Under The Tuscan Sun With A Tuscan Tablescape, Revisited!
Under The Tuscan Sun With A Tuscan Tablescape!
Friends, I have been working on my old archives and trying to update a few, which some days make me go one step forward and two steps back, if you know what I mean. However, I remember this tablesetting well and I really enjoyed setting this table as I had watched the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” one Saturday afternoon on TV. I have to laugh at some of the old photos..the lighting, etc. BTW as I look back at some of these older posts, I smile because I think…where is that particular plate? I have not seen it in years. Knowing me, it is still here because I find it hard to part with any of my dishes. I do still have the pieces on this table…minus the fruit of course. 🥰 Plus, I have not changed my dining area much…same table, chairs, wall paint, etc. and that is a little embarrassing, considering this was about 8 years ago.🥴 So lets go back in time and revisit this table.
I have Tuscan on the brain….And I can’t help remembering the movie “Under The Tuscan Sun”!…one of my all time favorite movies because it was about Italy, Tuscany, romance and fixing up an Italian Villa. Bet Ya Didn’t know that Our home has a Tuscan name! Villa de la Luna!
And we have a courtyard………and we eat at a table by the pool and we,…..ok, you get that I like Tuscan, don’t you?
I especially love playing with my dishes….and when I went to the Farmer’s Market and saw those wonderful heirloom tomatoes with their Tuscan hues,…and I saw the tomatillos, and the red, green and purple grapes, I just had to load my straw bag, with fresh veggies and fruits and rush home to set a Tuscan Table!
Sigh! I couldn’t help it.
A force was moving me right along and I had no choice but to flow with it.
Several years ago I found the rust-rimmed salad plates with 4 special recipes printed right on the face of the plate. I knew the right time and place would pop up and I could use them in a Tuscan Tablescape. I love tall vases and I had purchased two of the clear vases on sale at either Marshals or TJMax. In my haste to grab up my bargain, I didn’t realize that the vases were not the same size.
One vase is actually 1/4 inch shorter. Normally, that is not a problem, but when you are setting a table with a book-end effect….they really should be the same size to mirror the other end of the table. These don’t.
But that is ok. They are large and I believe “large” makes a statement. I placed red, yellow, orange and green cherry and grape tomatoes in each of the vases. I also added green tomatillos and maroon heirloom tomatoes. Then I topped the large vases with clusters of red, green and purple grapes.
For the centerpiece, I used a cream colored vase with brown bottom and filled it with yellow sunflowers, rust colored zinnias, and orange dahlias, which I placed on top of a burlap table runner. I placed a couple artichokes on each side of the vase to match the artichokes on one of the salad plates. The chargers are rattan, carrying out the rustic theme.
The white plates hold the recipe salad plates and the flatware is the “stick” bronze which also adds to the Tuscan flavor. For napkins, I chose two. A white one and a rust colored one which I put one inside the other and clasped with a rustic wood napkin ring.
The amber stemware was a purchase from the Dollar store, while the water glasses were from Pier 1 about 18 years ago…(that would make it about 26 years ago now) I used votive candles in crystal candle holders, because I like the juxtaposition of the rustic and the classic.
The music was playing softly ….the strains of Andrea Bocelli and Il Volo, while I put the finishing touches on the chicken piccata, mushroom risotto and green salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing!
Dessert? Tiramisu, of course! Altho….I seriously considered cannoli stuffed with cream and tiny chocolate chips!
What a magical evening and I felt we were back in Italy……Under the Tuscan Sun with a Tuscan Tablescape right here in SW Florida!
Make every day a special day, and enjoy the pleasures you are blessed with.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
Good Morning, Kari. I didn’t see this when you first posted this beautiful table. I love the hurricanes filled with all the Tuscan elements! The rustic colors are perfect, especially as we head into the “ber” months.
I have the Book Under the Tuscan Sun somewhere. I am off to look for it. (It may be in Arizona.) It’s a wonderful book. We stayed at a Villa in Tuscany in 2019, so that may be why I didn’t see this post.
Thank you for such a lovely post. Enjoy your time looking at your archives. I do sometimes and shriek at some of my pictures. Lol!
Happy New Week to You!
Thanks Nancy for stopping by…I shudder at some of the photos and my comments on these older posts. I think I have my dish pantry fairly well organized but sometimes I will see an item or plate in an older post and wonder…now where is that plate and I had forgotten I had it. LOL
I do the same! 🤣
What a beautiful name for your home as Villa de la Luna. It’s so perfect for you being a Tuscan loving themed lady. Your table, with the soft music in the background and your lovely menu is making me smile. Have a beautiful and blessed week, Kari.
Kitty…I will always be forever the romantic and I thank God for giving me a man who goes along with each and every whim I have. I remember saying at our vows that God gave me one wonderful Christian husband and I did not think I was deserving of two, but He in His wisdom did just that. Blessings and thanks for stopping by
Oh Kari, just love seeing your table settings and reading your wonderful blog! thank you for staying in touch and sharing! Love you, Laura
Thank you Laura….I miss the fun we had in the hallways (and every place else)…LOL Thanks for your kind comments. I hope you are having a great Labor day weekend. 🥰
Kari, with the music, the menu, and the mood at your table you have a very romantic Tuscany setting. Love how you used the stemmed vases to hold the colorful tomatoes and grapes and made them part of your centerpiece. The colors of the flowers and napkins are perfect for a fall table.
Hey Jan…thanks for stopping by and I am sure you are happy our Jayhawks football won so handily last week…but I do think Mizzou might be another story. Of course, I can’t wait for Jayhawks Basketball. I do love everything Italian, food particularly, but now that I think about it…there isn’t too much I don’t like. Stay cool! hugs dear one.
Kari, this is my first time seeing this. It is lovely and I always wished I had visited Italy. Lovely setting, Kari!
Hugs,
Sandy
Thanks Sandy for stopping by and I hope you and Ron are enjoying a relaxing day…summer is finally fading and fall is on the way…even down here there is a slight shift in the weather. Hugs my dear friend.🥰💕🙏🏻
Wonderful colors for this time of year! Your tables never disappoint!
Oh thank you Donna…you are so sweet and kind. I always look forward to your visits to my blog. I hope you are having a wonderful relaxing Labor Day. We are certainly taking it easy here today…I told the Captain that I have ‘labored’ enough🥰, tho we usually picnic on this holiday…sort of a last hurrah to Summer, but we both decided today was definitely a day for rest. Thanks again for stopping by.
Kari, your table is beautiful and it really captures the feel of Tuscany. I love those tomatoes. Great idea and great find.
If you haven’t read the book “Under the Tuscan Sun,” pick up a copy — it’s by Frances Mayes. It’s the original from which the movie was (VERY) loosely based. Mayes and her partner Ed, both faculty members at a San Francisco Uni, buy a real fixer-upper villa and vineyard (and olive grove) in Tuscany and get to work on rehab. Not easy when you don’t speak the language! But they also travel while there and you get the flavor of Tuscany. Plus, she’s an amazing cook (and was also a food writer) and includes some fantastic recipes. I’m told the sequels are really good too.
You know Jeanie I did get that book as you intrigued me in your book reviews. I am only in the beginning chapters. I loved the architectural romance of the movie…actually identifying with Diane Lane, seeing the possibilities beyond the deteriorating structure. I actually did that (on a much smaller scale) in New Mexico when we bought an old SW adobe hacienda in the Manzano Mountains with lots of acreage and made it into a working cattle and horse ranch. The old addage is true…we learned of the ‘snowball effect’ (or scope creep) mighty fast. Actually, our home here in Florida has a Tuscany flavor with the reddish orange tile roof, archways, etc. Thanks for stopping by my friend, I hope you and Rick are taking it easy today.
Good morning, Kari, I remember reading the book. Butch and I visited the Tuscan region of Italy and it is truly breathtaking. I don’t see where I commented before, so perhaps this is the first I have seen your lovely Tuscan-styled table. Your 4 recipe salad plates are charming and who wouldn’t want to set a table in their honor? Tall vases make the perfect statement filled with fruit. The question remains a mystery, are tomatoes a vegetable or a fruit? You set a beautiful table with a delicious menu. Butch and I love Italian food and we have risotto often.
Wishing you and the Captain a wonderful Labor Day!
Hi Pam…I am so glad you caught this post…and I love Tuscany too. The Captain and I took the train from Zurich through the Swiss Alps down through Tuscany and of course had to spend time on the ground as well. We loved it! There are so many quaint little towns, I particularly love the narrow cobblestone streets, tho they make for difficult walking if you don’t wear the proper shoes.🥰. Rome was also wonderful! Definitely breath-taking. I still call the tomato a vegetable, right or wrong. haha! We love risotto too and listening to IL Volo, who are still together singing their tenor hearts out is usually playing in the background as I cook. (I’m always the romantic, but Italian cooking and Italian singers just go together, you know?) Their rendition of Hallelujah still gives me chills.
Same wishes back at you and Butch…relax as this is the day that the Lord has made…and we shall be glad in it.🤗
Yes, to each beautiful item on this table! I don’t think you could have found better plates to go with this table and the twig flatware is on my list of must haves. Love your style!
thanks Sandra…I have had the twig flatware for a long time, I have it in both silver and copper. You won’t regret this purchase. Hugs my friend
Lovely, Kari! I especially liked the touch of the tomatillo with its peel still on.
Thanks Irene, I use tomatillo a lot in my SW cooking. After living in New Mexico for so long…I miss the great foods…and try to use them as much as I can.
Kari, your table settings are gorgeous! I love it…that flatware is adorable and looks perfect on the table with the chargers and double layer napkins! All so gorgeous…great idea to put the grapes in the hurricane vase! Happy Mother’s Day! Love and hugs sweet friend!
Happy Mother’s Day to you sweet friend…thank you for liking my Tuscan table. I am listening to II Volo right now as I type this. Wow! Can those guys sing. Soooooooo romantic and soothing.
What a fun theme Kari! I love the grapes in the large stemmed hurricanes! And the earthy colors are perfect, and cute plates too! Mangia!
Jenna
Thanks Jenna, it was fun to put together.
Cute forks. You don’t have any of those little pitchers with the roosters on them? 🐔
Hi Skylark….I have had the bronze “stick” flatware for quite a while as well as the same flatware in silver. I have used them both in various tablescapes…particularly Fall and Halloween tablescapes.
I don’t believe I have any of the pitchers with roosters on them but I did do a tablescape with rooster salad plates… Check out Wake up with the roosters at:
https://meandmycaptain.com/2016/09/16029/
I do love chickens and wish I could have a couple laying hens here in the Cape but as you know…there are rules against that.
Fresh eggs would be nice to have but……
thanks for stopping by, I so appreciate you.
Beautiful…Just like usual!
You are too kind, I hope you and John are enjoying your summer.
Thanks for your comments~ they make my day 🙂