Everyday at the Table | Setting the Table No. 4
Five spring recipes I am making on repeat, early subscriber access to the Trudie spring sale, and a breakfast at home table
Everyday at the Table
Spring meals are some of my favorites. The produce is great, the evenings are long enough to actually sit outside, and everything feels a little lighter than it did in February. I have been making the same handful of recipes on repeat lately, some that resurfaced from last year, and some new ones that I wanted to share.
For whatever reason, I gravitate to salads chock full of ingredients this time of year, so the list includes mostly salads as well as my favorite burger recipe. These are the dishes that have been making weeknight dinners feel a little easier and tastier lately.
Ground Chicken Taco Salad with Smoky Chipotle Ranch
This one has become a weeknight staple. The smoky chipotle ranch is the detail that makes the whole thing worth making and I have been putting it on everything.
Cilantro Lime Tortellini Salad
The easiest spring dinner. Make it ahead, serve it cold, bring it to every potluck through June. I need to start doubling the dressing for this one, because it is delicious.
This is the pasta salad that converted me on pasta salads. The artichokes do everything. Make a big batch on Sunday and eat it all week.
I have made these three times in the last month and they are the only burgers I want to make all summer. Better than the original and you can eat them at a table you actually set.
Summer Tomato Salad with Charred Corn
Not quite tomato season yet but I am already thinking about it. This one goes on the table the day the first good tomatoes show up at the farmers market and not a day later.
A note for my subscribers
Our spring sale starts for everyone else tomorrow, but subscribers get early access today! Use code SPRING20 for 20% off everything (including pre-orders).
This is the only Trudie sale until August, so if there is something you have been eyeing, now is the time!
Setting the Table — Easy Breakfast at Home
Up next in the Setting the Table series is breakfast at home. The secret is a little prep the night before. Prep the cinnamon rolls, set the coffee maker, lay out the Dorothy napkins and woven placemats, tuck a vase of pink peonies in the center. Then morning becomes something different — you’re up before everyone else, the rolls are in the oven, the coffee is brewing, and the table is already waiting.
The Table
The woven placemats go down first. Natural fiber, no fuss, the kind of texture that makes a breakfast table feel warm and grounded without being formal. The Dorothy napkins alongside them, the blue and green block print that picks up the blue in the plates and gives the table its pattern without trying too hard.
Blue and white plates on top. The kind of plate that looks beautiful at breakfast because it is simple and cheerful and does not ask anything of the food placed on it. The brown bistro flatware alongside, which is warm and slightly unexpected at a breakfast table and works beautifully against the natural woven placemat.
The East Fork coffee mugs are always on the table. They are the only mug I use every single morning and having them out as part of the table setting rather than lined up by the coffee maker makes the whole thing feel considered. The short floral blue enamelware tumblers for the girls sit alongside the mugs. Little people deserve a pretty glass at breakfast too.
A vase of pink peonies in the center of the table. The tabletop lamps on before anyone sits down, even at breakfast, especially at breakfast. Warm lamplight in the morning before the day gets going is one of the gentlest ways to start.
The Menu
Everything here can be made before anyone else is awake or prepared the night before so the morning is about sitting down together rather than managing the kitchen.
• Better than Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls
• The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich
• A big bowl of fresh mixed berries
• Good coffee in the East Fork mugs, always
The Outfits
The breakfast at home outfit has exactly one rule: you are in pajamas and you are not apologizing for it. A beautiful morning at a set table in pajamas is the whole aesthetic. Wear something you love waking up in.
A poplin pajama set is the move for this table. Something with a print, something that looks intentional even though you literally just woke up in it. The Rothy’s clogs go on when you get up to pour the coffee. That is the whole outfit and it is exactly right.
The girls are also in their pajamas. My oldest daughter wants cotton but not snug fitting, so these are great for her. The toddler is in pointelle, always! That is the rule on breakfast at home morning. Everyone in pajamas, everyone at the table, no exceptions.
PSA
Lastly, I am obsessed with this Three Ships Brighter Days set. With a toddler that still wakes up during the night occasionally, this set makes me feel like I look a lot less tired. Perfect to put on while drinking a cup of coffee and waiting for cinnamon rolls to bake. Plus, I just realized it’s on sale, so I think I may buy myself an extra!
Everything from this post is linked in my ShopMy collection.
The full guide and all the links can also be found on the Trudie blog.