today's french blue table

Happy Friday! We made it to the weekend, which in my book is reason enough to celebrate with a lovely dinner. With that, of course, comes a table set with some of my favorite finds, and tonight the theme is French bistro! 

Here’s my little secret... I took this past week’s blue pumpkin table and changed out just a few things to create this Parisian inspired dinner.  

I simply swapped out a few things and created a whole new look. The biggest visual impact for this table is the beautiful vintage tablecloth. It just speaks French to me! 

Oooh, la la! 😉

As you can see, the glasses are the same, as well as the white dinner plates. I switched out the container for the hydrangeas from a silver julep cup to an antique transferware pitcher.

In addition to the tablecloth, these fun plates were total bargains. The petit déjeuner plates are made by Williams-Sonoma and the picnic check plates were found in a huge set of blue and white tableware goodies.  

And you know what? Besides the Serena & Lily placemats and the white plates from Home Goods, all of this tableware was found in thrift stores or flea markets!  

The icing on the cake for this table are these adorable little ceramic hen napkin holders, found on Wednesday at my neighborhood thrift store. 

I actually had seen them there for a while, but with this French theme, I thought they were most appropriate! I couldn't buy a cup of coffee with what I spent on them.

Eyeing this table, you may spot a little clue for an upcoming blog post this weekend... 

These French onion soup bowls were a gift from my neighbor Maureen. And yes, she’s the same friend who lets me trim off eucalyptus branches for my floral arrangements!   

So what are French onion soup bowls without French onion soup? Not as yummy looking, that's for sure!

Here’s my first attempt at making French onion soup, and I have to say it was quite easy. This humble recipe starts off with several onions,  thinly sliced and cooked slowly in a cast iron pan with butter and olive oil, until they start to caramelize and turn a lovely butterscotch color. You know the aroma is amazing!

I just love how simple ingredients can create the most amazing soup, and my family totally approved too! With my Paleo diet, my bowl of soup was of course cheese and bread free, but just as luscious and flavorful. 

I'll have the entire recipe for you tomorrow. 

Until then, Happy Friday! 

ciao! fabiana