Setting the Table

I've been thinking about ways to enjoy meals more in ways that don't add calories, and I've concluded that a beautiful, homey table setting paired with small and healthy portions can help assuage hunger for extra calories. To that end, I've gathered a collection of Etsy items to fill a kitchen and warm your belly. I started with this 5 piece place setting from one of my favorite Etsy potters, khphillips (above). You may also notice that I added his blog to my Favorite Reads on the right. I needed a big farm table to set the dishes on, and the one below from brandmojointeriors was perfect to satisfy my appetite.

Next I needed a tablecloth, and I couldn't find a better material for one than this grainsack from the shop of the same name, grainsack.

We'll want some homemade bread, of course. What more appropriate vessel for the bread than this vintage dough bowl from snapsink?

Let's wrap the bread in these lovely napkins from twiddleANDtweet - we don't want it cooling too fast. We'll need a few for each place setting too.

This platter from cyrusthepotter will serve up some grilled vegetables beautifully, don't you agree?

The vintage milk glass serving bowl from highstreetmarket will host our soup with divine ease.

And the wooden ladle from GarageWoodShop will expertly serve up the soup.

These wooden candlesticks from EquilibriumDesigns will light up the table, enhancing the romance of eating healthy at home.

The other night we had some amazing soup, and I wanted to share the recipe with you: Roasted Bell Pepper and Grilled Corn Chowder. (Below, unforth's roast corn photograph.)

Ingredients

For the Chowder:

1 tablespoon butter

3 red bell peppers, large

1 sweet onion, chopped, large

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

4 ounces dry white wine

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

2 ears fresh corn

1 lime, juice only

cayenne pepper, to taste

Cooking Directions

For the Red Peppers:

Roast the red peppers over a grill or stove burner until black on all sides. Place into a plastic bag and let them sweat for 15-20 minutes. Using the back of a knife, scrape the skins off of the peppers and remove the seeds and stem.

For the Corn:

Grill the 2 ears of fresh corn just until they have lightly browned on all sides, then remove from the cob with a chef's knife.

For the Chowder:

In a large soup pot, sweat chopped onion, garlic, and roasted peppers in a little butter. When the vegetables are soft, season with salt and pepper, then add in the white wine. Reduce the wine until almost dry, then add in the cream. Simmer for 5 minutes, then puree with a stick blender until smooth. Add the grilled corn and lime juice last and taste for seasonings.

To Finish:

This is a rich and hearty soup that really needs special attention right when it's finished. The flavors need to be balanced right at the end to bring out all that this soup has to offer. If the taste seems a touch bitter, add more fresh lime juice and salt to balance it out. With enough seasoning and acidity, this soup just dances on the palate with richness and roasted flavor.

This soup was truly delicious, and enjoying it with all of the fruits of Etsy's shops would only improve the experience. (Above, artbylynn's Red Bells.)