Sunday Supper

Don't get the wrong idea. We don't eat like this every Sunday. June Cleaver, I'm not!! But this was a special day so I dressed up the table and we had a good ole southern summertime supper. I call it a "summertime" supper because you can't get fresh vegetables like I cooked for this meal in the winter here. On the menu: steak off the grill, fried fresh okra, sliced Bradley tomatoes, and fried Silver Queen fresh white corn which I'll show you non-southern gals how to "fix" at the end of this post.

I covered my table with a Laura Ashley floral tablecloth and then topped the cloth off with rose colored place mats to accent my dinnerware.

I used a mixture of various china patterns today. I like to mix and match. You may have caught on by now that I don't like anything matchy matchy. I'm using two vintage china patterns from Pope-Gosser. They have a few dings and dents, but that makes me love them even more. The green plate, serving as a charger, is Elite by Gibson from Hobby Lobby.

What a more appropriate theme for a summertime table than "birds and bees". I found these cute little bee hive place card holders at a local "junk" shop and I made my place cards with leftover scrapbook paper and embellishments. A green button in the shape of a flower secures my papers together for the place card.

My napkins have an embroidered rose duplicating the rose on my china.

And my napkin rings are really silk flowers cut from a silk flower garland into pieces long enough to shape into a circle and secure.

In the center of my table and on each side of my centerpiece are metal bird candle holders. I placed a candle and hydrangea stem in each one.

And for my centerpiece, I chose to place dried oak-leaf hydrangea blooms from my yard in an old green crock pitcher. I raised the pitcher up a tad with a glass cake plate and layered it with green leaves to soften it a little.

I placed sweet little girl and boy ivory statues that I borrowed from another part of the house in front of my centerpiece and added a bird's nest complete with eggs to continue my theme.

I mentioned the oak-leaf hydrangeas were dried. You might be interested to know I picked them right off the plant. I've read lengthy instructions on how to dry hydrangeas, but I have found the easy way to do it is to wait and cut them after they dry or almost completely dry on the stem. If you cut the blooms at this time, you don't have to go through all the processes you may have been told about. I like to do things the easy way and I know you in blogland do to! :) The only disadvantage might be that you don't preserve a lot of the original color, but since I like the dried "sepia" color I don't mind that at all.

Here I go again mixing china patterns. My covered dish like the setting above is a vintage piece from Pope-Gosser and the green plate like before is Gibson's Elite. I added yet another pattern with the tulip platter (Waverly Garden Room, Garden Lane).

And now let's get to the yummy part! You know, we take for granted that the food specialties in our region of the country are known by all, but I've learned that's not the case. Being from Tennessee, I've grown up with good ole fried corn, but I know many of you have never heard about it and MAN, what you're missing!!

You start with white corn and I think Silver Queen is the best. I get it around this time of the year at a fresh-air market near my home. You should be more likely to find it at a farmer's market or fresh-air market, some place that sells local produce. If you don't have access to either of these, you can buy white corn at your grocers. Now if you didn't know corn had shucks (or husks for you non-southerners :-o) and instead you thought it grew in those Jolly Green Giant cans, let me give you a few tips on picking out GOOD corn. Pull the shuck down just a little to see the little pearls of corn. If they are dented, it's too old. Throw it back and step away! If these little white pearls are so tiny they don't butt up against each other, it is too young. Throw it back and step away! Look for fully developed kernels and you have yourself a good ear of corn.

I buy a dozen ears, take it home, shuck, and wash it.

Next, I take a long knife and cut off the very tip of the kernel into a frying pan or kettle.

Then, I take the back side of the knife and scrape the pulp and juice from the corn into the pan. Add a stick of butter, salt and pepper to taste and about a half cup of water (more water may be needed depending on how starchy your corn is. You could substitute milk for water if you like a richer flavor). Heat your corn in a deep frying pan over medium heat for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring often. The corn will stick to the bottom of the pan so you will need to stir often. Don't worry to much. The crusty corn on the bottom just adds to the flavor and texture as long as it doesn't burn. Let your corn boil slightly. I know, I know, I called it FRIED CORN, but it's really not fried in a technical sense. I don't know why we call it fried corn; we just do! It's a southern thing!

I know this is a little more work than opening a can of Green Giant, but I'm telling you there is no comparison between this and canned corn. NO SIRREE!! And I did tell you it was a special Sunday dinner, didn't I? Pair it with some good ole juicy Bradley tomatoes! OH MY GOODNESS! You'll think you've died and gone to heaven!

Check out the other beautiful tablescapes at Susan's Tablescape Thursdays and the other fun foods at Gollum's Food Friday!