Last night I attended a holiday dinner at Trinity Baptist Church in Southaven, Mississippi. My friend Kara is a member there and invited me because she knows how much I love tablescaping and all the dining tables were to be decorated by the ladies of the church. There must have been about 32 tables all decked out for the season. After we oohed and aahed over them, we were seated and enjoyed a wonderful meal of salad, chicken cordon bleu, garlic green beans, scalloped potatoes, and rolls--served graciously by the men of the church! The guest speaker was Catherine Hickem. She has a ministry called
Intentional Moms and has written a book called
Raising Children with No Regrets. The book has gotten rave reviews, so if you have children, check out her website.
Being the gracious guest that I always aspire to be, I prepared a gift for Kara, since she invited me to the dinner. Kara loves to bake and I know she likes Paula Deen, so I prepared a cookie mix in a jar. I found the idea and recipe in the Paula Deen Holiday Baking magazine from Christmas 2007.
Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookie Mix
The layers consist of the following:
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
In a 1-quart glass jar, layer ingredients in order listed, pressing each layer down firmly before adding the next ingredient.
Be sure to attach the baking recipe:
1 (1-quart) jar Cranberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookie Mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine cookie mix, butter, egg, and vanilla, stirring until combined. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place dough 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool on pans for 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
All the attendees were asked to bring an ornament to be placed on the church tree. I decided on a snowman-themed ornament and here's my gift package ready to go:
Snowman ornament with a peppermint theme gift package
Would you like to see the those tablescapes now?
Autumn tablescape--centerpiece
Autumn tablescape--place setting
Pink & black tablescape--centerpiece
Pink & black tablescape--place setting
Snowman tablescape--centerpiece
Snowman tablescape--place setting
Lime green, blue, and black tablescape--centerpiece
Lime green, blue, and black tablescape--place setting
Silver and black tablescape--centerpiece
Silver and black tablescape--place setting
Silver tablescape--centerpiece
Silver tablescape--place setting
Beaded reindeer tablescape--centerpiece
Beaded reindeer tablescape--place setting
Beaded reindeer tablescape--chair decoration
There were so many more, but I chose to feature just a few of the ones in each color or theme. I hope you found some ideas here that you want to use during the holiday season.
Charm School Saturday was canceled today by Rose Vignettes--maybe next Saturday?
Drop by tomorrow, I will be posting photos of an event I attended today at the home of my friend Debbie Sisk in Eads, Tennessee. Debbie is the owner of Rosebriar Dining and she and I have partnered together several times to present tea and dining etiquette programs. She held her annual holiday open house today and I got lots of pictures for y'all! Thank you for dropping by.
