Fall Nesting Tip:
Create special fall memories & traditions in the kitchen
{This post was originally published in Fall 2008}
We are entering that season where we start thinking about filling our pantries, baking yummy things for our family and spending those cozy evenings together around the table. Family traditions involving the kitchen are probably some of the most powerful we have, since it is the room in our home where we spend so much of our time.
Kitchens are also the place where we can fully experience all of our senses, and because of that, we have the potential to create vivid and rich memories there for our families. Fortunately, with a tiny dose of creativity, we can do this simply, frugally if we so choose, and quite easily.
Simple Family Memories
Country Living
Williams Sonoma
Make memories through seasonal recipes and memorable baking pans. Special Fall cakes made in seasonal shapes will always be remembered. One pan can last through years of baking and cost far less than one dinner at a restaurant.
Country Living
Country Living
Use hollowed squash or mini pumpkins to serve dips or meals. Kids will think this is very fun and adults will be amazed at your Martha-ness.
Country Living
Keep regular weekend traditions but add a new twist in the fall, like pumpkin waffles with maple syrup on a Saturday morning.
Country Living
Have seasonal towels and table linens you bring out for the season. If you keep your main dishes white, punching up the color with a few accessories can give you the same visual pleasure as a whole set of seasonal dishes without the added expense or need for storage.
Country Living
Williams Sonoma
Add a seasonal flourish to your best recipes with special tools, cookie cutters or shapes you make by hand.
Sur la Table
Embrace traditions that are unique to the colder weather, like chocolate or cheese fondue. Repeat the tradition regularly so it becomes a vivid memory.
Make being in the kitchen creating the meals or baking together part of the experience of memory making. Put on some favorite music and bring your kids in to help prepare a traditional family night feast! Little things and special touches will be long remembered. Simple creativity will bring lasting memories to even the most ordinary of events.
What are your family traditions centered around the kitchen?
For more fall ideas, click here!
photo credits: Kitchens Country Living, Keith Scott Morton, Keller & Keller, Jon Wayne Kishimoto
