4th of July, Beverages, Food, Summer

It’s Summertime

“it’s a smile, it’s a kiss, it’s a sip of wine … it’s summertime!” — Kenny Chesney In the interest of keeping a simple picnic simple, here is my offering for a summer cocktail. Again, there are lots of beautiful red, white and blue cocktails out there made with rum and other lethal liqueurs to give them their color. They also give the worst imaginable hangovers, and after a certain age one weighs the hangover against the allure of the […]

Uncategorized

Welcome!

  America’s Table is a love letter.   This patchwork of a blog is meant to offer the best recipes, invitations, flowers and party ideas collected over my forty years as a family cook, event planner, White House Social Secretary, and Washington hostess.   I struggled a bit with this name – America’s Table – because at first it seemed pretentious.  But it’s a big country out there, and American food is a pure reflection of the striving and diverse place we […]

Flowers, Summer

Red, White and Blue flowers

Red, White and Blue flowers…. are tricky. One of the things I’ve seen an awful (emphasis on the awful) lot of in my event planning career are red, white and blue flower arrangements. Inaugurals, fundraisers, campaign events – everyone wants to be patriotic with the flowers, which is great except that the arrangements always seem a bit off. It’s not impossible to get a beautiful r, w, and b bouquet, but it’s much better to work with two of the […]

4th of July, Entrees, Food, Summer

The Glorious Fourth

It’s easy to get carried away by the Fourth of July. The weather is good, the produce is plentiful and luscious – and, hey, it’s a long weekend.  What’s not to love?  It’s wholly joyful, and a day that should be shared with others, whether you’re at the beach, in a backyard, or on a rooftop deck. Over the next few posts I’ll be offering up the makings of an easy picnic, beginning with my Great-Grandmother Rogers’ fried chicken recipe. […]