My Pinoy Thanksgiving table
Happy Thanksgiving!
Let me begin this column by sharing this reflection, which was posted in my high school Viber group, CTTO:
Make each day your own beautiful work of art.
Take time to do things that inspire you before you get started with your day.
Take a walk outside to simply be with the sun as it rises; let its boundless glow inspire you and fill you with warmth.
Read a few pages of a book that fill you with light.
Hug your loved ones and as you go about your day, remember that there is magic all around you, even if some days it’s hard to find.
At the end of your day, take a moment as you rest your head on the pillow to find gratitude for all the wonderful things you experienced and created throughout your day. Because even if this day isn’t going to be extraordinary, even if this day will be an average one, it will play a part in your beautiful life, and that’s something to be wonderfully grateful for.
***
Or…create a tablescape that is an expression of thanksgiving and affection.
Thursday, Nov. 28, was Thanksgiving Day (still is Thursday today in some places) in the United States. In the Philippines, more and more celebrate this time-honored American tradition not only because it’s a small world, but also because we were colonized for four decades by the Americans and have imbibed several of their traditions.
Thanksgiving needs no fixed date and can be a daily celebration. There is a reason for thanksgiving every day, even when there is no rhyme to it.
In my home, I set up a Pinoy Thanksgiving table. I displayed harvests from Philippine soil, though I had accents from a Western-themed Christmas, like a candle in the shape of a Christmas tree.
My centerpiece was a real pumpkin (kalabasa) and a lot of vegetables enumerated in the Filipino folk song “Bahay Kubo,” sitaw, talong, kamatis, atbp. I arranged them on a carved wooden fruit platter with a sulihiya base that was a present last Christmas.
I used a set of plates and bowls carved from acacia trees that were uprooted by natural occurrences like storms. Instead of letting them go to waste, eco-entrepreneurs fashioned them into tableware that caught my eye at the SM Store.
To add a pop of color to the wooden plates, I used linen napkins with colorful tassels made by artisans from La Union who were organized by Ricco Ocampo to produce these eye-catching pieces.
The wooden candelabra was a souvenir from the wedding of Mar Roxas and Korina Sanchez in 2009.
I spotted at SM Kultura some colorful miniature capiz-shell parols. Instead of hanging them on the Christmas tree, I used them to light up the table instead to further embellish the Pinoy theme.
The silom fronds that spruced up the center of our rectangular table were bought by my husband Ed from the BF Parañaque village market. The tropical silom leaves made a lush cradle for the vegetable centerpieces.
***
For Thanksgiving, I decided to go Pinoy, and to go green by using materials I could reuse or were already repurposed, like the wooden plates and bowls. Giving back and paying it forward to Planet Earth.
Going green means supporting a lifestyle that values sustainability and the dining table is a good place to start. This is where gatherings over a sumptuous meal and unforgettable conversations take place.
I am often asked if I refer to a book for my tablescapes, a passion that was ignited in me during the pandemic, when my family and I were together 24/7 under the same roof. The answer is no.
The pandemic was a time of fear and uncertainty, and yet it was certainly one of the best times for family togetherness. The “glue” that binds family members was just oozing out of the “tube” of grace in those days when circumstances gently “forced” us to seek refuge at home from the deadly virus. Thus, I was inspired to create tablescapes, sometimes using herbs and leaves from our garden as accents.
Even now that the pandemic is over, long over, making time to create eye-catching tablescapes every time the family is complete is gratitude brought to the table. Our hearts and table are thankfully full.
Happy Thanksgiving! *
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