In West Texas, cotton really is King around here, especially this year when most farmers had a great crop! Since my granddad is a cotton farmer, and since I invited my grandparents to Christmas Dinner, I decided to incorporate cotton into my table centerpiece. Filled with luscious pine needles and greenery, I thought it would be fun to replace flowers with snippets of cotton stalks and pine cones. I actually loved the effect (and my granddad thought it was quite clever too, so he was amused as well)!
For each place setting, I used a twig (from a tree out back) to fasten a cardinal Old World Christmas ornament to, next to each place card. The ornament served as a party favor AND table decor! I also found tiny white poinsettia stockings that held the silverware for each guest. A roaring fire and a few votive candles later... A festive and country Christmas Dinner is served!
Here was the dinner menu (and I must tell you it went over FAMOUSLY!):
For appetizers- jalapeno poppers and mozzerella stuffed cherry tomatoes
For the main course-
Spice-Rubbed Turkey Wrapped in Proscuitto (Tim Love's recipe from Country Living) ***** sooo good!***
Potatoes au Gratin
Steamed Fresh Squash
Grilled asparagus
For dessert-
Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake (from Fine Cooking) **more butter than i've used to cook in 6 months, but MAN it was tasty!**
