World's Best Vanilla Cut-Out Cookie Recipe

I have long held a love/hate relationship with cut-out cookies.  I think they can be so delicious and look gorgeous, but MAN are they a lot of work and so easy to screw up.  I have searched for years for the perfect cut-out cookie recipe (you know, not constantly searched, but I have tried literally SEVERAL recipes.)  I am nearly bursting with jubilation to announce that perfect recipe here.

First, when searching for a cut-out cookie recipe discard anything that mentions Crisco.  Butter, my friends, butter is the magical ingredient that blissfully clogs our arteries while we dream of Christmas.

Triple batch, baby!  (Note to self: overkill - maybe double batch next year.)

Second, you need to take some time with your cookie decorations.  I don't know when it became acceptable to just slap on some nasty tasting white "frosting," throw some red sugar crystals in the general direction of the cookie, and call it a day.  Not on my cookie tray.  Go big, or go make some rice krispie treats with my four year old. (Just kidding, but they do look nice when you take the time.)

Third, roll them out THICK.  Some people enjoy really thin, crispy cut-out cookies, but those people, I feel, are the minority.  A thicker, chewy on the inside cookie is going to balance the frosting better and accentuate the vanilla-y buttery deliciousness.

World's Best Vanilla Cut-Out Cookie Recipe:
from Bon Appetit December 2003 (with slight changes)

Cookies

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (get the real stuff, not the imitation kind)
• Additional sugar

For cookies:
Sift first 3 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl to blend well. Add egg, sour cream, and vanilla; beat 1 minute. Beat in dry ingredients in 2 additions until just blended. Gather dough together; divide in half. Flatten each half into disk; wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Soften dough slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Sprinkle work surface and top of dough disks with additional sugar. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough to no less than 1/4-inch thickness. Dough may be very soft and sticky, so roll out the dough between two pieces of wax paper or parchment paper. Using assorted 2- to 3-inch cookie cutters, cut out cookies. Transfer to prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Gather scraps and roll out on sugared surface; cut out more cookies. Repeat until all dough is used. Chill all cookies on baking sheets at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until very light golden appears just at bottom edges, about 11 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely.

Icing

• 4 cups (or more) sifted powdered sugar (sifted, then measured)
• 3 tablespoons (or more) whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• (I also add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract)
• Colored sugar crystals, sprinkles, and/or decors

For icing:
Combine 4 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, and vanilla in medium bowl. Stir until icing is well blended, smooth, and spreadable, adding more milk by teaspoonfuls if too thick or more sugar by tablespoonfuls if too thin. Use a food coloring gel, such as Wilton's, and stir a tiny bit into a portion of your icing to make a pretty color.  Using small icing spatula or table knife, spread thin layer of icing atop each cookie.  If using colored sugar crystals, sprinkle over cookies before icing sets. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight between sheets of waxed paper at room temperature.)

HOSTESS TIPS

1. Don't make your icing colors too bright.  A pastel blue is nice, but some people are turned off by a dark blue frosted cookie.  You just know it is going to give you blue teeth!

2. When decorating, get a bottle of those rainbow jimmies.  They are great for giving eyes to your snowman or Santa. 

3. You can freeze the cookies frosted or unfrosted, but sometimes the frosting gets a little blotchy in the freezer.  They will still taste awesome and it's not like those tiny imperfections would prevent anyone from eating them.  You really can't tell at all on the ones with lots of sprinkles, but if you look closely at the plain iced cookies, you may see a couple imperfections after they come out of the freezer - such as a couple spots that are a shade lighter.  If you want perfect, freeze the unfrosted cookies if you need to, then decorate them just a day or two before you need them.  Store in an airtight container.

4. Red food coloring added to icing often just looks pink.  If that bothers you, a delicious fix is to put some red colored sugar over the top of the pink icing.  You can see that effect on the cookies in the picture above. 

5. Cookie pans.  I highly recommend using a light-colored alumnium cookie sheet.  Use parchment paper so your cookies don't stick.  The cookies are very fragile when they first come out of the oven.

6. This is the same recipe I used to make the wedding favor cookies in this post.  But I used royal icing to decorate those.  Although royal icing arguably does not taste as good as the icing in this post, it gets really hard.  This quality makes it ideal for wedding favors because it dries quickly and the colors don't run much.

How to Set the Table - Memory Trick

I've set more tables than the average person. Working in the banquet service industry, it's typical to set 500 place settings in one weekend. Even with all those tables though, I still have to think hard to remember where all the glassware and silverware goes at a formal, proper party. So, here's a nursery rhyme I made up as a memory trick! (Yes, sometimes I do reflect on what a dork I can be.)

Shorty and Tall Fork were running late.
They were slowed down by a big china Plate.
Dinner Knife threatened the Plate with a blade.
But he was distracted by a Spoony maid.
Water glass cornered the Knife from above,
While Wino looked over sweet Spoony with love.
Dessert Spoon and Fork hovered over it all,
While five o'clock Coffee kept right of the brawl.

You set the table just as you read the lines of the poem, from left to right. There's some variation to place settings, but this is pretty standard from what I've seen. Notice that knife threatens plate with the blade, so the sharp side of the knife should be closest to the plate. It's "five o'clock coffee" because the handle of the coffee cup should point to the direction of five o'clock - that's the most convenient direction for a person to pick it up (sorry left-handed people!)

Also, it is optional to wait until dessert is served to bring out the dessert silverware and coffee cups.

TIP- silverware should be placed one inch from the edge of the table.

Okay, so cocktail fork, bread plate, and champagne glass are not in the poem. I didn't want the nursery rhyme to be too long or it would be impossible to remember. The poem gets you through the basics. Maybe I will make a second verse in the future. :)

What do you think? Will this help you set the table?

Please just pretend that I was able to work bread plate into the poem.

Co-Host Post

Not all Co-Hosts are created equal. Just ask Seacrest
and Dunkleman from FOX's American Idol Season One

Reality check, my dear Hostess: you only have two arms, you only get 24 hours in a day, and you can’t be everywhere at once. Therefore, your party, and your sanity, might benefit from a co-host. This post was created to tell you everything you need to know about selecting a co-host and delegating tasks to them.

Should I have a co-host?
Co-hosts are generally wonderful sources of ideas and help. Many of the ways they can be helpful are detailed below. However, not every hostess has the temperament to deal with a co-host. I can admit that there are some parties where I get very “control-freak” and just can’t stand to let anyone else lift a finger! If you know you are the type of person who feels like life is easier when you just do everything yourself, rather than explain what you want to someone, then maybe you are better off hosting all by yourself. Or if you have a vision for an event, and you really don’t care to have anyone else’s input, by all means, go it alone. You might lose friends if you enlist co-hosts just to boss them around. However, if you are willing to give up a little control, a co-host can be a wonderful addition to your party strategy.

Additionally, you may not even need a co-host for some types of parties. If you are throwing a small birthday party for a child at an off-site location such as a Chuck E. Cheese, you can probably handle it by yourself. Additionally, if you have already hired help for the party, such as a caterer or party planner, a co-host might be superfluous.

Who to choose?
There is a certain etiquette to choosing the right co-host. Picture a bridal shower you are hosting for your sister. You may want to ask the bride’s best friend or future sister-in-law, or both to co-host. As to the best friend, well, her feelings might get hurt if you don’t want her help. As to the sister-in-law, it would be a nice sign that you consider her part of your family and that you are making an effort to get to know her before the wedding day. Just consider who you "should" invite to co-host.

Practically, you want someone who will work well with you and has some skills to contribute. Do you have a particular friend who always calms you down when you get stressed out? A friend who has hosted a ton of parties and will have great ideas? A friend that has a knack for just pitching in without complaint?

Finally, and very practically, you may choose a co-host because his or her name on the invitation will be enough to get more people to show up. Let’s face it – some people are more popular than others. We get all excited when one of these “cool” people invites us to their party and wouldn’t miss it for the world. This may be important for a fundraiser, a direct sales party, or a work party. If your feeling is “the more the merrier” you may want to choose a co-host who comes with their own extensive guest list.

The Benefits of a Co-Host
1. They can bring food. Work out the menu together and divide cooking responsibilities according to skill, kitchen space, and personal preference.


2. They arrive early. Do you hate that feeling of being at your house, waiting for guests to show up, and that awkward five minutes when only ONE guest is there for you to entertain? Having a co-host means never having to wait alone.


3. Help you set up and clean up. There are always a million last minute things to do from applying lipstick, to lighting candles, to opening wine, to making sure there is a spoon in the dip. Having a co-host means being able to pawn off some jobs on someone else!


4. Last minute errands. From picking up a stranded guest to running to the store for more dry ice, your co-host can leave the house while you have to stay and wait for people to arrive. Any little last-minute emergency becomes less frantic when you have someone to pitch in.


5. Take on real responsibility. Maybe all the guests call this person to RSVP. Maybe they are in charge of the drink menu. Maybe they will plan the play list. If they've agreed to be a co-host, they are willing to accept important tasks that will make the party great. So delegate already!


5. Brainstorming. Sometimes we party hostesses get a little carried away and our “vision” for the party is actually ridiculous. It’s nice to share ideas with someone. They may have a suggestion you didn’t think about. Consider the following scenario. (Use whatever voices you want for the characters.)

You: “Don’t you think a rental bounce house would be the perfect touch to the Easter party?”
Co-host: “Well, those power lines in your back yard are going to be a problem when some four-year-old bounces into one and gets electrocuted.”
You: “Oh yeah. Let’s do an Easter egg hunt instead!”

See how disaster has been averted by a co-host?

Alternatives to Co-Hosts
If you don't care to give up control of the party and don't feel like you need any suggestions about how things are done, just ask a friend for the little help you do need without labeling them a "co-host". A friend you enlist to bring a dessert to your party is not a co-host, but they are still providing valuable help. You may also consider hiring a caterer, wait staff, a bartender, or a maid to help with pre- or post-party clean up. What you should NOT do is is ask someone to be a co-host and then USE them like hired help. A person who agrees to be a co-host agrees to a partnership. That means that their name goes on the invitations, their ideas are respected, and they don't have to do all the crappy jobs!

And some Co-Host pairings make party history.

Hopefully this post has cleared up some of the murky waters of co-hosting! What do you think? Do you like having a co-host?

Party on,
Kate

The Tasteful Art of Fruit Carving

I was banquet serving as a temp for a wedding this weekend. It was a charming afternoon wedding at the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio. Since the wedding started at noon, the bride chose to have a brunch with omlette and waffle stations, as well as many pastries and other delicious foods. (And plenty of mimosas!)

Placed on the fruit buffet table was this creation:

I was enchanted as were many guests. I was compelled to ask the chef about it. The chef informed me that he commissioned culinary students at the Bradford Culinary School to create the fruit scupture for the event, catered by "A Catered Event". (Clever name.) What a perfect centerpiece for an event at a botanical garden! I know I'm a nerd about all things "party," but I really could not stop looking at this intricate design. It's amazing what you can do with a couple melons and radishes. Sad that it will only last a couple days!

There's really no reason someone couldn't create this for a party at their own home. (I mean, you just need a boatload of free time and a willingness to waste fruit.) I looked into the art of fruit carving when I got home and found out that it is pretty popular around the world, especially in Thailand where it is a national art form. There, the fruit carving tradition dates back 700 years. I looked at a bunch of videos on youtube and this one CLICK THIS LINK (from some guy from Italy named Anthony) shows a watermelon being carved into a flower.

I have not attempted it yet, but it doesn't look too impossible to do. Anthony's design is less complicated than many others and might be a good start for a beginner. Grazie mille, Anthony! If anyone tries this, let me know.

DIY Flower Arrangements

Lilac, Dahlia, Violet, Aster, Tea Rose, Iris... All would look (and smell) GORGEOUS displayed on my dining room table!

Sure, you can buy a centerpiece display of flowers already perfectly arranged in a vase, but it's really not difficult to arrange your own floral centerpiece if you want to save a bit of money and give the bouquet your own personal touch.

I think it's really fun to pick out different stems of flowers from the local farmers' market in colors that match my tablecloth. (I am easily thrilled.) With spring coming, maybe you will have some daffodils and tulips to cut from your own garden very soon. Or, sometimes, a nice guest will bring a wrapped bouquet of flowers as a hostess gift. (We love those guests, don't we?) So, rather than just jam the flowers in a vase willy-nilly, here's a video tutorial on flower arranging that I found helpful. The lady in the video (Alexandra Lyons) explains everything pretty clearly. (Sorry they make you watch an ad before the video. I guess some people want to get paid.)

Click here for the video on flower arranging from videojug.com

She has some tips I found helpful:
1) Cut the stem of every flower at least an inch to make the flowers last longer.
2) Cut off all the leaves that would be underwater to prevent bacteria from growing.
3) Don't put all of one kind of flower together.

Here are some tips I've gleaned over the years that she didn't mention, but I've found helpful to make a beautiful bouquet. It makes it seem like you really know what you are doing!

1) It you don't have quite enough flower stems to fill your vase, use scotch tape to create a grid across the top of your vase. (Put some pieces of tape vertically across the top of the vase, and cross them horizontally with more pieces of tape.) It will keep the stems separated and make the bouquet look fuller and more orderly. The stems will stand upright instead of drooping over.

2) Cut some stems an inch or so shorter than other stems. Put the tallest flowers in the middle of the vase, and the shorter stems as a circle around the tallest flowers. It shouldn't look like a couple tall flowers poking out above a circle a short flowers - you need to cut them so the size difference is gradual. This creates a nice rounded shape for the centerpiece. This type of arrangement works in almost any type of vase.




Here is a bouquet from ftd.com that illustrates what I mean by cutting the flowers around the sides shorter than the stems in the middle.

Hosting a Direct Sales Party

The burp means it's fresh!

Lia Sophia, Thirty-One, Party-Lite, Pampered Chef, Mary Kay…. All are home sales companies and you probably know one or more people who sell their products. Every so often you will get the (slightly dreaded) request... "Will you host a party for me?"

As I’m sure your entrepreneurial friend has told you, there are benefits to hosting a direct sales party at your home. The free merchandise you can earn by being a host is the publicized draw, but if you are like me, the main reason you agree to host is to support your friend.

So, you want your friend to have a successful party and you want your guests to have a good time. How do you meet both of these goals?

Helping your friend have a successful party
1. The invitations. You need people to show up or this party will be a flop! Work with the seller to find out what kids of promises you can make to guests. For example, can the invitees get a bonus raffle ticket or free merchandise for every friend they bring to the event? Will they get to sample fantastic recipes featuring Pampered Chef dishware? If you are sending an email invitation, provide a link to the current catalog, so people can start getting excited about the products.

2. Have a table cleared off or some other space for the seller to display her wares. Find out how much room she needs. If you do not have appropriate space, ask the seller to bring her own table.

3. Lighting. If this is a jewelry, make-up, or bag party, it’s nice if there is bright lighting on the products. Mood lighting is great to create atmosphere, but this is a situation where people need to see stuff! (Unless it’s a candle party, then maybe low lights would be better!)

4. Offer to wear or display the products. The guests trust you because you are their friend. If you are wearing the Lia Sophia jewelry or using a Longaberger basket, they will probably comment on the item and then you can explain how much you like it. Even if it is a piece you haven’t bought yet, your seller friend would probably like you to model the merchandise.

5. CALL the invitees the day before the party. This is a good reminder and will force the non-committed to make a decision to come or not. Calls are more convincing than email; it’s really easy to ignore an email. If you feel a little uncomfortable making the call, come up with some pretext. “I am going to the store and was wondering if people would like to have ice tea or soda at the Tupperware party tomorrow. What do you think I should get?”

6. Don’t serve greasy finger foods. People will get grease and fingerprints all over the merchandise! Ew.

Making sure your guests have a good time
1. Serve food and beverages. No, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but you should have something to eat – it’s a party! Use this opportunity to try out a new dessert. Although you are not the star attraction of the party, you should still aim to impress as a hostess! I like having a simple, healthy appetizer (like fresh cut veggies and hummus), a yummy, impressive appetizer (like chicken salad in phyllo cups or meatballs), a dessert (cheesecake is always a winner), and a signature cocktail (you don’t have to serve alcohol, unless you have my friends over, then you do.)

2. Clean up the party room and the bathroom. Everyone feels more comfortable in a clean, uncluttered space.

3. Provide enough seating and places to write. Most of these parties involve catalogs and writing down orders and it’s always a pain in the butt when the only place you have to balance your beverage and your catalog is your lap.

4. Think about asking the host to donate a percent of the profits to the charity of your choice, instead of taking a hostess gift. I know that as a guest, I feel more ready to buy and just generally happier with the whole event when I know the host is doing this for a charity. My friend hosted a Pampered Chef party and made the seller give a percent of the day’s profits to cancer research, instead of taking a hostess gift/discount. Since her dad had just survived some cancer treatments, I thought it was a touching gesture. How do you say no to a party invitation like that!?! And I will admit that I bought more products knowing the proceeds were for a good cause (at least that’s what I told my husband when I came home with $100 worth of Pampered Chef gadgets.)

5. Alternatively, if you are really doing this to support your selling friend and could care less about getting free products (seriously, I’m just not a “basket” kind of person!!), ask your friend if she will waive all the shipping fees for your guests instead of giving you a gift/discount. As a guest, I HATE paying shipping charges on these products!!! It just seems unfair.

6. Prompt distribution. Once all the purchased products are delivered to your house, do your best to distribute the products to your friends quickly.

7. Don’t worry about entertainment. The seller should take care of the entire presentation.

And your obligation is complete!! That wasn’t so bad. (Hope your friend knows that she is getting the first call when you need someone to help you move… or your kid is selling Girl Scout Cookies…or you need to bring a guest to some other direct sales party…)

Kids and Your Grown-up Party

If I were writing this post three years ago, it would be a different post. But I had a child two and a half years ago, and since then my views on this topic (and pretty much everything in my life) have changed.

Should you invite kids to your grown up party? It’s kind of a loaded question, isn’t it? So many feelings to consider. Will I offend childless people if there are kids running around the party? Will my friends with children skip the party entirely if they can’t bring their children? Do I really want a bunch of little hellions jumping on my sofa? Is it appropriate to have children around where the adults are consuming alcohol?

THE OPTIONS
1. Invite children. If your friends have little ones, the kids are a big part of their lives! Embrace it and make your party a family-friendly event.

2. Invite children, but segregate them from the rest of the guests. For example, have pizza and video games in the basement while the parents nosh fancy apps upstairs. Can’t completely prevent the little ones from trying to be right where there parents are, but an attractive enough distraction might help. Especially if a couple older kids are enlisted to watch the little ones. Or better yet, hire a couple teenage babysitters.
3. Don’t invite children and ensure that all your guests have a leisurely, grown-up time. If it’s a cool enough party, parents won’t mind hiring a babysitter for the night.

So, I will start with the parent perspective. If costs $6-$15 an hour for a babysitter. If I come to your party and hire a babysitter, it will cost me $40. Yikes. Sometimes, I’m willing to pay that kind of money to have a night out with my husband. But I can tell you, in this economy, we don’t splurge like that very often. Also, while I am at your party, I will be worried about what’s going on at home.

We had a couple options for New Year’s Eve this year. The one we said “yes” to stated in the invitation that “Children are invited and there are places for them to sleep upstairs when they tire out.” WOW. No babysitter to pay. I actually get to spend the holiday with my toddler. And I get to spend the holiday with my friends. I can stay as late as I want.

I figured my kiddo would wear an adorable New Year’s Eve hat, tucker out at 8:30, and my husband and I would be ready to rejoin the party before half of the guests even showed up. NO SUCH LUCK. We spent half the party trying to get her to stay in bed. Stories, begging, scolding… caving in and letting her come back to the party. The two-year old finally crashed at 11:45pm after dancing for thirty minutes straight. Arrghhh!!! And we were too tired after that trauma to stay at the party past 12:30.

Believe it or not, this toddler was being supervised by an adult at the time this photo was taken.

From the non-parent perspective (because I’m really not a fan of other people’s kids), I don’t mind seeing you child look cute for an hour or so, if they are well-behaved. If they are whining and crying though – please, just leave. I am at a party (and maybe even paid for a babysitter for my own kid) so that I could have a nice night out.

I really like the idea of the host accommodating the children, while keeping them separate from the adults. The kids get their own little party. This is especially true if guests are coming from out of town (Where the heck do you expect them to put their kids? Drop them off at McDonald’s Playland for five hours?), or if the event is a fundraiser (Don’t want guests to spend all their disposable income on a babysitter; you want them to spend money for the cause!)

SUGGESTIONS IF YOU WANT TO GO WITH OPTION 2

1. If you don’t have kids, but have friends who are bringing children to your party, hit up Goodwill, Toys R Us, or a garage sale and purchase a couple age-appropriate toys or movies. Kids LOVE playing with someone else’s toys. Your friends with kids will be overcome with your thoughtfulness of providing entertainment for their offspring. Bonus for you, you will get to have more uninterrupted time with your friends!

2. If this is a BIG event, like a wedding or a fundraiser, it would be great to have a room, away from the main party, where the kids could hang out. Hire a couple teenage babysitters to watch the young‘uns while their moms and dads have a great time at the adult party. Find a couple crafts or activities that will keep the kids busy for awhile. Bring in a puppy or hamster they can play with. Provide fun food such as pizza, pop, and cookies – things they might not normally get at home. Make it a movie party with a big screen TV and lots of pillows and popcorn. By the way, if the food in the kids’ room isn’t good, they’ll just sneak out to the adult party and eat all the maraschino cherries at the bar.

3. Four words: FENCED IN BACK YARD. And stay out, you little hoodlums! Mommy’s drinking. (Just kidding.) (Kind of.)

Don't let kids drink the beer. That stuff's expensive!


What do you think, readers? Should children stay home?

Marshmallows for Toasting

"There'll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow!" It really is the most wonderful time of the year! If you want your holiday party to be so amazing that people compose songs about it, you'd better make it pretty special.

Taking a cue from the song quoted above, let's talk marshmallows.

What a fun addition to your party to be able to offer S'mores in the middle of winter! If you live in a warm climate, head on outside and make a bonfire on which to roast your 'mallows. Even if it's a little chilly, nothing beats a bonfire. Giving people an excuse to go out for fresh air will be appreciated. However, if you live in frickin' Ohio like I do, it is waaaaaay too cold to spend time outside longer than it takes to plug in the Christmas lights. So, I offer some alternative suggestions.

1. Fireplace - oooh fancy you! I'll bet having a fireplace was a selling point of your house, wasn't it? Well, now you can get some use out of it, in addition to it just looking pretty. You might want to avoid those Duraflame logs, or your S'mores might start tasting like dangerous chemicals. Note: remove stockings from over the fireplace if you don't want them to catch on fire. Another note: remove drunk people from around your fireplace if you don't want them to catch on fire. If you are uncomfortable with the thought of people holding a stick with a flaming marshmallow in your highly flammable living room, you might consider grilling the S'mores. Just fully assemble the S'mores (graham cracker, chocolate bar, big marshmallow, graham) and place them on a grilling rack or cast iron pan in the fire. When you remove them, the marshmallow and chocolate will be all melty. Yummers!!

2. Stove - Whether gas or electric, just turn on a burner and let your guests toast their marshmallows over the stove. Provide all the ingredients for S'mores nearby. Sing carols. Eat S'mores. Repeat.

3. Microwave - It doesn't seem nearly as festive to me, but if you feel this is the only option, it is possible! Just nuke the marshmallow on a plate for 15-20 seconds on LOW power. The marshmallow might double in size and be careful, because the center could get very hot.

4. S'mores making kit. This one is available online from Cosi. So cute and would make a great gift.



For the S'mores connoisseur in your life at http://www.getcosi.com/




If you are a peanut butter junkie like I am, try using a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup in place of the chocolate bar on your S'mores. Any other ideas for variations on the basic S'mores recipe? Leave it in the comments!

Pyramid Napkin Fold

Dress up your Thanksgiving table and amaze your friends with this simple napkin-folding technique! This has been called the Pyramid Fold, although I'm sure it has other names. Start with any cloth napkin. It helps if you use a little starch, just to help it stand up better.


Take a basic napkin and fold it in half diagonally.


Then take one of the sides, and fold it down to the center point.


Then fold down the other side so the napkin has a seam down the middle.


Flip over the napkin with the "open" end away from you.


Fold the bottom point of the diamond (the one closest to you) up to the top point, creating a triangle.


Fold the triangle in half at the seam, creating a smaller triangle.


Place the folded triangle, with the right angle closest to the ceiling, on your plate. The triangle will open a little, so it can stand up.





Ta Da!! One down, twelve to go. Enjoy how pretty it looks now. Before long, you'll be cringing as your uncle wipes his mouth and gets gravy all over your pretty napkin. *Sigh*