Summer Harvest Table
When I think of summer, particularly the month of August, I immediately start envisioning all the reds, oranges and yellows of the season as nature makes that magical turn from summer to Fall. Vibrancy is still present everywhere as is the summer spirit that is had within, but the colors start taking on deeper notes and spirits shift to celebrating the nostalgia of the season and a transition to come, with golden hour becoming more and ever so prevalent.
August is one of the most beautiful times of year, especially since we are able to enjoy Indian Summers here in California. You could say it’s the colors, the culinary shift in flavors, or even the change in light as “golden hour” becomes more golden. You could also say that there’s a special energy or buzz in the air as everyone tries to hold on to the last bits of summer had. For our gathering table of the month, we tried to emulate all the feelings that we have for August in a beautiful and inviting table, with bright and rich hues magically touched by the golden streams of light of Healdsburg.
(Special thanks to our friend Olivia Marshall for capturing all the details and to our friends at A. Rafanelli Winery for generously sharing their space with us.)
THE INSPIRATION
Putting a table together always starts with putting a design board together of all the ideas that we love, to make sure that they all flow together in harmony. For this month and inspired by the colors of August (Reds, Berrys, Yellows) we wanted our table to look and feel like a vibrant and ombre sea of the first three colors of the color wheel. To make the table fun and offbeat, we brought in boho vibes by incorporating some macrame detailing to our table.
ASSEMBLING OUR TABLE
Flowers are always an important element to any gathering table. We pulled flowers from Dragonfly Farm and made sure that we had a good mix of reds, oranges and yellows for our arrangements. To bring in more color, we chose amber glassware, orange hued taper candles and light yellow napkins to give our table an extra punch of color. See how we assembled the flowers here and watch how we put everything together below!
*DESIGN TIP: Use glassware, napkins and candles to bring out colors that don’t come organically from flowers.
We chose a flowy runner to set atop our table (in this case a picnic table!) and placed a handmade macrame runner on top to break up the color and also add texture and interest. To bring an element of the earth to the table, we placed our menus on thin pieces of wood and tied it all together with the same roping from our macrame.
To complete our look, we threw pillows from Bonton Studio onto our picnic benches to create an inviting and cozy atmosphere.
THE FOOD ON THE TABLE
This month, we’ve curated some of our favorite dishes to share around the table, taking advantage of the delicious and seasonal procurements of the season. Enjoy and share a stone fruit and corn salad, crab toast with lemon aioli, mussels in white wine sauce and a peach cobbler to finish. Oh, and please take advantage of the easiest loaf of bread that you could ever make, which pairs perfectly with the savory dishes featured.
Wines and Olive Oil from A. Rafanelli Winery
August is very much about golden hour as we mentioned before, so grab a couple of friends, find a beautiful spot outside and dine alfresco with this beautiful and vibrant table!
