The cornucopia – a beloved symbol of plenty, of abundance, of nourishment – especially at Thanksgiving – is on my mind today, Hadley Court readers, for it is featured on the state seal of North Carolina, where two of our contributors now live, Lynda Quintero -Davids and Kim Darden Shaver.
Lynda just moved to North Carolina over the weekend and will be spending her first Thanksgiving in her new home there, with her husband, Jeff, and cat, Sephora.
The words, “esse quam videri” found on North Carolina’s state seal mean “to be rather than to seem” and are taken from Cicero’s essay on friendship, *Cicero de Amicitia*, Chapter 26.
As we all prepare for Thanksgiving and the arrival of our families and friends this week and next, these words seem worthy of reflection.
To be, rather than to seem.
To simply be ourselves – to share our homes, our food, to welcome our loved ones and friends – no matter how little or how much we have – is, to me, the ultimate meaning of hospitality and gracious living. To simply do the best we can with whatever we have and share it with others and to not overextend ourselves- physically, emotionally or financially – means to be real, rather than to seem real.
When we’re real, we give others permission to do the same and we can rest in knowing that God’s abundance sustains us all.
Enjoy these pictures of abundance today, symbolized by the cornucopia, and the delicious recipe for one, made of woven bread, at the end.
I have such good memories of my sister -in -law’s mother’s delicious pumpkin pie that she made from scratch every year for us ever since I can remember, which is why I was drawn to this picture of a cornucopia above. Wouldn’t this make a pretty centerpiece for a Thanksgiving dessert table?
Artists from time immemorial have painted the cornucopia. The above is by one of the major masters of American still life paintings from the mid -nineteenth century, Severin Roesen.
The cornucopia above drew me in because of the combination of the ornate sterling silver platter the arrangement rests on and the non-traditional open metalwork of the cornucopia – what a lovely combination of something old and something new for a more casual Thanksgiving table centerpiece.
And, as promised, the recipe for this beautiful bread cornucopia, pictured above. There are also many videos available online, which you can find by searching Google for ” make a bread cornucopia video” if you’d like to watch a video of how one is made. In the meantime, the step by step pictures of how the one above was made , in the post below, will be very helpful to you if you want to attempt this.
http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/11/16/make-a-bread-cornucopia/
And lastly, dear readers, I leave you with this ~~~
And no matter where you are in the world, in a home you’ve been in for a long time or in a brand new one, we will be here to #breakbread with you on Hadley Court.
Leslie Carothers
for
Leslie Hendrix Wood
Founder, Editor in Chief
HADLEY COURT
Gracious Living. Timeless Design. Family Traditions.
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