They say there’s an art to creating anything with an aesthetic purpose, if so, could preparing your own bed tray make you an artist? For reasons that could easily be put down to self- gratification, some mornings are an invitation to host your own low-key celebration. Mentioned within this space, are some ideas to help inspire a mobile breakfast fit for slower moving days. The task set by yours truly: to personalise a bed tray offering an assortment of contents all jostling for attention, whether enjoying on your own, or in the company of another. It is also hoped, a restful sleep the previous night would allow an even greater reward!
Tray ideal or no ideal..
A well-sourced item begins with a sharp eye and sedulous selection. Like most things used to make pretty and functional your home’s interiors, a bed tray’s suitability can be measured by your lifestyle and how you envision using the object. In its literal sense, it is meant taking breakfast from the comfort of the bed as opposed to routinely eating in one place such as the dining room. There are of course, few limitations as to where the tray might be transported. The concept: to present a platter of morning foods with as steady a hand (or hands) as possible, while floating to whichever space or corner that calls to you on a particular day.
Consider practicalities..
Then to examine the stability of the piece - legs, foldable or none? A well-woven basket or letter tray to replace one more traditional would fit the purpose well; not only this, the material would compliment the room decor, particularly homes of a rustic style such as period cottages and farm houses. The storage basket, not too deep yet with enough height (between 6cm and 12cm) to carry and display each featured piece like treasure. A tray on legs will offer greater assurance where balance is concerned, while one easily foldable, might provide the happiest medium. Depending on where you wish to land the platter - mattress, side table or other low furniture, choosing your own set-up will allow you the flexibility required to truly become immersed in the moment, surrounded by things of joy, as you wallow in pride and crisp linnen!
A long-lived trend..
Throughout history, trays have been accessories of style and convenience from the more formal 17th and 18th century salvers of silver and other metals, glass or marble, to wood, bamboo and rattan. With food service dating back to Ancient Greece and Rome, the serving tray has been purposeful long before aristocratic use and appearing often in prehistoric records. Picture feasting on a meal off a crude table or tree-stump, then skipping through the progression from ones made of animal skins or bark. (mouserunner.net) As the food tray evolved through the generations, even more elaborate designs and styles were created and interest in simple yet ingenious tool continues to grow on levels both commercial and at home.
Drawn more towards softer contours and textures, the sourcing path usually involves a gathering of organic and natural material. Wicker basket sets for instance, are enjoying their transformation into what we have come to recognise as serving trays. In recent years wicker-made has been gaining favour at a pace barely noticeable, entering as it were, almost every decor. Thought to originate from the Swedish “to bend” - vika, and Willow - “vikker,” the name is familiar to many cultures and its history of this weaving technique spans centuries from the ancient Egyptians to the Romans.
A spread dreamed up..
In a deviation from freshly squeezed orange juice with all the bits, a lesser thought- about fruit drink to colour the breakfast tray would resurrect. Flashes from a summer’s past conjures my aunty’s garden. Vivid scenes of mature trees and plants - called to gather beneath an intense Mediterranean sun. Stone walls crumbling in places, a persistent dryness in the air and yet, over cacti and skeletons of lizards, the August sun rages on. Grapes were much talked-about if I am correct in piecing together a few scattered memories from childhood. My aunt, would press them out of view to make a juice so delicious, the taste still lingers and on occasion, were gifted around a half litre in a glass bottle.
Adding to this idealised mechanism of the breakfast tray - a French press or cafetière, black and steaming...prepared for a gentle plunge. From the local flower shop, some freshly gathered, cut flowers, daffodils, sweet peas or gladiolus. In early Spring, tulips might be favoured to be positioned on the platter while neatly folded, cloth napkins of fibres such as linen, the colours on brown or fawn with a floral theme or plain. Saucers of fine bone China and mismatched cutlery, some short, some tall and which would include a spoon, a fork and a knife perhaps..each with a distinctly decorative finish.
Continuing the selection..
Keeping it light and just enough for the taste buds to tingle, would be a wish granted. Being surrounded by so much choice at the supermarkets, stripping back to a few basic food groups (similar to wartime rationing) might be felt as some form of deviant! A humble stoneware bowl inviting porridge to seep into it, along with spoonfuls of runny honey or jar of over night oats topped with nuts and seeds, even fruits are easy to imagine. Slices of toast held in a silver rack, (buttered soldiers if going back to childhood routes,) and a boiled egg or two always satisfies. A glass of juice (freshly squeezed) would be the pop of colour needed, or perhaps, cut flowers spearing wildly from a narrow-neck vase or empty milk bottle. With all the contents of breakfast assembled, a nature theme is weaved throughout the presentation. In a reversal of pages landing in the Victorian era just for a moment, well- to-do ladies are being served breakfast in their bed chambers. Being married it is thought they have little need to socialise (JAC by Jac Allen, jacanswers.com) and so, breakfast is taken as a ritual or an event similar. The whole affair, although far more frequent than could possibly be imagined today, would have been graciously received and relished in quiet ceremonious fashion...Wouldn’t you say?
