A Farm-to-Table Thanksgiving | Table + Dine

The beauty of the Thanksgiving Table is to fill it with family, friends and all things beautiful. So when Tasha Raylene of Virtuous Events reached out to Table + Dine to join forces on a Thanksgiving table shoot for Inspired Living Magazine, we absolutely said yes! And because we love keeping it all in the family, this fall festive meal was prepared by Tasha's chef sister, Melody Kwiatkowski of Village Side Farm using ingredients grown on their family farm.

"Farm-to-table is an everyday lifestyle for my sister, whom I call the modern day "Rosie the Riveter." When we styled this shoot, I imagined our dinner table full of amazingly warm and rustic dishes with food straight from her fields. There are so many local resources available for achieving a DIY farm-to-table menu. The relationship between the local community and the local farmer is crucial in guaranteeing a dependable channel of farm-fresh products, affording us all the peace of mind knowing who, how, when and where our food is grown." - Tasha Raylene

Taking a fresh spin on a traditional Thanksgiving meal, Melody prepared a menu of roasted red & gold beet salad with pine nuts & frisée, pomegranate glazed game hen with orange cranberry relish & sage butter, and a pistachio crusted rack of lamb with roasted grapes and fennel. Sides included roasted brussels sprouts with chanterelle mushrooms, prosciutto & crispy onion strings and sweet potato filo gratin with fig praline hazelnuts & herbed marshmallows. Lastly, for dessert she whipped up a carrot cake crepe cake stack with sweetened mascarpone cream with a burnt caramel drizzle.

"Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to flood the table with all things beautiful. I'm a firm believer that when it comes to table decor, simply put, there are no rules. Be creative and mix and match china, patterns and textures to build a table that speaks to your individual style. We wanted to incorporate our modern style into this tablescape by adding subtle geometric shapes, while keeping the place settings neutral with blacks, whites and golds. " - Tasha Raylene

After Tasha sent us photos of the venue before the shoot, we collaborated to design a table using colors, patterns and textures to create a modern, rustic table that would look soft and elegant against the rich handcrafted wood table. Going for dark accents with shimmering metals & neutral whites, we used our Oliver Park Accent Plates by Kate Spade New York for salads and starters, Castle Peak Slate Fruit/Cereal Bowls for side dishes, Castle Peak Slate Dinner Plates for the main course and our silver ripple glass charger plates for decor. For the glassware, we used our Kate Spade New York Library Stripe Champagne Flutes, Stemless Wine Glasses & Decanter for serving a variety of wines from 12 Corners Wine & specialty cocktails. For serving, we included the Oliver Park serving platter and Castle Peak Slate Salad Bowl to tie in more of our colors, while using the Wickford Park Baker to serve the game hen from oven-to-table.

To complete the table, fresh Eucalyptus, succulents and white roses were perfectly placed down the runway with scattered gold & silver antiqued votive cups to create this elegant Farm-to-Table Thanksgiving.