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Noon Edition

Thanksgiving Table

The pilgrims ate pumpkin in stews made of onions, corn, beans, and venison. Nowadays, we eat pumpkin mainly in pies which are a traditional dessert at Thanksgiving dinners. But its rich orange color also makes it an appealing decorative item.

A Pumpkin Centerpiece

On a crowded Thanksgiving dinner table, miniature pumpkins and other winter squash are often arranged as a space saving seasonal decoration instead of a large centerpiece of flowers. Small glass bottles, each containing one single chrysanthemum flower, can be used in the same way.

A small pumpkin can also be used as a container for flowers if it is hollowed out and a block of wet oasis is fitted snugly into the cavity. Cut the stems of the individual flowers short so that when they are inserted into the wet foam close to each other, the flower heads crown the pumpkin with a mat of flowers like a floral hat.

The goal with centerpieces is to keep them low, so any low flat dish with sides can also be used as a flower container for a table, maybe something that was originally designed to serve as a large ashtray for example.

Buy some yellow roses or carnations and cut the stems short enough that the individual flower heads can be packed closely together and support each other, until the rim of the dish looks as if it contains a dense floral carpet. Flowers in the colors of autumn, burnished leaves, orange pumpkins, and bittersweet berries warm our tables and our hearts at Thanksgiving.

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