Welcome to the 773rd Tablescape Thursday! We are dining outdoors in the French countryside today for Tablescape Thursday. Norma, who lives in the south of France, has invited us over for a wonderful luncheon, French-Farmhouse style!
Norma sewed a delightful red and white bunting for the occasion. The bunting makes this outdoor gathering feel extra special and I love that Norma always makes bunting for her outdoor gatherings!
The red and white toile pillows, also sewn by Norma, add a touch of luxury to this outdoor setting. I love unexpected touches like this–just makes your guest feel extra spoiled.
Describing the centerpiece of her table, Norma said, “The large old hand-made chopping board would have been made for a rural old French farmhouse. It is late 19th or early 20th century and is very heavy! The large earthenware pots are rillette pots, from again the late 19th-early 20th century–used for preserving cooked meat submerged in fat!”
The Bonne Maman jam with its red and white gingham lids fits in beautifully with this table setting. I always see and often purchase their jams and preserves when I’m shopping in my local grocery store.
Out of curiosity, I did a search for the Bonne Maman jams and preserves to read more about them. They are made in France using only natural ingredients you would find in your grandmother’s kitchen, thus the name, Bonne Maman which means, Grandmother. In reading more about jams in general, I learned that the most popular flavor here in the United States is Strawberry, while the most popular flavor of jam in France is Raspberry–followed by Strawberry. I may have guessed grape for the U.S. since that was so popular when I was growing up. I especially love Fig Preserves. What is your favorite flavor of jam?
Norma made a Tarte Soleil to serve as an appetizer but it was all gone before she had an opportunity to take a photo. Here’s a photo one Norma made for a previous dinner party with friends. You’ll find the recipe for making one here: Tarte Soleil.
I love this photo Norma shared of her table. This is exactly how I imagine it must have felt to dine here with the festive red and white bunting in the background. ♥
In keeping with the farmhouse feel of her table, Norma used wonderful, old, handmade clothes pegs that date back to the 1930s for holding the napkins in place. Not antique, but I just discovered that you can buy wooden clothespins in a similar style here: Wooden Clothespins.
A beautiful table in a beautiful setting!
Did you notice the large jam pots? Norma said, “The heavy old jam pot ( 1940s ) is the model for the modern Bonne Maman jams as can be seen in the photos. They had no lid.”
The bread looks delicious! Norma said, “The baguette basket (called a banneton) is from the 1950s and is made of wicker with a linen lining. The dough was left in these while proofing, then the loaves were put back into them to cool. They are becoming quite hard to find now as they make great tablescape center pieces filled with flowers or fruit.”
A few more views of this charming farmhouse table…
Thanks so much to Norma for sharing this wonderful outdoor setting with a nostalgic farmhouse feel!
Looking forward to the beautiful tables linked for this week’s Tablescape Thursday! (If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for email updates when a new post is up here: Subscribe for post updates.)
Tablescape Thursday
If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then copy and paste the address showing in the address bar, into the “url” box when you link up. You’ll need to include a link in your post back to the party to link up and participate. That’s so visitors to your blog will be able to find the party and the other Tablescape Thursday participants. Please link up table-setting-related posts only for Tablescape Thursday. Please link up table-setting-related posts only for Tablescape Thursday.
This party has ended, click button below for the links to all who participated.
I love the pillows, same pattern and color of my family room curtains. My favorite jam flavor is cherry, raspberry being my second. I bought a fruit spread from my local organic food store that is French the name is St Dalfour. Have you ever heard of it?
The silverware setting is interesting with the forks turned upside down.
Maybe to see the markings on the underside.
Interesting though.
Table setting looks very cozy, sit long and chat.
Norma nailed it! Simply stunning!
Oh, what a gorgeous table! And how nice to be able to eat outdoors – have to wait for autumn to do that where I live. I especially like the banneton. I have round and rectangular ones for my sourdough loaves and never thought about using them for serving. My favorite preserves flavor is raspberry. Guess my French ancestry is coming through!
What a dream it would be to enjoy that luncheon at Norma’s. I have been following the Tour de France ( Know nothing about the race) and have loved the drone scenery of the routes, the small villages, the spectators. Imagine being there in person! I love Bon Maman preserves as well, raspberry and cherry are favorites. I have enjoyed making my own jelly and jam in the past, now ingredients are so expensive it is cheaper to buy a good quality product off the shelf. Thank you and Norma for sharing.
Favorite fruit spread? Peach Preserves! Haven’t found any that match Grandma Cassie’s Preserves made from her Peach tree in her back yard in Rome, Ga. I hate the Georgia Peach crop has been devestated this year. Hope they have a better year in 2024. The few there were, sure didn’t make it up to Tennessee!
I saw bunches and bunches of peaches in Dorothy Lane Market in Oakwood, Ohio yesterday. Not sure where they were from, though.
Love antique’s and using family dishes that have been passed down for generations! I have from both my husband’s and my family’s dishes that date well over 100 years and yes I occasionally use them, so fun!
Loving the French history, but what I was wondering is what’s the significance of the garlic in the red dish? Just for looks or is there a significant reason they’re on the table? Just curious!
What an inviting setting. Just lovely, and thanks to Ms. Norma for sharing.
Bonne Maman has replaced Braswell ( made here in GA) as our absolute favorite. You can find the fig flavor at Ingles. Our favorite is the apricot…blood size pieces of real apricot and no HFCS. Second favorite is red currant, then raspberry, but every flavor we have tried is good. Publix carries it also. Yum…
Aaaaargh spell check! I meant good sized pieces of apricots in the jam!,
Lovely table setting! My favorite Bonne Maman preserve is Apricot….just delicious on sourdough toast!
I love Bonne Maman jams. I think Apricot is my favorite, followed by any of he berries (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, etc.). I have never seen a banneton that long. I have seen oblong ones bu they are only 10 to 12 inches long. I would love to find a longer one. I very much enjoyed this table setting. Thanks for sharing.
Favorite Bonne Maman is Cherry Preserves. I use it every morning on half of my half bagel and the other half gets Once Again Almond Butter. Been doing this for years. I lost a friend to cancer a year ago and one of the last gifts I sent was a set of 30 1 oz jars of Bonne Maman to encourage her to eat breakfast. For some reason, I cannot throw the jars away so I have accumulated quite a store of Bonne Maman jars. She said the same thing about the cute little jars, didn’t know what to do with them.
European silver flatware is hallmarked on the back of forks and I assume that is why they always place the tines facing down. European silver is also heavier than most US sterling. It’s been a long time since I worked with tableware but Tuttle and Christofle are 2 of the maker names I remember. I had several place settings of Tuttle but finally decided to sell it to Replacements.
Beautiful table setting. I like the rustic look of antique items.
Thank you for sharing Norma’s table settings and the interesting information about the unique items she uses to make her table beautiful. I always love to read these posts. My favorite jam is Dark Cherry from Germany called Kirsch Gruetze. I don’t have a jar on hand so I’m not sure if that is the correct name but it is soooooo good! Hope you are having cooler temps in GA then we are having here in VA. Today our “feels like” high is predicted to be in the high 9o’s which is actually cooler than the 100+ degree “feels like” we have been having. Guess I shouldn’t complain as many places across the nation have higher temps.
I love Bonnie Maman Perserves and my favorite is the Cherry Perserves I always keep in at my house and I also keep all my jars I have made homemade body and hand scrubs and put it in the jars and gifted them. ❤️
Susan – this tablescape is so special. I would have never thought to use clothes pins to hold my napkins and will be stealing this idea. The whole scene is so welcoming and cozy and I just want to join them. Thanks for sharing this one.
I love Bonne Maman Perserves my favorite is the Cherry Preserves I always have it at my house, and I save all the the jars and reuse them I love to make homemade hand and body scrubs with sugar and gift them to friends and they just love them.
Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll have to try Cherry and Apricot!
A plus is that either would co-ordinate with red accents from toile and the other patterns. Perfectly natural to think of food matching other items in a Tablescape, right?
Our Nashville Peach Truck covered up signs on the side that always said “Only Fresh Georgia Peaches”. This season it says “Only Fresh Peaches”
Very pretty table setting! Bonne Maman jams are my favorite, too. Hard to choose a favorite. Readers may like to have a look at their US website. They sell the most wonderful advent calendars, filled with tiny jars of the most unusual flavors…the ones only found in France. I send a few every Christmas but also can never resist buying one for myself. Bonne Maman makes other treats as well. Get yourselves on their mailing list. And if you are interested in their advent calendars, buy early as they always sell out! (Other places sell them as well but you’ll need to Google>)
My favorite jam is apricot preserves, a close second is a Christmas Jam made for a local Amish store — it’s a strawberry jam with the added tartness of cranberries (strawberry is the slightly more dominant flavor).
Has Norma shared how she makes her banners? They appear well made, I’d enjoy seeing how she does it.
I am completely charmed!
What an absolutely charming display!!! It just “sets the tone” for a special gathering…”Care!!” Bon Apetit!! franki
. . .Bonne Maman Fig and Orange Marmalade!! Fell down the Google “rabbit hole” on the forks. . .apparently a French tradition; English tradition is tines up.
I always look forward to seeing what Norma cooks up, but realistically and figuratively. I love, love, love red and white buffalo check and gingham. I wouldn’t have thought of pairing it with all the old antiques, but that’s why I love this blog. I always get ideas!
This is the first time I noticed Norma’s forks being upside down. If she’s done that with her earlier tables, I didn’t notice. Very interesting. I wonder if that is the typical way of setting the table in France.
Too bad the Concorde is no longer flying. I’d love to jet over there and join in. Thanks, Norma and Susan.
I’m very fond of Bonne Maman marmalade! My kids love the four fruits blend and my second favorite is the cherry. So good!
Susan,
Absolutely love this charming tablescape that Norma has invited us to view!!! I am a lover of red so it made my heart skip a beat!!! Thanks Norma and Susan for sharing!!!
Thanks again for hosting this wonderful party every week! I know how much time goes into doing so and I want you to know that it I truly appreciate it!! I hope you have a great week!
Hugs,
Deb