Do Drop In: Entertaining With Ease

Several of our family members are taking to the holiday road, and our house is do drop in central.

I know I have a much better entertaining experience if I access and assign a theme, go with the entertaining with ease flow, and keep the focus on comfortable surroundings, inviting touches and relaxing times.

Texas_bluebonnet_plant_lupinus_texensis_with_dark_blue_flowers_with_white_topTexas Bluebonnet

Texas times and family memories will be a hot topic of conversation.

Our company’s travels begin in Texas Bluebonnet country, and with Texas being the common denominator of our family tree, I played it up in theme and setting.

Farmhouse chic makes an effortless foundation to build your theme upon.

carnations2

A simple arrangement of carnations mixed with greenery and placed beside an even simpler arrangement of apples and bananas in a milk glass center bowl provides a nice centerpiece in a farmhouse chic kind of way.

apples1

Fresh flowers from the floral department of the local grocery store are my weakness, and when the word clearance enters into the picture my shopping cart runneth over.

You really get your money’s worth with carnations.

Carnations can last for weeks with an every other day water change and a quick stem trim.

I use tepid water, scale back leaves from the stems to prevent contact with the water, and place a couple of drops of food coloring in the water.

pink-carnations

From recipes to table setting decor, I like to source from within meaning I like to use what I have on hand.

A great home decor clearance sale and dollar store items purchased in bulk can provide all the entertaining with ease elements needed for a well designed themed tablescape.

entertaining-with-ease

kitsch

art, objects, or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way.

rooster-dish-towel

Into each case of design and decorating a little if kitchen kitsch is wrong, I don’t want to be right will fall.

The method to my madness lies deeply rooted in the from which I came from principle.

I picked up several sets of rooster dish towels at the local dollar store back during the holidays knowing full well they would come in handy.

Paired with copper napkin rings I found on clearance at Dillard’s a couple of years ago, the dish towels made great dinner napkins.

copper-napkin-rings

The Places In The Home gang comes from a long line of hen on nest dish collectors.

The women of our family felt no respectable kitchen and/or breakfast room decor complete without the addition of at least one hen on nest dish.

hen-on-nest-dish

Ruby Lane

Good visits begin with good hosting and good hosting begins with a stress free host or hostess.  Entertaining is supposed to be a fun for guests and hosts alike, isn’t it?

On the menu front I aim to please.

Round our dinner table, quality rules over quantity which lines up perfectly with easy menu planning.

As long as the iced tea is sweet and I keep the serving sizes in just a bite territory it is all good and tasty.

The culinary rule of KISS (keep it salad simple) always applies.

sideboard-partners

I set up a salad buffet for first course serve yourself ease.

Individual Mason jar salads layered with shredded iceberg lettuce, fresh tomato, chopped ham, green onion, Feta cheese crumbles, homemade buttermilk dressing and a dash of kosher salt and fine black pepper were a hit with the just a bite crowd.

salad

Biscuit BLTs with Peach Mayonnaise bring back memories of summers spent in Texas at my great-grandmother’s house.

Traditions tastes so good!

biscuit-bacon-lettuce-tomato-sandwich1

Entertaining goes hand in hand with spring and summer, and entertaining with ease goes hand in hand with y’all come back now, ya hear!

Love your style!

 

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