I think it was a few years ago that I first heard the word “tablescape.”
I’d turned on the Food Network one random morning and Sandra Lee’s show Semi-Homemade was on. According to the internet, it seems a tablescape is a creatively designed centerpiece or arrangement that gives a table a certain sense of style. Often it goes along with the meal’s theme (or at least it seems to on Sandra Lee’s show). As I watched, I remember thinking, “Who cares how the table looks?” I was way more interested in the food.
But it’s been some time since then. I’ve gotten married, had a child. And now I kind of wish that I had the time to create a tablescape. Especially for Friday nights. It would be lovely to a) get a tablecloth on the table, b) be sure I had matching glasses, and c) actually have a centerpiece in the middle of the table. I’m not talking anything too fancy. Nothing as gorgeous as this:
Really, I simply aspire to this:
Matching glasses, silverware, and dishes. A vase of flowers. And cloth napkins (though that might have to wait until we live in an apartment with our own washing machine… ah, city life).
May all our Shabbat tablescape wishes someday come true!