52 feet, although most are trimmed waist-high for easier plucking.  Not only is the plant cut back for convenience of harvesting, but the trimmed bushes produce an increase in new growth which results in more tender leaves and better quality teas. Only the top one to two inches of the plant are picked and the buds and leaves are called “flushes”.  A plant can grow a new flush every seven to fifteen days during the growing season.

It may be a few more years before I get a yield big enough for a pot of tea, but in the meantime, it’s nice to have something tropical blossoming inside, as the snow piles up outside, while sipping a hot cup Earl Grey.