element of the day: honey...oh, sugar sugar.

Energetic bees plus fragrant flower nectar combine to make one of history's greatest natural sweeteners...honey. Spring is the perfect time to enjoy a little honey with your breakfast porridge, a sweet teaspoon in your afternoon tea or drizzled atop a strawberry meringue confection. Let's celebrate our friends', the bees, contribution with a little rundown on all things honey related.

'Clover Honey' $16 for 11 ounces at Terrain
Beyond the bear...

'Perched Bird Honey Pot' $48 at Terrain

Breakfast table staple. Your house guests will love it.

'Backyard Beehive Starter Kit' $179.95 at Williams-Sonoma Agrarian

Why go to the store for honey, when you can harvest it in your backyard?

'Beeswax Candle Tapers' $10 for a pair at Brook Farm General Store

Burn baby burn. Pair with white candlesticks for a fresh look.

The Chicago Honey Co-op serves as a job training program in under served neighborhoods of Chicago, and focuses on the community, education and healthy living. Find out more about the program and the products they sell at www.chicagohoneycoop.com

happy mother's day...a day late.

Yesterday I celebrated Mother's Day with who else...my Mother. I was inspired to host a brunch in her honor and racked my brain for a solid theme. I remembered that as a teenager she had taken a family trip to Spain, and I know she loved her time there so a few weeks ago I pumped her for more details. Using her favorite parts of the trip-a pig roast was high on the list, the time period- 1968 and the location-Spain, I whipped up a tablescape and menu fit for the most important woman in my life. The result was a delicious combination of hot and cold tapas, bright colors and earthy elements....oh, and the pig snuck in there too.

The menu (notice the gold pig at the top)

Menu card stock- Paper Source

Gold rimmed plate- Mom's own

Spider mums in barnwood vases with teal mercury glass votive holders

Barnwood vases- Save-On-Crafts

Votive holders- Jamali Gardens

Burlap tablecloth and hand applied ribbon runner

Burlap tablecloth- Save-On-Crafts

Assorted ribbons for runner- Paper Source

"Vintage Photos" of all my Mom's children, grandchildren and grand-dogs

Moss runner- Jamali Garden

Vase/Pitcher- Mom's own

A full table with blood orange mimosas

Arugula, manchego and apple salad with lemon vinaigrette

Shrimp with garlic, white wine and lemon

Medjool dates stuffed with manchego, pinenuts, honey and orange zest

Lucques olives with marcona almonds and feta

Calamari with pesto aioli

Beets infused with ginger and honey tossed with lemon and feta

element of the day: mug roundup

An ongoing obsession at salt and cloth is mugs of every variety, so we've taken a moment to pull together some of our favorites. Top favorite drinks to put in these mugs? 

#1-coffee, preferably Intelligentsia
#2-Mexican hot chocolate, make your own or try Abuelita
#3-green tea, we're suckers for Republic of Tea's Blueberry Green Tea

Now for the stars of the show...

Terrain 'Spare Stripe Mug' $24

Alder & Co 'Notary Mug' $24

West Elm 'Organic Shaped Dinnerware Mug-Metallic Rimmed' $24 (set of 4)

Tortoise General Store 'Hasami Porcelain Mug' $16

ABC Carpet and Home 'Ripple Porcelain Mug-Charcoal' $30-no handle, $35-with handle

ABC Carpet and Home 'Some British Birds-Big Mug Barn Owl' $30

Horne 'Alice Sun Coffee Mug' $67.50

cocktail hour: key lime martini

One of our favorite summer (okay, spring, fall and winter work too) cocktails is the key lime martini. Not too sweet and not too harsh, it seems to be universally accepted and loved. The recipe that follows makes two drinks for two people or two drinks if you're drinking alone because if you're drinking alone, two drinks is always de rigueur. 

key lime martini

ingredients

3 ice cubes
3 shots of vanilla vodka (we love Stoli Vanilla or Grey Goose Vanilla)
6 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces Rose's sweetened lime juice
1 graham cracker, crumbed
1 T. organic cane sugar

directions
place graham cracker and cane sugar in food processor. pulse till crumbed and set aside in shallow plate. place ice cubes, vanilla vodka, pineapple juice and lime juice in cocktail shaker and shake well. wet rim of martini glasses with lime juice and dip in plate of crumbed graham crackers. coat well. strain martini into glasses. enjoy.

element of the day: bunting

salt and cloth moves a bit beyond the table at times with coordinating decor, and bunting is one of those elements that just ties a great tablescape together. It seems these days you just can't get enough bunting. It's all over Etsy and DIY-ers are tackling their own custom bunting right and left. We thought we'd take a minute to sift through the variety of options available and give you our top five favorites.

Oil cloth bunting. $35 on Etsy.com

Great for use outdoors and perfect with a casual picnic spread.

Mirror Bunting. $72 on Etsy.com 

So fabulous and modern. Go super modern with your table and let the mirror bunting add a touch of whimsy.

Parchment Bunting. $26 on Bhldn.com

An understated touch for an earthy celebration.

Heart Bunting. $16 on Etsy.com 

Obviously, a great choice for Valentine's Day, but why not string this up in your dining room and make every meal feel special and filled with love!

Lace Bunting. $35 on Etsy.com

This has wedding written all over it. We'd hang it along the sides of a long table as trim.

table inspiration: mother's day

Mother's Day is a great opportunity to give back to the woman who raised you, and here at salt and cloth, you know we're doing it in style! For Stephanie's Mother's Day celebration brunch, we decided to base the theme on her Mother's teenage trip to Spain in the late 60's. The menu is a no brainer-tapas!-but the decor required a little more thought. A mixture of saturated colors, bold flowers and earthy elements were sought and all will be revealed post-brunch when the celebration is in full swing. To whet your appetite, we present to you the menu, signature cocktail and table elements. Get inspired!

Signature Cocktail



Blood Orange Mimosa with lime sugar rimmed glasses

Ingredients

1 1/2 C of blood orange juice, chilled
2 T Grand Marnier
1 bottle of Cava or Prosecco, chilled
Sugar
Lime wedges

Instructions

Combine fresh squeezed blood orange juice with the Grand Marnier and put in the fridge to chill. Make this ahead of time, so you're ready to go when your guests are. Take your champagne flutes and run a lime wedge along the rim. Dip in a plate of granulated sugar to coat. Pour chilled juice into the bottom of the flute, amount according to taste, and pour chilled Cava or Prosecco over the juice being careful not to splash the rim. Enjoy!

Menu

Bread with herb butter

Water with lime slices

Cold Tapas

Spanish olives with feta, sliced Marcona almonds and thinly sliced lemon

Arugula salad with manchego cheese, apple slices and lemon vinaigrette

Sliced beets with feta and blood orange vinaigrette

Hot Tapas

Patatas bravas

Shrimp with garlic, lemon, white wine and chili flakes

Sauteed calamari with pesto aioli

Medjool dates stuffed with pine nuts and honey

Dessert

Cinnamon ice cream

Decor

Burlap tablecloth- Save-On-Crafts 80"x80" $20

Teal votive holders- Jamali Garden $15 for 6



Barnwood boxes with hot pink ranunculus- Boxes are from Save-On-Crafts $8 per box when you purchase 3



Espresso brown napkins- West Elm $10 for 4



White with gold rim dinner plates (parent's own)

Solid white and solid gold tapas plates (Stephanie's own)

Photos of all the kids, grandchild and grand dogs

Menu card-natural card stock with teal lettering