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Backstory
Do you still get a kick out of a new toy, like when you were a kid? I have to admit, I do. And I really get excited when the toy arrives in my kitchen.
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New Dishes – #353
I have new dishes! It’s been a long time since I got new dishes.
They are square and stark white and the food looks really good on them. They’re very different from the Corelle that filled my kitchen cabinets when the kids were growing up. Those indestructible bowls and plates made it through the roughest of days and the wildest of baby food tossing. So did the plastic glasses festooned with cartoon characters. They encouraged consumption of many a gallon of milk.
The good dishes were always kept in the china cabinet in the dining room. But they didn’t just sit there and get dusty. I used them for company, for Sunday dinner, for special date night dinners with my husband. They’re beautiful. Silver trimmed with blue flowers on them. I still have them and they still get used.
But the new square dishes are our current favorite. Food seems more exotic on them somehow; even when it’s kielbasa and sauerkraut or spaghetti and meatballs. Maybe it’s the shape, or that there is no design on the glass fighting for attention with the food on the plate.
For whatever reason, the square dishes are now very “in” and I am enjoying them.
P.S.
A table I visited recently went in the totally opposite direction. Family members visit thrift shops and buy mismatched but beautiful plates, bowls, dishes and serving pieces. The pieces are so inexpensive that they toss them and buy new every few months. Their dinner setting is a cacophony of colors and styles. They too find joy in their new dishes.
[Show #353]
In a previous life, we had mismatched Fiestaware.
Ah, yes. Talk about a cacophony of color!
This is wonderful! And it made me think of similar times when a set of new dishes felt like such a big deal. And the square ones are such fun! They fit better in the cabinet too.
Another way to feel like you’re getting new dishes is to stop saving your good ones for special occasions. EVERY DAY is a special occasion, after all!
I also have a whole set of Fiesta and mix all the colors. But I also love bowls and get excited when I add a new one, from travels, to my collection.
I’ve also collected the potters’ bowls from the Empty Bowl dinners. Do you have any of those?
Using the good stuff is such a pleasing thought, Elizabeth. But they are in the dining room, so they’re off the radar. SOOO. . . I just decided we will have dinner once a week in the dining room – complete with the good dishes! Watch for a photo on FB!
Annette, as usual, you have used carefully chosen words to impart a visual picture of a concept to which most of us can relate. As a chef uses the art of reduction to deepen the flavor of a sauce, you reduce the words in a story to capture the essence of the ideas. The contrasting descriptions of “no design on the glass fighting for attention with the food on the plate” and “a cacophony of colors and styles” gives this story a universal appeal! Your talent is very much admired and appreciated!
Mary Lee, you have perfectly captured the essence of my storytelling style. Of course you did; you’re a pro! Thanks much for your critique. And I got to learn what chefs mean by reduction. That one always stumped me. Thanks for your kind words.
I’ve always had a “thing” for tableware. It just creates joy to show it off. And, it also poses the opportunity to finish the look with a new tablecloth and napkins!
Or placemats. I change those often too.