I just wanted to change things up a bit this holiday season. Of course I’m still makin’ cookies. Michael (a.k.a. The Cookie Monster) would never forgive me if I didn’t bake all his favorites. I just started dreaming about taffy and how pretty it was and how fun it is to make. I knew Jack and I would have a ball pulling it. I never thought Jamie and Bobby would have as much fun as they did! Well, at the end of the taffy making, I was setting on a big ole’ pile of taffy and decided to use it to decorate a lunch table for me and my girl friends! Here’s the ingredients I used:

For my centerpiece: I took a topiary form I bought at the craft store and hot glued taffy all over it. I placed the bottom in a clay pot so it would stand up and added in some magnolia leaves and branches from my yard just to make it more festive.

Glassware, plates, linens and flatware: Some of the most precious things I own, are the few pieces of cranberry glass I have that were my grandmothers. They live most of the year in a glass case in my butler’s pantry. I couldn’t bare to break one, so I don’t bring them out often, but I wanted the girls to see and use them. I chose some bakelite handled flatware and just cut up some fabric I had leftover from covering a piano bench in the guest room to make napkins…they looked perfect and didn’t cost much at all.

Take Away Tip: For the place cards, I took a piece of that pink taffy and rolled it out real thin using just my fingers. Then I wrapped it around a styrofoam ball, rolled it in some candy sprinkles and set it on top of a mini terra cotta pot. I used a gold pen to write the name of each guest on a fresh magnolia leaf and stuck it in the taffy covered ball. I can’t wait for the girls to come over!

Here’s what I’m making the girls for lunch:

Appetizers:
Spinach Gruyere Puff Pastry
Pecan Stuffed Dates

Salad:
Spinach Salad with Hot Blackberry Walnut Dressing

Main Course:
Chicken Chili Stew
Easy Yeast Rolls

Dessert:
Mason Jars filled with Paula’s Homemade Taffy (one for all the girls to take home)