06 March 2008

Dishes

I'm joining in! Rocks in my Dryer is having a spur-of-the-moment dish carnival and I want to share, too! I think it's amazing how many people, including me, will share details like these on the Internet. Are our plates really that important that we think of them as signifiers of who we are and how we keep house? Makes you think, right?
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First, my fine china: Lenox MicroSafe Continental Dining Platinum. My godmother talked us into registering for it about two weeks before our wedding! By that time, we only had ONE AFTERNOON to get that done, so we ran to Dill.ards and *poof* registered really quickly. The dish saleslady was impressed with our communications skills and decision-making technique.
We have service for 6 now. My favorite parts? The size of the plates, the classiness and simplicity of the design, and the size/shape of the teacups--with their easy-to-hold handles!
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Our everyday dishes: Pfaltzgraff Denim. We only had ONE DAY to do all of our registering (we lived in separate cities, were both teachers, and were coming up on final exams, ok?), and I learned from my sister's registering adventures that men have opinions but haven't talked and obsessed and thought about them as much as girls do. So, we talked everything over the week before we registered, we prayed faithfully for guidance, and when we saw these in Tar.get, we clapped and giggled. (Ok, it was just me. And registering is hard work, peeps, so I was a little punchy.)
Thanks to my grandparents and my parents-in-law, we have service for ten. We also have the gravy boat, the sugar and creamer, salt and pepper shakers, and three canisters. I like the blue look.
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Next, my buffet plates. White. Round. Utilitarian. I picked them up at a garage sale at my store last summer. They are freezer-, microwave-, dishwasher-, and oven-safe. (Oven safe! Yay!) I have ten.
I also have ten lionshead bowls, perfect for French onion soup and individual macaroni and cheeses. I'm glad I bought them, though they are a little hard to wash by hand (we don't have a dishwasher).
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My Christmas plates I got at The Bombay Store in its big going-out-of-business sale. There was a Bombay Store two doors down from Mia Cucina, and I had my eye on their beautiful Tartan plates. When they went 50% off, I snatched up their next to last box--service for four, with the dinner plate, salad plate, soup plate, and mug. Soooo pretty!
I looked and looked but couldn't find any pictures of the actual plates. This is the closest I could find, with the white center and the tartan band; ours are actually red, white, green, and yellow tartan (with red as the primary color).
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And my winter plates, courtesy of my mom and my mother-in-law...and my husband, who told his mom what exactly I wanted for Christmas two years ago. I looked and looked, but could only found this similar picture:Instead of randomly-scattered snowflakes around the rim, my plates feature evenly placed flakes around the rim. The center is white, though. The best part? The glaze is iridescent, and as my people know, iridescent is my favorite color. We have 6 of these, as well as cereal bowls. However, they are not microwave safe!
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I like plates! I got that gene from my grandmother, who has four or five nice, formal sets.
I grew up going to Grandma's house and using her nice dishes, and so I regularly bust out my nice dishes and use them, even if it's just pizza or sandwiches. They make even the most bland dinner extra nice, and fancy dinner is extra memorable.

6 comments:

Jane Eyre said...

Glad to know that my mom and I are not the only one with many dishes! (My mom already has numerous sets, and I'd like to get more but John and I don't have extra room yet.) I will definitely have to post about dishes, whenever I take the time to dig them out of boxes to remember what I have!

I like your link headings. I've wanted to add similar categories but can't think of clever headings.

heidi @ ggip said...

My SIL&BIL have the same Target Pfaltzgraff. I like them a lot. You sure have a lot of kinds of dishes! THat must be fun.

Krista said...

jane-I've been lurking on your blog a while now and am surprised to see you here! Feel free to use any of my ideas as is or as sparks for your topics.

heidi-all my dishes get a little out of hand. I could honestly see myself getting burdened down with dishes and all of a sudden my life would revolve around the dishes themselves, not around the purpose of the dishes (to promote better hospitality). It's hard to keep in in check, you know?

*carrie* said...

Krista,

How fun to see all of your dishes. We decided not to register for china. Our dishes are plain white and I like that they can fit any occasion.

Krista said...

Thanks, Carrie. I like that my fine china is practically white, and I like the flexibility of my white buffet plates. It gives more freedom to throw a bright tablecloth on the table and voila! something new and fun.

mer@lifeat7000feet said...

Hi Krista,

I linked over here from the dishes post at Rocks in My Dryer. I like all your stuff...especially the Pfaltzgraff.

I wanted to comment b/c I saw that you're from Colorado but now live in the South. I'm from the South (Arkansas) but now live in Colorado! I love it here!

Anyway, nice to "meet" you!

Meredith