As sisters in the gospel, our lives are full of loving and serving those around us. Often times we accomplish this by opening our homes, celebrating with family, friends and neighbors and creating traditions, both spiritual and temporal. Our November Relief Society meeting was designed to help us strengthen our relationships with others through these celebrations. Lessons were taught, ideas were shared and our favorite holiday dishes were served. Our meeting began with Shawnee Miranda and Debbie Marcantano sharing with us the importance of creating righteous traditions. These spiritual traditions can be family scripture study, personal prayer, temple attendance, journal writing and Sunday worship. They reminded us that these are the most important traditions we will establish, personally and as a family.
Mary Alice Hatch, Julia Blake and Roxanne Becker then each taught a mini lesson that focused on celebrating within our homes. Mary Alice taught us how to make our homes festive throughout the year. She encouraged us to choose several focal points to decorate, such as the entry way, the mantle and the dining room table. Focusing on these spots will create more impact than trying to decorate each spot in our home. Some ideas that she presented were planting year round box woods in planters on the porch and then adding seasonal plants through out the year, such as bright flowers and ivy in the spring and pumpkins and gourds in the fall. She encouraged us to have many interesting glass containers, which are versatile. In the fall they can be wrapped in burlap with fall flowers and ribbon can be tied around them to bring out different colors and add a new look. Colored candles are also a great way to give our homes a festive feel. Mary Alice's beautiful table decorations illustrated the ideas she shared with us.
Julia Blake then taught us how to present our food gracefully and professionally. She began her presentation with her belief that food tastes better if it looks good, which is hard to disagree with! While hosting a party, she encouraged us to spread the food around. With dishes in different rooms, the guests will naturally spread out and the space of the home will feel more comfortable. Julia uses small frames to label each food item at her parties. She suggested that we make recipes that can be made ahead of time, to avoid last minute stress and to be able to accomplish more. Often times she plans a party around a piece of fabric that she uses on the table, favorite napkins that she has found, or a set of plates. Some of the kitchen tools that she just can't live without are scoops, which make cookies and muffins uniform, spatulas that enable her to cut food cleaner, piping bags which can be used with anything from frosting to mashed potatoes, small containers such as individual trifle bowls, and even cans which can be used to shape different types of food. She encouraged us to wipe off splatters and spills with a cloth before presenting a dish, a simple but effective and professional thing to remember. With Julia's suggestions, our food will indeed taste better!
Roxanne finished our presentations by teaching us how to create table decorations that will transform any meal into a celebration. She brought several examples which gave us new ideas that we could try in our own homes. Roxanne showed us how different glass containers could be used, including placing one smaller square glass vase into a larger glass vase and slipping sliced lemons and limes into the crack. For a dinner table, she encouraged us to use decorations that are either low and can be seen over or high and can be seen through or under. We can use a long table runner and place multiple, corresponding centerpieces down the runner, she suggested. Often times Roxanne uses square tiles under the decoration to add interest and she groups items together, such as candles and vases. Roxanne elevates parts of her centerpieces and adds texture and light, to create an interesting decoration. She is always on the look out at Dollar Tree, Christmas Tree Shop, Savers and even yard sales for new items to have on hand. Roxanne provides many of the decorations for our Relief Society activities and ward events, so we appreciated the expertise that she shared at our Relief Society meeting.
We all listened and learned as these talented sisters shared their insights and knowledge with us!
We ended our morning with a Holiday lunch provided by several of our Relief Society sisters. Each table was decorated for a different holiday and the women we were encouraged to sit at the table that represented the holiday closest to their birthday.
We then enjoyed holiday dishes that were traditional in the families of many of our sisters. Each sister who brought a dish explained why the food was significant in their family. We enjoyed a lunch of Pomegranate Punch, turkey and gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, stuffed pumpkin, orange rolls, yams, green beans, butternut squash soup, a green salad, and chocolate coconut cheesecake. Mischell Shapiro then cut open and shared her Fourth of July fondant cake that she creates each year and uses as a centerpiece for her backyard Independence Day celebration.
We appreciated both the wonderful food as well as the opportunity to connect with one another.
As each sister left, they received a booklet that included traditions and celebrations that our sisters enjoy in their homes and were willing to share with each other. (This booklet is now on our blog. Click on the side bar to access it.)
We left full of new ideas, inspired by examples and knowledge presented to us, nourished spiritually and physically and, most importantly, strengthened by the bonds of love and friendship which we share as a sisterhood.
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