It’s Labour Day weekend, and the kids are back to school next week. While I’m always sad to say goodbye to summer, soup season is a cause for celebration in my books. Starting with Fall Vegetable Chowder.
And with soup comes individual soup tureens to tickle your tableware fancy.
I’ve had these Juliska Jardins du Monde individual lidded tureens for years. Very generously sized, they hold a hearty portion of soup, chilli or stew—whatever takes your fancy. In this instance, they’re filled with Fall Vegetable Chowder. Yum.
When I purchased the small tureens, I passed on the large tureen, deeming it too ornate.
So I was delighted when Pier 1 brought out an inexpensive pumpkin tureen in a similar glaze several years later. It fits the bill nicely.
I couldn’t resist the salt and pepper containers in the same series.
Then Pottery Barn offered this embroidered pumpkin and leaf “table throw”, which would have been called a square tablecloth back in the day, but times change, apparently! 🙂 Perhaps others also failed to get the memo because I picked it up at the end of the season for a song. Doesn’t it make a cheerful backdrop to this otherwise quite simple table setting?
With its myriad colours from which to choose, I went with bittersweet napkin rings (actually candle rings) from Save-on-Crafts and plain Forest linen napkins from Sferra.
It almost reconciles you to the approach of winter, doesn’t it?
Tree slice chargers from Amazon and wooden-handled cutlery from World Market (discontinued) complete the picture.
Oh – and my much-used twisted Amber goblets from Williams Sonoma many moons ago.
My thoughts and sympathies are with anyone involved in back-to-school preparations—it’s always a bit fraught. Calming new-school-year jitters, tracking down elusive items from irritatingly last-minute lists of school supplies demanded by frazzled teachers… It all settles down in a couple of weeks, but it’s a lot to negotiate at the time. Good luck to everyone, kids and parents alike.
Dear Helen, Wow…this is more textile pattern than you normally use, but it keeps things from becoming too serious. A cloth smaller than the whole table is a “table topper” to me. I’d love to see it styled with blue serviettes, or even purple. Or would that be too much of a much? Guess I’m just not ready for fall yet–we are still using blue and white with Cafe au Lait dahlias. This week we’re hanging onto summer with a cheddar and cherry-tomato quiche, topped with baerlauch pesto. (My forest-foraging neighbour brought me a bunch of ramps, or “bear-leek,” and to me pesto tastes of summer.) When the UK low hits on Wednesday, I’ll throw in the towel, and it’ll be soup in tureens!
I think emphasizing the blue or purple would be beautiful, Beatrice! I’ll dig out the cloth and have a go. Some deep purple asters and/or some of the blue tinged pumpkins could make a striking centerpiece with deep purple goblets and the Merletto Aqua plates and bowls – I’ll keep you posted!
September is proving quite warm so far, so do hang on to summer! Your tomato quiche sounds divine, and a perfect home for the bounteous supply of really ripe tomatoes we get at this time of year. I think I’ll make a tomato tart with a chèvre filling…
Enjoy your garden beauty, the ramps and the pesto.
A lovely welcome to Autumn, my favorite season, you have here with cream and pumpkins. My condolences to all who revered and respected her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who died at 96 years old and over 70 years as Queen. So dignified, witty, lovely and the only Queen/ Monarch most of us ever, ever knew in our lifetimes thus far. Sincerely.
Thank you so much, particularly your note about Queen Elizabeth’s death yesterday. I’m currently in Scotland and got the news while we were on our way back from touring a castle. The mood here is very somber, as is right. It’s really the end of an era. She was a model of calm dignity with a wicked sense of humour. She will be very much missed.
The end of an era, indeed.
Safe travels, Helen.