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31 Days of October: Day 27... Come and Dine

Come and Dine is the name of a hymn we often sing at family gatherings ("our" branch of the Yoder family, meaning the descendants of my mother's parents, not the BIG Yoder reunion that includes the descendants of all of my grandfather's siblings) and it is a tune that I often find myself silently singing when I'm cooking a large meal.  We only sing the first verse and chorus.  I love that particular tradition even though now it evokes such a strong emotion since my Mom's passing.

by Charles B. Widmeyer

Jesus has a table spread
Where the saints of God are fed,
He invites His chosen people, “Come and dine”;
With His manna He doth feed
And supplies our every need:
O ’tis sweet to sup with Jesus all the time!

“Come and dine,” the Master calleth, “Come and dine”;
You may feast at Jesus’ table all the time;
He Who fed the multitude, turned the water into wine,
To the hungry calleth now, “Come and dine."

I think I "sing" it at large meal preparations because they are the only times I think about setting the table with more than just flatware.  I typically serve from the stove. When we found out that our family was going to be expanding by 2 we decided that we needed to get a new table.  We went from an oval table that semi-comfortably sat 6 to a rectangular table that comfortably seats 8.  Guess what that means?  That means that my favorite fall tablecloth can no longer fit my table.  Bummer!  Guess what else that means?  I got to buy a new one!  Woo!

I don't use a tablecloth for everyday. Just for special holidays... Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. That reminds me! I need to get a new spring tablecloth! I am pretty sure I have a Christmas one that will fit around here somewhere though. The only way that the fall tablecloths resemble each other is that they have fall colors.  That's it!  The older one has a light background with large leaf prints scattered about.  The new one is a darker checked pattern but I think that may actually work better with my dishes than the older one. Something else I bought along with the new tablecloth were these really cute acorn shaped placecard holders. I found them at Marshall's for a reasonable enough price that I didn't want to risk waiting for them to go on sale. Plus they are just really, really cute! Tablescaping has never been on much interest to me because most of the examples I'd seen were very cluttered.  Anyone who knows me knows that clutter in my home drives me insane.  I am most comfortable with a minimalistic decor!  But lately I've seen some very lovely tablescapes that were simple enough for even me.  I'll keep you up-to-date as I progress in that arena.

I think my next step is to take a trip to Home Goods...

Posted by Joanne Mitchell at Saturday, October 27, 2012