Announcing the winners of our 2011 Shavuot Table Contest!

Winner for FIRST PRIZE wins $200. gift certificate to PARCI PARLA!

This a just one of Parci Parla’s gorgeous table settings! Parci Parla has tons of gift and table ware for your home! Email Irene for more info!

SECOND PRIZE - $100 to Josh and Co. Florist

THIRD PRIZE -$75 to Josh and Co.

Winner #1 with the most Facebook likes, comments, and emailed votes sent in to me is Karen Tawil! Check out her beautiful tables HERE!!!

Winner #2 with the most Facebook likes, comments, emailed votes sent in to me AND most inspiring Holocaust survival story is Felicia Bryn, from Sunny Isles Florida. Check out Mrs. Bryn’s table settingHERE.

Winner #3 with the most Facebook likes, comments, emailed votes sent in to me is Lorene Sasson! Lorene’s two table top displays were a big hit! Click HERE to check it out!

A SPECIAL THANK YOU to Linda and Emile Haddad, Susan Lerner, Aunt Linda Betesh, Claudia Bldirici, Rachel Dweck,  and Allison Srour for sharing your GORGEOUS holiday tables with us!!!!

Click on each of their names above to see their beautiful Shavuot tables!

To check out ALL of the magnificent tables shared by our Jewish Hostesses please click HERE ! You are all such an inspiration to me and thousands of Jewish women all over the world! Marlene

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• Shavuot Table Contest!! Win a $200 Gift Certificate to Parci Parla, and $100 to Josh and Co. Florist!!! (thejewishhostess.com)
• How To Dress Up Your Shavuot Table With Your Own Unique Style (thejewishhostess.com)
• Shavuot Table Decor by the Sea – Emile and Linda Haddad (thejewishhostess.com)
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• 

 I’m loving Elena’s classic metallic silver and white tablescape. A gorgeous backdrop for a delicious lunch. GREAT job, Elena!! Marlene  

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Thank you to all of the Jewish Hostessses who took the time to send in their tables. I hope all of my readers enjoy looking at these tablescapes as much as I do. Each one is unique and as beautiful as the hostess behind it.  Click here to see the first batch of  Passover tables that were posted last week.

May we continue to share in many Jewish holidays together! Marlene

P.S Comment below with your favorites! 

p.s. don’t miss the newest table setting ideas and easy healthy recipes once a week to your inbox! CLICK HERE!

1. Lily Pads and Frogs Passover Table Decor By Kineret Spector (check out more of  Kineret’s creative tables HERE and HERE!)

Kineret

2. A Country Seder Table by Lisa Ades-

“My country seder in Massachusets – nothin’ fancy since the green outside from our Japanese garden is all the decoration we need…”

“I wish I had chairs that match but at least we have glasses that match – they were Grandma Ades’s.”

“This is my “centerpiece” – my mom and I went to the nursery down the street where they have the most beautiful pansies…”

“We planted them in this pot that has real moss growing on it. What could be prettier than that?”

“Did you notice my “diamond” napkin fold? I found it on http://www.napkinfoldingguide.com/! Ethan made that kippah on the right when he was little – i love the pom pom on it and that all the letters fell off except for HA! Enjoy! Lisa”

3. An Elegant Persian Tablescape at the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica. Check out the rest of the post HERE.

4. Blue Suede Seder Trays by Emily Massry

Hey Marlene I'm only sending this because I ran into you in Walmart. I Bought these blue suede boxes for Purim never used them but they came in handy for Passover . I put Haggadah, egg, haroset, and celery in salt water lettuce and a little cup of salt. Thank g-d it was a great Seder! Love ya keep up the great work, Marlene!," Emily M.

5. Color Array of Tableware by Susie Dweck

6. Alexis and Sarah Mizrahi “Spring” into action every year on Passover. Check out their LAST YEAR’S gorgeous crafty seder HERE!.

“Hi Marlene!
Our gourmet popcorn business closed for pesach-so we finally had some free time on our hands! Like always-we suprise our mother with a beautiful table every holiday. This years inspiration was “hag ha’aviv-holiday of the spring. ” A trip to the flower market, & a local nursery-& we were done! We rented a camel table cloth,yellow napkins,& bamboo chairs from Brooklyn Party Rental -Sonny Halawani- Our centerpieces were grass we bought already in those rustic wood crates, glass jars filled with moss, real birch wood, birds, lemons & limes.. For place cards we potted moss in terra cotta pots, & used birch wood scraps (we got it free!) that we ripped in small pieces for the names. Next to that, we placed our home-made leather bound Hagadahs! Our favorite part of the whole table – everyones little shelf with all the symbolic foods. We found these lucite “cabinet organizers” for cents-& we turned them into individual ke’aras! It was soo easy & so much fun! Enjoy!!”
Alexis & Sarah Mizrahi
Don’t forget to call Brooklyn Party Rental: (646) 233-7955
And Crazy Corn – to try one of their 16+ flavors of gourmet popcorn: (718) 613-9558

7.Pretty Greens and Flowers Pesach Tablescape by Jennifer Malka- “my hubby does all the flower arrangements!”

8.  ” Hi Marlene…here is a photo that I just took of our seder table. Thank you. Chag Sameach!!” Karen Rubin- Brown

 9.  A Springtime Pesach Table By Jane Choueka

10. Fabulous Holiday Lunch Table By Carol Chera-

Gorgeous Kim Seybert accessories avaailable at Parci Parla in Brooklyn.

(718) 618-7398

Enjoy the creativity and please comment below with your favorite holiday tables!

p.s. don’t miss the newest table setting ideas and easy healthy recipes once a week to your inbox! CLICK HERE!

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Thank you Kineret Spector for sending in this beautiful inspiring story about the importance of carrying on our wonderful Jewish holidays and traditions! Marlene

The Reason for Everything

It was Sunday night dinner in our Sukkah.  Family and good friends totaling 20 were gathered around the table, already a beautiful sight!  I beamed at my guests for a minute and thanked everyone for being there, before turning to go in for the soup. Suddenly, my friend Jody’s daughter spoke up.”I want to say something!” she announced.  We all turned to look at Gilda, 6 years old, a normally reserved and serious child, and shy around adults – definitely not one to speak up at a table of 20. But Gilda showed no sign of hesitation as she continued, ”I just want to say how happy I am to be here in this Sukkah, and it is so beautiful in here, and I really love it.  I am so happy.”  Her eyes glistened as she looked around the Sukkah.

I was speechless. Years of hosting, cooking, decorating, inviting. Every Shabbat and holiday, as we say, Eem kol ha lev - with our whole heart.  And always to a happy, satiated, and appreciative crowd.  But Gilda’s pure and genuine compliment, in all its simplicity, instantly reminded me (and provided a case in point to my whole family), why we do this at all.  For our children.  For the next generation of Jews.

Every Shabbat and Holiday is ultimately for them, but especially Sukkot.  We know the symbolism of a sukkah and retell it every year.  But for children, it’s even more than that. It’s a fort! A little hut! A small house! An enchanted little getaway. And we get to have this in our driveway every year because we’re Jewish!  While the Sukkah is being erected, the kids are hard at work at the decoration table, making paper chains, paper lanterns, and welcome signs.  They get to decide where it goes.  It’s their own little Sukkah fort.  Truly, the party starts that evening, as it all starts to come together.

For Gilda, the magical appeal of a sukkah may have been just that spark that evoked the gush of appreciation and awareness. I’m so lucky. I’m so happy. I’m Jewish. I’m part of something. Our kids do as we do.  We tell them we’re Jewish, we model the rituals and tradition, we tell and retell stories of our ancestors, we explain and we teach. But to witness the moment when the first burst of genuine spirituality is stirred in a child – that is just a transcending experience.  From oldest to youngest, we were all touched by a little bit of sukkah magic that night.

Kineret Spector lives in Los Angeles with her husband and four daughters.  Please ‘like’ her facebook page BSG Tablescapes. 

 

Check out the new Jewish Hostess Aprons HERE!

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Hi Marlene,

Inspired from my trip to Paris last year – I wanted to serve all the food in individual portions Not being able to  find the right table cloth, so I went to the fabric store and bought a black leather cloth and made a runner from that black and white fabric. I happen to love inspiring messages, so each Eiffel tower place card holder  had a word printed on it – happiness, gratitude, honor, love grace etc … and each card also the guest’s name on it.

I found butterflies at Kitchen Caboodles and placed them on my napkins.
Mirrors were used as chargers.
I set up the food in the kitchen on display boxes with mirrors And I also bought lamp posts online to create the Paris street setting.
I also got the individual ramekins from kitchen caboodles and the martini glasses and large glasses for salads.

I’ll send over the pics now !
Raquel Habert
(917)536-2122

carmelized onion goat cheese tarts with fresh figs and truffle oil

 mac and cheese logs

fried eggplant squares topped with sautéed spinach and piece of grilled salmon on top

string bean salad

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My cousin Sarah is famous for her  gourmet cooking. Her holiday and Shabbat table setting should be featured in Martha Stewart magazine.

I saved this pic of Sara’s last year’s Sukkot table decor and menu- I wonder what she’s planning this year!!!

This Sukkot , PLEASE  take a picture of your table and share it with Jewish Hostesses all over the world!. Send it over to marlene@thejewishhostess.com.

By Debbie Gindi

Kosher Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 bag mazors puff pastry dough
• 1 container frozen rich whip,defrosted in refrigerator overnight
• 1 box vanilla pudding
• 1 tsp Any flavor extract you would like(optional)
• Berries for decoration

Defrost mazors for about 20 minutes. preheat oven to 350•.  On a lightly floured surface,roll out a bit.

Cut into 3 strips lengthwise. on ungreased cookie sheet Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden. Remove,let cool. (This step may be prepared up to 2 days in advance and kept at room temp in an airtight container)

Beat rich whip in chilled bowl until stiff peaks form,add vanilla pudding pack and whip until incorporated.

(And any extract desired,if using)

On serving platter place on layer puff pastry dollop 1/2 whipped cream mixture on top. Repeat with puff pastry and cream. Ending top layer with pastry. Garnsh with confectioners sugar on top. And a few fresh berries! Shabbat Shalom.

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