While we spent more time with our immediate families this year, we soon realized something we’d been missing for a while. We’ve always been good about planning gatherings with our extended family and friends, but we realized there were too many nights from the past that weren’t spent around the table with those who live within the four walls of our home. We were missing out on an opportunity to connect with one another over a good meal while sharing stories and laughter. We were missing out on an opportunity to strengthen and deepen our relationships. With that, we’ve decided we want to be more intentional about creating meaningful moments with our families at home, especially around the table.
This post is sponsored by Home Centric, but the content and opinions expressed here are our own.
One of our favorite ways to get our families excited to gather is by celebrating something fun. We also love coming up with easy and unique meal ideas to keep things interesting. Today, we’re celebrating International Waffle Day, and we thought, what better way to make memories than by creating a fun and interactive Chicken & Waffle Melt Bar everyone can help create and enjoy as a family. So, we turned to our local Home Centric to help us pull the whole occasion together.
3 Steps to Creating Meaningful Moments at Home on International Waffle Day with Home Centric
1. Prepare a Chicken & Waffle Melt Bar with Home Centric’s Entertaining Essentials
Serving food in various ways is an easy strategy to get loved ones excited to share a meal together. Switching things up by displaying food uniquely keeps mealtime interesting and fun. For International Waffle Day this year, set up a Chicken & Waffle Melt Bar that creates visual interest for those who will be enjoying it. Head to your local Home Centric for all of your entertaining essentials and get creative with how you use each item to serve all the ingredients.
Need inspiration? Below are the items we chose to create our interactive Chicken & Waffle Melt Bar:
- Mini Iron Skillets – Iron skillets are perfect for displaying your waffles and they add a sophisticated touch to the overall look and feel.
- Mini Wooden Cutting Boards – We love creating depth within our displays by incorporating layers. Place your mini skillets on top of each cutting board to create dimension. The boards can also be used in place of dinner plates for serving your waffle melts.
- Staub Ceramic Roasting Dishes – Roasting dishes are great for serving the shredded chicken and they add a touch of color to your overall display!
- Ceramic Cake Stands – Cake stands are great for displaying more than just cake. Incorporate them into your display to add height to the overall design. Choose various sizes to create visual interest and stack a small one on top of a larger one for a tiered effect.
- Large Textured Planter – Make a statement with a large concrete planter and fill with a mixture of fresh and dried florals. We chose a planter with ribbed edging to add texture to the overall display.
- Unexpected Element – We always love to incorporate an unexpected element into our food displays for a surprise factor. Here, we used waffle cone bowls to serve the different toppings and tie in the waffle theme.
2. Get Everyone Involved
Some of our favorite memories growing up are when our parents and grandparents asked us to help prepare dinner. We loved being a part of the process and feeling like we contributed to the moments being shared. It also gave us a sense of responsibility and an opportunity to get creative and expand our skillset.
If you’re celebrating International Waffle Day this year, encourage your family to get involved with the preparation. Ask whoever has an appreciation for cooking in the kitchen to help make the waffles. Ask whoever has an eye for design or an appreciation for the details to set the serveware. Assign someone to help broil the melts and another to deliver the completed recipes to the table. Getting everyone involved inspires connection by providing opportunities for conversations and meaningful moments to take place.
3. Enjoy a Meal Together
There’s just something about sharing a good meal together that unifies us in a meaningful way. It’s an opportunity to engage in candid as well as deep conversations. It’s also a time to share stories and laughter and to allow all other matters to fade away. Enjoying a meal together strengthens bonds by creating a shared moment in time where similar interests and experiences can be discovered, and we can simply meet each other right where we are.
International Waffle Day Recipes
If you’re looking for easy and delicious recipes to share with loved ones on International Waffle Day, be sure to try our three unique Chicken & Waffle Melts! They are sure to help you celebrate this fun holiday while creating meaningful moments together.
Then, be sure to head to your local Home Centric for all of the entertaining essentials we used to create our Chicken & Waffle Melt Bar. Don’t have a Home Centric near you? Check out their sister stores Burkes Outlet or Bealls Outlet and shop in person or online!
Now, we want to know, how will you be celebrating International Waffle Day with loved ones this year?!
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