Table Talk

Welcome to Table Talk, Reed Smythe’s blog — a lively conversation on entertaining, decorating, travel, and cooking. Join Keith Smythe Meacham as she shares family recipes, travel guides, and styling tips, showing how Reed Smythe’s handmade pieces bring warmth and soul to every table. Pull up a chair and get inspired.

House Tours & Entertaining Tips Travel Guides Favorite Recipes
Sweet & Refreshing Recipes for the 4th
Sweet & Refreshing Recipes for the 4th
|Keith Meacham
Fresh watermelon & feta salad and a homemade cherry clafoutis add summer flavors to the 4th of July table. Read more...
Miss Annie's Christmas Teacakes
Miss Annie's Christmas Teacakes
|Keith Meacham
A sweet Christmas memory that inspires me every Christmas Eve. Read more...
Summer Ice Cream Sundaes
Summer Ice Cream Sundaes
|Keith Meacham
Every Memorial Day, our family pulls out our (very fancy) ice cream maker for a summer of homemade ice cream. We get around to it less than I'd like. And... Read more...
Julia Reed's Seafood Gumbo
Julia Reed's Seafood Gumbo
|Aleksandr Aleksandr
Whip up this delicious gumbo to celebrate Mardi Gras no matter where you are on Fat Tuesday. Read more...
A Southern Good-Luck Supper for New Year's Day
A Southern Good-Luck Supper for New Year's Day
|Keith Meacham
Black-eyed peas aren't the only good-luck dish for the new year. Read more...
Award-Winning Lemon Chess Pie
Award-Winning Lemon Chess Pie
|Keith Meacham
This delicious lemon chess pie is the perfect coda to a spring luncheon or a heavy winter dinner. Read more...
A Refined Beef Stew for a Festive Holiday
A Refined Beef Stew for a Festive Holiday
|Keith Meacham
It’s no secret to any of my friends that boeuf bourguignon is my go-to dish for winter entertaining. I love to serve it with garlicky cheese grits and crusty French bread... Read more...
Bourbon Balls
Bourbon Balls & Other Cocktail Supper Must-Haves
|Keith Meacham
The bourbon ball is definitely an acquired taste, but Julia's recipe will make even the youngest guest at the party a fan of these boozy confections. Read more...
Year-Round Tomato Tart
Year-Round Tomato Tart
|Keith Meacham
Make this tomato tart in any season! Read more...
Lisa Donovan's Chocolate Church Cake
Lisa Donovan's Chocolate Church Cake
|Keith Meacham
When my friend Lisa Donovan serves this chocolate deliciousness, everyone is rendered speechless. Read more...
Mary Mack's Fresh Peach Ice Cream
Mary Mack's Fresh Peach Ice Cream
|Keith Meacham
I'm grateful that ice cream makers have come a long way since the mid-70s, but I'll be following Mama's recipe to a tee. Read more...
Nora Jane's Summer Corn Pudding
Nora Jane's Summer Corn Pudding
|Keith Meacham
Your guests will never guess that the key ingredient in this corn pudding is Jiffy Corn Muffin mix. Read more...
Summer Sangria
Summer Sangria
|Keith Meacham
This sangria recipe from Julia's hilarious book is perfect to have on hand as spring fades into summer.  Read more...
Favorite Spring Cocktail Concoctions
Favorite Spring Cocktail Concoctions
|Keith Meacham
I love a frozen drink, I adore mint, and I have never met a variation on a julep that didn't make me deliriously happy. Here, I've created a sort of... Read more...
Lemon Lover’s Tart
Lemon Lover’s Tart
|Keith Meacham
My favorite yearly staple is a Meyer lemon tart I’ve been cooking for years from Patricia Wells’ divine cookbook, At Home in Provence, where she shares recipes inspired by her... Read more...
Aunt Hebe's Christmas Baked Brie
Aunt Hebe's Christmas Baked Brie
|Keith Meacham
I serve this baked brie with brown sugar and cognac in a puffed pastry at every Christmas party I host, and people go wild for it. Read more...
Mary Mack's Southern Cornbread Dressing
Mary Mack's Southern Cornbread Dressing
|Keith Meacham
Every year for 52 years, my mother has orchestrated the most delicious Thanksgiving meal for those we gather around the table. I've - happily - been assigned the flowers in... Read more...
Favorite Fall Recipes
Favorite Fall Recipes
|Keith Meacham
Two things do show up on Claire's menu again and again, and I think they are the perfect combination for dessert after a hearty fall supper. I hope you'll enjoy... Read more...
Mary Mack's Squash Casserole
Mary Mack's Squash Casserole
|Andrew Rosensweig
No matter how many times I serve this on my screened porch in Sewanee or even at a more formal dinner with sliced tenderloin (on which occasion I might call... Read more...
Pink Strawberry Cake
Pink Strawberry Cake
|Keith Meacham
Don’t let the down-market ingredients fool you. This cake is the height of refinement when served with a garnish of fresh berries in season.  Read more...
Easter Brunch Perfection: Mock Cheese Soufflé
Easter Brunch Perfection: Mock Cheese Soufflé
|Keith Meacham
Easter lunch is always one of my favorite meals of the year. There’s nothing more joyful than gathering the last of the daffodils from the yard and arranging them with... Read more...
Boeuf Bourguignon by the Fire
Boeuf Bourguignon by the Fire
|Keith Meacham
Wherever you'll be on the 26th, this recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon from the New Basics Cookbook (a must have!) never fails as the perfect accompaniment to an evening by the... Read more...
Cheese Dreams and Other Preludes to Thanksgiving
Cheese Dreams and Other Preludes to Thanksgiving
|Keith Meacham
Some of my fondest Thanksgiving memories are of cooking with Julia in her tiny New York City kitchen. Read more...
Red, White & Blueberry Crisp
Red, White & Blueberry Crisp
|Keith Meacham
My mother is a master cobbler-maker and can turn just about any summer fruit into a heavenly combination of sucré and salé - sweet and salty (and tart) - that... Read more...
Cabin Fever Supper: Mama's Chicken Pie
Cabin Fever Supper: Mama's Chicken Pie
|Keith Meacham
This delicious chicken pie is a simpler variation on chicken pot pie and much more delicious. Read more...
Black Eyed Peas & Cornbread
Black Eyed Peas & Cornbread
|Keith Meacham
Usher in the New Year with black eyed peas for good luck...and this cornbread for the simple fact that it's delicious! Read more...
Autumn Sunday Lunch at Brookside
Autumn Sunday Lunch at Brookside
|Keith Meacham
Of the many gifts Julia gave me during our long friendship, one of the very best was an introduction to Libby and Ben, two of the most talented people I've... Read more...
Julia's Cocktail Concoctions
Julia's Cocktail Concoctions
|Everett Bexley
During these past several weeks, we've had Zoom cocktails, solo cocktails, socially distant cocktails. Below, Julia has concocted some of her favorites -- for now and later -- in our... Read more...
Julia's Milk Punch
Julia's Milk Punch
|Aleksandr Aleksandr
I adore a properly made Bloody Mary and I would not turn down a refreshing screwdriver, but there is no better hangover cure on earth than a milk punch. Addictively... Read more...
Summer Squash Casserole
Summer Squash Casserole
|Aleksandr Aleksandr
My friend Nancy Peterkin’s squash casserole has made the rounds! Nancy, a justifiably renowned Houston hostess and a cook of uncommon talents, gave my mother the recipe years ago and... Read more...
Mama's Chilton County Peach Cobbler
Mama's Chilton County Peach Cobbler
|Keith Meacham
There is no better cobbler than the one my mother makes with peaches from Chilton County, Alabama. Read more...
Julia Reed's Hostess Tips
Julia Reed's Hostess Tips
|Aleksandr Aleksandr
Julia Reed muses on what makes a great party. Read more...
Fourth of July Sangria
Fourth of July Sangria
|Aleksandr Aleksandr
Which means that this year I’ll kick off my Independence Day celebration with a pitcher or two of sangria. Read more...
Julia Reed's New Orleans
Julia Reed's New Orleans
|Aleksandr Aleksandr
I’m glad I did—the months I spent on the campaign trail made me realize I never wanted to leave my adopted city. The temporary apartment I took that year was... Read more...