It’s heeeere! My 2021 Rosh Hashanah tablescape.
YAY.
I know, I know: I say that—it’s heeeere!—every single year when I introduce a new tablescape. Here I am saying it in 2019; here I am at it again in 2020. But it’s the truth. Because it is, as they say, here. No other phrase properly captures the very here-ness of it all.
This year’s table is a little different, though. For starters, I’m posting it a bit earlier than I posted the tables of years past, but that’s mainly because the holiday itself is earlier on the secular calendar this year: It’s coming up on September 6. But what’s really different about this table is its theme: It’s a “honey tasting”! This very fun idea first popped into my head during High Holidays last year, and it’s been marinating in there ever since. Craft by craft, recipe by recipe, the whole thing came together…and you’re looking at the final result.
I thought I’d break up the post a little differently this time: Rather than scattering my commentary throughout the entire post, I’ve consolidated most of it all up here toward the top. So if you’re just hoping to stare at pretty pictures and get inspired visually, scroll your cares away. And if you’d prefer to read a little more about each element of the table and/or shop most of the decorative items you see here, stay up here with me and I’ll walk you through.
P.S. As always, if any of this inspires you or you recreate any parts of the table for your own Rosh Hashanah dinners, let me know over on Instagram! I truly love hearing from all of you, and it’s so fun to see how these ideas come to life in your own homes.
P.P.S. If you’re in need of more Rosh Hashanah inspiration, I’ve got you covered with Rosh Hashanah quotes, Rosh Hashanah desserts, Rosh Hashanah cocktails, place cards, table decorations, poems and tons of other holiday ideas. Hope you find them all helpful!
Wait, What’s a Honey Tasting?
Good question! This might surprise you if you’ve only ever had one type, but honey actually has a diverse enough flavor profile to qualify as an excellent subject for a “tasting” event. Which is basically just any sensory experience (well…taste-specific senses) designed to educate participants and instill a deeper appreciation of whatever it is that they’re tasting; in this case, honey! It’s just like wine tasting in that regard. And as with wine, it’s actually possible to taste different nectars and even infer regional and environmental differences within honeys. There are thousands of plants around the world that produce honey, so there are thousands of different tastes to experience—from blueberry to orange blossom and wildflowers and alfalfa and buckwheat and WHEW. Really. Thousands.
Anyway, after I discovered this, I became quite obsessed with the idea of hosting my very own honey tasting. And so I did! And now you can, too.
Odds are, the first thing you’ll notice here with regards to the tasting itself are those numbered worksheets loaded with honey in all different hues and tastes. Don’t you love how they look all stacked together like that? I just couldn’t get enough. I’ve made that same honey tasting worksheet printable available right here on the blog (I designed it on my computer at home and printed mine on thick paper at Staples), and I included pre-made sheets with options for including 3, 4, or 5 different honeys. So if you’re not into the idea of investing in a ton of honey, you can still make this happen with a few less options. The tasting spoons and tasting glasses are also easy enough to find online.
And any honey will do! You can invest in kosher options from a local apiary or grab several different options from all over the country or world (there are tons of Israeli apiaries specializing in wildflower honey).
The Table
So we’ve talked about the the tasting worksheets and the honey selection…now, let’s chat about the rest of the table! I’ve linked nearly all of the details below, but of course I have to call out a few favorite elements here…so let’s start with the flowers. I love, love, love the organic, loose vibe here and the all-white scheme against all the gold and honey tones on the rest of the table. In case you’re trying to recreate a similar look at home, the flowers here are peonies, anemones (favorite!), lisianthus, butterfly ranunculus, and protea “blushing bride.”
And that CHALLAH TOPPER! That deserves a shout-out, too.
Another favorite detail is the gold velvet runner—it was $20 and I feel like the table would be half as pretty without it. I should also mention that despite not being the most eye-catching item on the table, my flat, 11″ dinner plates (also linked below) really came in handy here. I wanted the honey-tasting sheets to sit on top of a plate, which meant I needed a flat surface or else I’d have honey seeping onto everything. Luckily, these plates I already had at home worked perfectly.
There’s so much else to talk about: the cocktails, which are practically a set piece in and of themselves, the glass honey jar (an amaaaaazing Amazon find!), the beaded kilt pin place cards, and that cork wall decor…but I’ll leave you to scroll through the materials, crafts, and recipes below.
Shop the Table
- Honey-Tasting Worksheets
- Gold Velvet Runner, $20
- Crate & Barrel Mercer Dinner Plates, $45 for 8
- Gold Chargers (similar), $10 for 6
- Marble Cake Stand, $40
- Branch Pencils, $9.95
- Brass Candleholders, $32
- Decorative Beeswax Candles, $23
- Glass Honey Jar, $12
- Beaded Kilt Pin Place Cards
- Paper Straws, $6
- Challah Topper
- Tasting Spoons, $10
- Tasting Glasses, $6
- 20-Piece Flatware Set, $40
- Linen Napkin Set, $11
- Cork Wall Decoration, $17 (instructions for assembling them here)
[show_shopthepost_widget id=”4529883″]
The Menu
I’ve got 100+ Rosh Hashanah menu ideas and recipes in another post and plenty of additional, original ideas all over the site, but for this particular dinner, here are a few new ideas to snack on—click through each to find a full recipe:
- Smoked Trout Canapés
- Brisket Hand Pies
- Herby Green Apple Farro Salad
- Apple Butter and Honey Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
- Ginger Honey Bear Cocktails (full post coming later this week!)
- Apple-Shaped Thumbprint Cookies
- Rainbow Apples and Honey Board
By the way, you might notice another fun change for 2021 within some of those posts…a new contributor! This year, my brilliantly talented friend Leah Koenig dropped by (literally, but also virtually) to share a few of her original recipes with me for the blog. Now that there are more of you out there, I figured I could use some help to make sure you had enough ideas for your High Holiday dinners and beyond…and I’m also just such a big fan of Leah’s work. She’s the author of six (SIX!) cookbooks, including The Jewish Cookbook and Modern Jewish Cooking—you might even have some of them in your kitchens at the moment. And she’s generally just a wonderful person who lives right here in New York. Well, Brooklyn. So it’s a long-distance friendship. But we’re making it work! Highly recommend subscribing to her newsletter for more deliciousness.
The Rest!
That was a lot. I know. But there’s so much more on the way—namely, all of the ideas and projects that took place off of this table. New posts will be popping up every week as we count down to the High Holidays! So if you’re not already subscribed to my newsletter or following me over on Insta, now’s a good time to make that happen.
And now it’s time for you to scroll forever through too many photos because I simply couldn’t make up my mind about which I loved most. Have fun, and know that I’m sending you love and sweet thoughts all as we approach this newest new year!
