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By Cassondra Murray
Hi. I’m Cassondra and I am a dish whore.
I know, I know. Those of you who have come to know me in all of my black-wearing, firearm-and-knife-wielding, suspense-writing glory will find this difficult to assimilate. But it’s true.
It doesn’t matter much where the dishes originated. It could be delicate Lenox or sturdy Pfaltzgraff, $30-per-set Gibson from Target or $30-per-teacup Prince Albert porcelain from England. When I see a pretty set of dishes, I immediately start building a table setting around it. Then I start building my fantasy life around it.
I compare it to what I already have, and think about which placemats, tablecloth, chargers and stemware I could combine to make something eclectic. Something different. Something stunning.
And then I start wanting it.
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I can spend hours in the housewares department. I imagine MY table set with that, MY house perfectly clean and neat, and all my friends around me, sipping good wine, laughing and having a grand time while I finish dinner and we prepare to sit around that gorgeous table.
My husband, Steve, will come in and give me a kiss and hand me the flowers he brought, then he’ll stir the Bolognese sauce while I greet the first guests for the evening.
If only I had those dishes, you see, all else in my life would fall into perfect alignment. Just like a magazine ad.
Yes. It’s a disease.
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And yes, I do need a 12-step program for this.
Or some sort of therapeutic intervention. Or, perhaps, service for 12 of the Lenox Holiday pattern china. I’ve always wanted that set….
Help me.
I’ve been doing better recently. I swear.
Last year I gave away three whole sets of dishes.
It was the summer of 2009. After 8 years of living in this old house, I was finally unpacking everything that remained in my garage. And in so doing, I took stock of all of my dishes. I had to do this because I was trying to find places in the kitchen to store the boxes and boxes of fragile emotional crutches I’d been hoarding. I considered storing dishes under the bed for about twenty seconds, but nixed that idea. I don’t want to have to clean around them, and it’s bad Feng Shui.
You see, I’ve made this asinine rule about bringing more stuff into the house. If I bring anything in, something else has to go out. It’s a hard-ass approach to an unendurable clutter issue. I’m determined I’m going to create a Zen environment, one in which I can actually focus to…you know…write.
So in that summer of 2009, I took inventory. In all, I had eight complete sets of china. I had one service for 36. All matching.
That’s right. I could have served a sit-down dinner for 36 people all on matching dishes.
Now, let’s stop, for just a moment, and consider my actual life.
My dining room—or perhaps we should call it a “nook”-- is 12’X12’.
I’m presently sitting at the round oak dining table, with my laptop propped up on a copy of Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love’s BLOOD TRINITY as I write this. The rest of the table is covered with stacks of p
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Sure.
Maybe.
In my next life. Where I come back as Cosmic Empress of the Universe.
You know…the life when I have a staff of fifteen and three Five-Star commercial ra
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Yeah. That life.
On top of that, I don’t KNOW 36 people who I would bring in for a sit-down dinner all at once, unless I had all the cabana boys, the gladiators, the Bandits, and most of the Buddies over at the same time (Sorry, Ermingarde, but you won’t fit through the doorway). And besides, we’ve got the main hall of the Lair for those big parties.
Ah, but I had these visions of round tables draped with festive linens OUTSIDE you see, for a summer party on the lawn by the waterfall.
I can see the audience lean forward, and hear the question vibrating across the ether…..”You have a waterfall?”
No. I don’t. But I’d like to ha
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See? It’s part of the fantasy.
It’s not that I’ve spent a lot of money on these dishes. I haven’t. My complete service for 36 was on clearance at Target. I paid $27 for all of it. Six sets of six. That’s less than a dollar per place setting!
Who could resist a deal like that?
And it was beautiful. Folk art representations of a village in all of the four seasons painted on the dishes. One season on each piece. I could just see it juxtaposed on a sage-green tablecloth with woven, mustard-yellow placemats and deep Aztec-red napkins, with a
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Wouldn’t you like to eat a meal with good friends at a table like that?
I am a Goth, Martha-Stewart Mini-Me. I love all things beautiful and tasteful. I just happen to love them while I'm wearing black.
And I think pretty table settings are one of life’s most complete sensual experiences.
Think about it. Nobody serves Kraft mac & cheese on fine china. If the good stuff is laid out, you’re gonna get a home-cooked—or at least a home-catered—meal. And you’re going to sit down to that meal at a table laid out and decorated in a way that makes you stop and savor it.
I am hopeless.
I have dishes I’ve inherited. Some of them fairly valuable, though I’d have no idea how to sell such things. Some of them are quite ordinary, but hold fond memories because my grandmother served “dinner” (lunch for you city folk who don’t understand these things) to work hands on those dishes. Some of them are odd pieces of what I know to be collectible china, and some are 100-year-old pieces that I just think are beautiful. Platters, gravy boats, vegetable bowls and footed cake plates.
Jeanne’s post about decorating the Lair yesterday set this off. It's her fault. And the Christmas season makes it worse, yaknow….All the parties…all the opportunities to use that Lenox Holdiay china....
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Let’s talk punch bowls for just a minute here.
When we did our First-Ever Bandit Bash in San Francisco in 2008, I created a wine punch recipe and then contacted our West-Coast Bandits, asking who had a punch bowl we could use for the Bash.
Not one.
That’s right. There are no punch bowls in California.
Apparently, people on the West Coast do not drink punch at baby showers.
I live in the south. I cannot comprehend this.
I called Jeanne, who lives in Maryland, but grew up in North Carolina, which is technically the Upper South.
“Do you have a punch bowl?” I said.
“Yes,” she said. “I have two.”
Ha! I was vindicated.
I have not one, but TWO punch bowls of my own. No matter that I use them only once every three years. I have one large cut-crystal punch bowl, complete with cut-crystal cups hanging on little s-hooks around its rim, which used to belong to my mom. And I have one smaller, blown-glass, footed punch bowl I earned as a bonus when I was a crystal dealer. It’s magical. Faeries would drink punch out of this bowl.
Yes. I was once a crystal dealer. Not only am I a dish whore, I was once a dish pimp.
I did a presentation to a group of ladies when I was a dish pimp, and have never forgotten the words of one woman, as she was moved to the point of poetry by the sparkle of the lights glinting off of the 24 percent lead crystal, and said, ”my lips LOVE to drink out of pretty glasses.”
Mmmmmm. Mine too.
Yesterday I stopped by a little consignment store at a corner I pass on my way into town. They had two pedestal punch bowls, complete with complete sets of m
I resisted. Just barely.
I have a deep disdain for paper plates. Even at picnics. I tolerate them only to experience the awesome food heaped upon them, and to be polite to the people I love.
But honestly? I want the picnic sets with the porcelain-like, hard plastic plates and the real silverware, all nestled in a pretty chintz-fabric-lined, lidded basket.
It’s not that I’m uber-formal. I’m not. I hate snobbery, and dislike formality as a rule.
One time I was in a five-star restaurant in Florida. You could have heard a pin drop in that place. (Totally NOT a fit for my personality) There was a little girl at the next table. The lace on her skirt was so stiff it cracked every time she moved. She had to speak in a whisper and looked about to cry. Absolutely miserable. I felt so
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The little guy who filled the iced tea was pestering the bejeebers out of me, filling it up every time I took a drink and messing up my sacred tea/sugar ratio. (It’s a sin to have to sweeten one’s own tea anyhow, especially in the South. What were they thinking?) I pointed to a spot low on my glass. I gave him my most threatening squint. “When the tea gets down to here,” I said, “you can come back. But not before that.”
His eyes got wide. He didn’t come back for a long time. I was way too loud for that restaurant.
I am not Miss Formal. Honest. I just like dishes.
No. I LOVE dishes. And pretty table settings. I love eating at a beautiful table.
I grew up on a farm in the country, eating on mismatched plates. I don’t know where this came from.
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Seriously. I need professional help. Something is wrong with me.
Am I the only one?
Is there another Buddy out there who will raise your hand and say, “Yes, I am a dish whore!” along with me?
Or are y’all the paper-plate –for-dinner types?
I recognize that you paper plate types are, truly, the practical ones. It’s not that I can’t accept, intellectually, that you’re right.
I just don’t understand you.
I can’t relate.
Is there anybody out there like me? Do you love pretty dishes?
Do you stop and stare when you pass the Macy’s housewares window?
Do you covet the Lenox Holiday set, even though you’d only use it one month out of the year?
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Be honest. You know you want it.
Don’t you?
Do you like sitting at a beautifully-laid table?
Or are you just as happy with paper plates and cups, and serving out of Tupperware?
Am I the only Dish Whore in the Bandit Lair?
Say it ain’t so.
129 comments:
Is he coming to my place
have Fun
Helen
Oh, Cassondra! A woman after my own heart!! I LOVE dishes and a beautiful table setting is something I aspire to but never actually achieve, to my great regret. One day, I'll get it right. Sigh.
My mother is the Queen of the 'crazy' tea set. Goodness knows how many cups and saucers that woman owns. Cabinets full of them! I have one 'good' dinner service a small collection of display pieces that I love. I really want more but I'm restraining myself until the boys are older and I don't have to hide them or put them up high all the time. What's the good of them if they're stuck in cupboards?
Oh, and now I want a punch bowl. I borrow my mother's when I need one but I do love me some punch at a party and this is now my mission--to get a punch bowl fairies might drink from :)
Congrats, Helen!
Dish whore!!...love it.
No sorry I cant join your club, although I do have a very small collection of green depression glass :)
Helen, well done on the GR. Looks like he's enjoying spending time in Sydney.
Cassondra, can't say that I'm a dish whore but I do love a good set of dishes. I don't think I have as many as you do, but I've got a few. One blue Pfalgraff (how do you spell it?) set, a plain everyday white set, a fancy white with gold rim set and another beige brown patterned flower set.I try to have all my sets for either 10 or 12 but my white everyday set is only for 4 since it's just my husband (also Steve) and I.
I do not have a punch bowl.
And I know where to go if I need extra dishes for a large party.
:-)
well done Helen ... he is liking it in sydney.... he may want to stay for Oprah's visit...
Hi Cassondra... I am not a dish whore, I have one set for 12 that we use everyday... if we need more we can get them from DD and SIL as they have a party hire business so we can even have marquees and what ever else we need for a party
Cassondra
Loved the post and I too love having a beautiful table setting but unfortunatly mine are are miss matched and I really needed new set so last week I actually bought 2x4 place dinner sets the same so now I have a full setting that match for 8 people but that is not enough when all of my family arrive so I have kept the best of the old stuff for when I need it.
I do have a beautiful crazy tea set of different types and patterns of fine bone china cup saucer and plates and have used them here and there and I also have inherited some of my Mum's beautiful tea sets which I love and wouldn'tpart with.
But alas I am sorry I am not a dish whorebut I really like looking at it LOL
Have FUn
Helen
Hi Cassondra,
I'm not a dish whore, but I do enjoy looking at all those pretty and expensive china collections that Macy's sells. I always wonder how many people actually put a $100 soup bowl on their wedding registry. My mom never let us use the good china. She still has them packed away. Same with the tea sets.
Congrats on the GR, Helen.
Hey Cassondra!
I'm proudly raising my hand! I'm definitely a tabletop decor whore. It started when I was a kid coveting my aunt's Lusterware tea set, which she did give me. Having worked at Williams-Sonoma part-time for five years, I took full advantage of their generous 40% employee discount. Unfortunately, my obsession extended beyond dishes. I have seventeen cake stands and tons of chargers, table linens, napkin rings, stemware, flatware, serveware...linen hemstitched cocktail napkins, which I only used once cause after the party, I counted them up and was missing seven. At 0200, I'm on the driveway going through bags of party garbage looking for my cocktail napkins! I love a beautifully set table. I think it makes your guests feel like you made an effort, even if the roast might be overdone! And Kraft mac and cheese tastes better on good china!
And now, you've got me thinking about a punch bowl. My mom had a milk white hobnail patterned one when I was a kid...but out here in CA, people don't do punch. (cringes)
Cassondra, I am a recovered dish whore. I do have a punch bowl, two actually. I never ever use them but can't get myself to part with them. I still have some of my pretties but over the years I have parted with a great deal of it. My china with the 24k rims and matching flatware, gone, my black lead crystal pieces all gone, nothing my son and I eat from matches now. I even had a set of Thanksgiving china (once upon a time I worked in a china department of a high end department store). I have a teeny, tiny house and I don't even have a place to put the pretties I once owned. I do feel your pain and share your love, I have just gotten past it and accepted the fact that I don't entertain and my son doesn't care as long as there is food.
LOL Cassondra - I'm not a dish whore, though I do love pretty china and tableware things and I'm a 'sets' person. I like to buy things to make up a set.
I have a Royal Doulton Carlyle for 6 and a Villeroy and Boch Switch 3 for 8. I love the V&B because although it's a set, each size of plate has a slightly different, but co-ordinated design. Oh and a complete service for Chinese food.
But, I also have lots of bits and pieces - which I guess kind of sums me up as a person too LOL. I love my Emma Bridgewater Hearts tea cup, Union Jack tea-pot and I covet a Jan Constantine Love jug (don't get me onto the subject of coveting anything by Jan Constantine - her cushions are stunning!). Our crystal is Jasper Conran Aura - which I adore.
I have hand-painted penguin glasses and snowman plates. We also have a cake stand from my lovely hubby's aunt - which is pure family history. Oh, and the cutest strawberries and cream set from Coalport - it's a basket with little sections for the cream and sugar pots!
No punch-bowl, but a cocktail shaker and glasses.
Oh, forgot to say - we've taken to using our fine china more than just special occasions - otherwise it only comes out once a year!
Cassondra, I can't begin to tell you how much I look forward to your blogs. Thanks for another gem!
I'm not a Dish Whore but if you cruise my kitchen cabinets, you'll find I come very close to that title when it comes to pots, pans, bowls, small appliances and kitchen utensils. You can't walk through a china department without pretties following you home? For me, it's the kitchen gadget department of doom. I can't help it! They just jump into my cart! Oh, and let's not talk about chocolate molds. I really do deserve the title with those goodies. At last count, I had more than 400 of the little darlings!
Here in South Carolina, punch bowls are de rigueur and not only for baby showers. How are we supposed to serve our homemade eggnog at our Christmas parties if not from a punch bowl? Even the single (male) math professor who lives down the street from me brought his (homemade and fabulously delicious) eggnog to the neighborhood Christmas party in a gorgeous, cut-crystal punch bowl. I have two, by the way; the one I inherited from my mom and another smaller one I bought about 25 years ago. Can't imagine giving up either one.
It ain't so. Hahah! Well you said to "Say it ain't so" to prove you AREN'T the only one.
"Hello, my name is Jeanne and I too am a Dish Whore"
Grins.
Oh, and I now have three punch bowls. We were cleaning out a section of the attic - don't ask, it was hawwwwible! - and here's a box.
"What's in the box?"
"Some glass thingie and some little cup thingies. It was my Mom's"
OMGosh.
A punchbowl and cups, in the attic where the temperature variances could shatter glass? Shriek!
I rescued it, of course, so now I have three.
I can sit 25 down, matching, with my late MIL's china, 15 with one set that I own, another 5 each with two other matchings, and a whole bunch more folks on the odds, ends, mis-matches and so forth.
I had 60 people for a party once and never had to break out the paper plates, even for dessert.
Yes. I too am a Dish Whore.
Hey Helen! Congrats on the GR! Hope he has fun in Oz today, sunning his feathers.
Make him wash dishes....bwah-ha-ha-ha!
Christine, I'd never heard that term, "crazy tea set" before. I get the sense of it, and I'm now fully on board. Ha! Now I know what to call it! Yippee!
Did I mention that I can serve 45 people with the plain clear or smoked glass hors d'ovres plates, when I have tea parties. Grins. And I have another 18 that have a holiday theme.
Yes, people, I DO serve tea. (Sweet tea, if it's cold as I have the same complaint as Cassondra about having to sweeten one's own tea!) I'll get the girls in the 'hood together for tea, champagne, wine, etc and do a dessert tea.
Next time, I should serve three kinds of punch!
Cath's Chatter, if you have a collection which involves green dishware, you're on the verge, girlfriend. On the verge....
Daz, you and I were thinking along the same lines. I know where Cassondra lives.
I could borrow her dishes.....
Hmmmm.
COOOL!
As to that dish company that starts with a PH, I know there's a z in there somewhere, but I can't spell it either.
Oooh, Barb, wish I had your SIL - at least as regards the party business. Talk about china!!
Grins.
I'm looking at renting a marquee for next fall. Very dear, those things.
Jane said: My mom never let us use the good china. She still has them packed away. Same with the tea sets.
Oh, now that's a shame. I'm with Anna S, I think they should be used more than once a year. In fact, I use mine all the time.
PJ + Chocolate molds + pots n pans = YUMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
For those who may not know, PJ is a fabulous candy maker. Yuuummmm.
And PJ, I totally agree with you about Cassondra's posts. I always look forward to them.
Always.
I love looking at dishes. I only have two sets myself, but I enjoy browing through the fine china. Growing up we never, ever, ever ate on paper plates. Even if it was only a snack, my father refused to let us eat on paper plates. I think part of that seeped into me because we usually always eat dinner on regular dishes.
LOL on the title, Cassondra. When I first read it I thought it was "dish whore," like gossip. Giggles.
I do love dishes too. I inherited this beautiful Rosenthal set from my mother. The interesting story is that she bought it on the black market (shhh) in West Berlin, Germany. This was in the 50's before the Berlin Wall went up.
Not only is it a beautiful white and green pattern, but it reminds me of my mother's spunk. Or at least her attempt to run afoul of the law LOL.
Helen, congrats on the bird! I hope you keep him busy.
Cassondra, I deeply, seriously covet those Lenox Christmas dishes pictured on the blog. I loooove them. However, our house is bursting at the gills already. So I've contented myself with buying a couple of serving pieces for use during the holidays.
Our wedding china was Royal Doulton Princeton, and I've added to it a piece at a time over the years, to the point where I can now serve the meal in matching dishes. Oddly, this is not a priority for the dh.
(When we chose the dishes, his main concern, which I hear is common among grooms, was "I don't want anything that has stuff in the middle of the plate; it makes the food look weird.")
Even more than dishes, though, I love crystal. I love what it does to light. We chose Waterford's Lismore, knowing we wouldn't get much of it because our friends weren't in the income bracket to buy Waterford easily (neither were we), and I've also added to that a stem at a time. Still don't have enough to set a full table, though. Dishes were the priority.
There's this place near Greensboro, NC, Replacements Limited. They carry current and discontinued dish patterns, along with Caithness paperweights (more gorgeous glass!), silver (oh, don't I wish!), and crystal. I could spend the day just wandering around in the showroom.
When I was in law school, I used to eat at a mall cafeteria a lot (many of my schoolmates did), and I went into the mall through Belk's department store. By the door my last year was a display of Corningware Corelle dishes, and I fell in love with one of the patterns. I had been using my aunt's castoff dishes, which were perfectly fine but not, you know, mine. I bought those dishes with my first paycheck and used them until the dh and I chose an everyday pattern.
So no, dear DeHo, you are not alone in this obsession.
Wooohoooo Helen!
Are you going to serve the rooster his Tim Tams on a fancy plate today?
Christine, I can't do gorgeous table settings, either. Sometimes I watch Sandra Lee on the Food Network, and she often does "tablescapes," settings coordinated with the food. I admire that, but it's beyond me.
I want a punch bowl, too, BUT we never entertain, I have no place to put one, and then there's the whole cups issue.
Yes, I am up. Bleary-eyed, but here.
Now I must get coffee....
Wow, Daz, you must have a big table. Ours seats six, which we can push to nine if we stick a card table on at the end and people squunch, so I've mainly gone for sevens--you know, six and one in case of breakage.
When we have a big group, we use the everyday dishes. We got lots of those for wedding gifts, and they were cheaper to supplement than the china.
Good on you, Helen! Wish I was in Sidney today. Too cold here!
Dish Whores of the World Unite!
Cassondra, you crack me up!!
And I too, LOVE beautiful dishes. My house is rather small so I don't have nearly the dishes I would have if I had more room.
I have one set of fine china and crystal - Lenox Solitaire. I have a set of every day dishes Noritake White with gorgeous heavy pink swirl crystal to go with it. I have a set of silver and a set of flatware. I don't use the silver anymore, but I do use the flatware every day.
I have another set of every day dishes, a cute yellow and white pattern. A dear friend passed away and her husband invited us to pick something of hers to remember her by. One of the items he was going to get rid of was her "lunch" dishes - the ones she used when we all got together for lunch. I never use them, but every time I see them in the china cabinet they make me smile.
I have a nice set of purple and blue flowered dishes that I actually eat on every day. I have a set for four and they match my kitchen which is decorated to match the huge framed poster I have from my visit to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. The poster is of his painting Irises.
I have a collection of English bone china teacups - every pattern different. One for each of my contest finals.
I do have a punch bowl. My mother has three!
Christine said:
Oh, Cassondra! A woman after my own heart!! I LOVE dishes and a beautiful table setting is something I aspire to but never actually achieve, to my great regret. One day, I'll get it right. Sigh.
YAY!!!!! Another dish whore! I am not alone! *hugs Christine across the ether* It's really about having time to think about it and pull it together, isn't it? And that's just the trouble. Who has time? Especially with young children. I have no children and don't have time to FIND my table underneath the mess.
My mother is the Queen of the 'crazy' tea set. Goodness knows how many cups and saucers that woman owns. Cabinets full of them! I have one 'good' dinner service a small collection of display pieces that I love. I really want more but I'm restraining myself until the boys are older and I don't have to hide them or put them up high all the time. What's the good of them if they're stuck in cupboards?
Yes. Yes, this is it. With little ones about you may as well wait until they're a bit older. But then, bring them out and get more! Yes, get more! Your husband is in business, isn't he? There must be some sort of large office party you could host--you NEED all of those dishes!
I am not helping, am I? *hangs head in shame*
Oh, and now I want a punch bowl. I borrow my mother's when I need one but I do love me some punch at a party and this is now my mission--to get a punch bowl fairies might drink from :)
I have a great punch recipe. It's fairly standard here in the US, and is not alcoholic, unfortunately, but is regular baby shower fare here. It has sherbet in it. Slurp.
Cath's Chatter said:
Dish whore!!...love it.
No sorry I cant join your club, although I do have a very small collection of green depression glass :)
So sad, so sad. :0(
But that depression glass sounds lovely. I have only one piece of that but I love it. It was my grandmother's.
Daz said:
One blue Pfalgraff (how do you spell it?) set, a plain everyday white set, a fancy white with gold rim set and another beige brown patterned flower set.I try to have all my sets for either 10 or 12 but my white everyday set is only for 4 since it's just my husband (also Steve) and I.
I have an everyday white set that I need to replace. Several pieces have gotten broken or chipped, but I love it and it's been discontinued so I can't get it any more. And I can't find a white set in my price range that I like as well. The thing about a white set is that you can go any direction with it. Any colors for the table, any occasion. It's the best overall, I think.
I do have a set of very heavy, fancy restaurant ware--white centers with a fluted edge--wide black border and gold leaf on the rim. I use those as chargers a lot and they go with anything too.
I do not have a punch bowl.
*hangs head*
And I know where to go if I need extra dishes for a large party.
Indeed. I have equipped several. Helping other people get started in the right direction with a party is one of the things I most enjoy about being a dish whore. I have nearly everything. *thinks* I don't have a set of those little individual salt and pepper shakers. Nor do I have finger bowls...I've always thought that was too much, even for me. I'll never entertain that formally. I just won't.
Barb said:
You have family in the party supply business. Oh...that would be very bad for me. That would be the absolute worst kind of enabling of my dish whore disease. Bad. Baaaaaadddd.
Helen said:
do have a beautiful crazy tea set of different types and patterns of fine bone china cup saucer and plates and have used them here and there and I also have inherited some of my Mum's beautiful tea sets which I love and wouldn'tpart with.
Okay, you and Christine have both mentioned the "crazy" tea set. Is this just a pretty but mismatched tea set? Is this a thing to do in Australia?
I do not have a full tea set I have a nice set of plates cups and saucers, but no tea pot to match. I do, however, have a pretty Prince Albert teapot. I make actual tea--brewed tea the correct way--and I have to get teapots from England because all the teapots sold here NOT from England are made in China and they dribble. The tip of the spout is too thick and not shaped correctly. Drives me crazy. I'm a sucker for a good teapot.
So if mismatched is "crazy" I don't know if mine qualifies. Because only my pitcher is mismatched.
I'd love to have the pitcher that came with my wedding china, but I never got that piece. The closeup of the Haviland flowered sugar bowl in the blog--that's my wedding china pattern. I got all but the large platter and the teapot, I think. I even have the lovely soup tureen.
Jane said:
I'm not a dish whore, but I do enjoy looking at all those pretty and expensive china collections that Macy's sells. I always wonder how many people actually put a $100 soup bowl on their wedding registry. My mom never let us use the good china. She still has them packed away. Same with the tea sets.
Oh, good. A fellow window stalker. I never understood that kind of wedding registry either, and I've always figured the parents end up buying most of that. I never go for the china unless that's specifically what the bride has said she wants. And then I end up buying something small--a spoon rest, or something. And I don't have any sets of that sort of cost. Honestly I drool over some of them, but I wouldn't actually buy them. My wedding china is some of my favorite china ever, but it wasn't expensive. It's origins were humble--a promotion at a grocery store. I told the family that this is what I wanted and they all shopped at that store and got my china for me in the months before my wedding. *grin* I love it though, and everybody comments on how pretty it is.
Pink Peony said:
Having worked at Williams-Sonoma part-time for five years, I took full advantage of their generous 40% employee discount. Unfortunately, my obsession extended beyond dishes. I have seventeen cake stands and tons of chargers, table linens, napkin rings, stemware, flatware, serveware...linen hemstitched cocktail napkins, which I only used once cause after the party, I counted them up and was missing seven.
Oh NO! Did you find them?
And I would be in debtor's prison if I worked for Williams Sonoma. My whoredom extends to all things kitchen. Which I also do not understand because my mom is the complete opposite. She'd eat on paper plates every day if she could, does not like to cook really and prefers bland-tasting food. It's very strange how I came out the total opposite. I want high end mixers, high end roasting equipment. Pizza stones. All of it. I am not, however, a gadget person. I don't like gadgets. They have to work hard to prove their worth.
And as to the punch....what do people drink at baby showers in California?
You could start a trend. I dunno how people set a nice party buffet without a punch bowl. It's always the crowning glory of the table, sitting high on its pedestal, filled with some fluffy, fruity liquid with fruit or sherbet floating on top.
a.k.a. Dianna said:
My china with the 24k rims and matching flatware, gone, my black lead crystal pieces all gone,
*hangs head in sadness. Especially for the black lead crystal*
I even had a set of Thanksgiving china (once upon a time I worked in a china department of a high end department store).
Oh. My. I would go into dish overload if I worked at such a place. I'd be buying EVERYTHING. That would be bad. Baaaaadddd.
I have a teeny, tiny house and I don't even have a place to put the pretties I once owned. I do feel your pain and share your love, I have just gotten past it and accepted the fact that I don't entertain and my son doesn't care as long as there is food.
Perhaps, one day, I will be recovered from this disease, as you are. I don't look forward to it, but my house is teeny as well. It needs to happen. :0(
HI Cassondra! I must admit, I'm terrified of fine china and definitely not a good collector of it. I think it's because my mom adored her china when I was growing up, and every Thanksgiving something got broken, and it would be a huge emotional trauma for her. I definitely wasn't interested in that. We have a set of china but I honestly have never taken it out. It's really sad.
No wait! Amend that -- several of the china tea cups were out last week when my daughter and her best friend had a tea party!
Oh Cassondra, how I do love you and your blogs! This one is an instant classic. Thank you for brightening my day. :-)
First of all, there IS a punchbowl in California! It's here! In my home! Well, actually, it's somewhere in the garage, behind the DH's high school textbooks ...
Yeah. Sorry. When we have a party, we open a bunch of wine bottles and swirl our glasses a lot. Not so big on punch anymore. Sorry. (And don't get me started on the whole sweet tea thing. We don't *get* that out here. *g*)
In a former life, I collected beautiful teacups and saucers. I've given some away but still have ... (I'm counting) ... eight left in the dining room cabinet. They're so pretty, all different patterns. I should take a picture and send it to you.
I also have my grandmother's Limoges luncheon plates, simple ivory with gold trim. She used them whenever her bridge group met at her home. And I know she always made Waldorf salad, her favorite. And she always served martinis with lunch. I have her tiny martini glasses, too. LOL
Thanks again for your beautiful, funny post, Cassondra. It made my day. :-)
Helen, enjoy the Golden One! Keep him away from the fine china!
I am not a dish whore, my eldest sister may be, but I am not. I do however like looking at the different patterns and such in the department store houseware department. They can be so lovely or so, um, interesting? yes, interesting is a polite/good word. I have no desire to buy them though. I've used the same set of dishes (handed down from my mother & grandmother) for the 20+ years I've been "out of the house" and am perfectly content with them. Well, there is the nice plastic set for when having some folks over for a cookout and dinner on the porch. But that's as much to avoid having to take breakables outside. Though if I had the space, I wouldn't mind a "good china" set of dishes for holidays. Have always loved that Lenox holiday set and could picture it on my table.
While I am not a dish whore, I do have a slight variation of the illness that I regularly fight. I love serving dishes. You know, the items you put out for company with cookies, cheese & crackers, appetizers, chips & dip, etc. I love the cozy county home styles, the fancy formal platters, the funky shaped pieces. That dish set for outside -- I even have an appetizer set (plates, "wine" glasses) that matches it. I rarely entertain (I don't even have furniture in the formal living room!) & even when I do one or two dishes would be more than enough to meet my needs. That footed cake dish -- I so would love that. I have more than that (much more) and am constantly tempted to buy more when I see them at the store. I manange to resist (the whole storage space & don't entertain thing), but it is sooooo hard sometimes. So I understand how you feel some. Be strong, there's nothing wrong with you -- you just need more space ;)
oh, by the way, that cute pointsetta set pictured there, where did you find it? It is sooo cute, and would be perfect should I happen to have a couple folks ever for a visit and snacks. You know during the holidays this year, or next, or sometime. You know, right?
OK, maybe it is a sickness. But it still nice. :)
Nancy said:"I don't want anything that has stuff in the middle of the plate; it makes the food look weird."
Snork. Seriously?
Anna Sugden said:
I'm not a dish whore, though I do love pretty china and tableware things and I'm a 'sets' person. I like to buy things to make up a set.
Well, that's the trouble for me too. And I don't want a set of four. I want a set of 12. Or 18. I want to be able to feed everyone off of matching plates, no matter the size of the crowd. It's ridiculous really. I do recognize that there are such things as rental places for these things. I'm not sure why I feel the need to trick my kitchen out like a restaurant, but I do. Only with prettier dishes.
And Anna...no punch bowl? So perhaps it really is only the SOUTH of the United States which has this whole punch bowl thing going?
I do not understand this. I seriously doubt punch bowls were invented in Atlanta. I could be wrong though. This may be a topic for further research.
I've just always seen it as something that would have happened at Regency Balls in England--the trip to the punch bowl and all that....but perhaps not...
Anna Sugden also said:
Oh, forgot to say - we've taken to using our fine china more than just special occasions - otherwise it only comes out once a year!
See? I want to do this too. If I can ever get the paper pile in the house reduced to the point I can lay a proper table, I want to use my pretty china regularly. I've come to the point of believing that it makes no sense to have pretty things and never use them. I grew up that way. The pretty dish towels, the pretty sugar bowls, the pretty pitchers--they were never used--always saved for some perfect time when they would be appropriate. Well...I'm not saving mine cuz I know the perfect time never comes.
I don't think I'd consider myself a dish whore. I have a 12 piece place setting of every day dishes and a 12 piece china set that I got as a wedding gift from my parents. We do use the china on holidays.
But I will admit that I've always loved the Lenox Christmas pattern. I just couldn't justify it. If I bought that then the only time we'd use our other china is either Easter or Thanksgiving (we're usually here for one and gone for the other).
As for the punch bowl, maybe it's an East Coast, West Coast thing. I have a punch bowl. I think I've used it about four times...but I have one!
Hi PJ! *waving madly* Thanks so much for the kind words. I'm not sure why anyone enjoys reading my strange monthly rants, but I do seem to keep ranting anyhow, don't I? You're very sweet for saying you like them.
For me, it's the kitchen gadget department of doom. I can't help it! They just jump into my cart! Oh, and let's not talk about chocolate molds. I really do deserve the title with those goodies. At last count, I had more than 400 of the little darlings!
Four. Hundred. Chocolate. Molds.
Okay I officially give over the notion that I'm queen of craving kitchen stuff. What does one do with so many chocolate molds? I've never actually molded chocolate, but perhaps this is something I should remedy? Do you use them to decorate cakes? Make your own seasonal treats? What? Do they hang on your walls? Are they pretty? How did you come to be addicted to such a strange drug? (Not the chocolate--I totally get that--but the molds.)
So perhaps it really is only the SOUTH of the United States which has this whole punch bowl thing going?.
Cassondra, it's not just the South...or at least it didn't used to be. I grew up in Michigan and I remember my mom using her punch bowl numerous times. She'd pull it out for bridge club, civic club, Christmas parties, baby showers...all kinds of stuff.
PJ also said:
Here in South Carolina, punch bowls are de rigueur and not only for baby showers. How are we supposed to serve our homemade eggnog at our Christmas parties if not from a punch bowl? Even the single (male) math professor who lives down the street from me brought his (homemade and fabulously delicious) eggnog to the neighborhood Christmas party in a gorgeous, cut-crystal punch bowl. I have two, by the way; the one I inherited from my mom and another smaller one I bought about 25 years ago. Can't imagine giving up either one.
See? SEE????
It must be a southern thing. I cannot imagine going through life without a punch bowl. Or three. I seriously do want another, and I may yet go and get one of those cute sets at the consignment shop. The more I think of it, the more I think it's a good idea. After all, my cut glass bowl does NOT have a pedestal. My blown glass bowl is a footed bowl, but I'm so fond of cut glass, and they're so lovely up on their pedestals...
Perhaps I should do a blog about cake plates--I wonder if only southerners have crystal pedestals for layer cakes and lovely crystal domes to show them off--which, by the way, can be flipped upside down in a cut glass veggie bowl and used as a....drum roll please....punch bowl! *grin*
Incidentally, I'd totally love to have your homemade eggnog recipe if you're able to share. But if it's a secret family recipe, that's okay. No pressure.
Jeanne said:
"Hello, my name is Jeanne and I too am a Dish Whore"
Grins.
Oh, and I now have three punch bowls. We were cleaning out a section of the attic - don't ask, it was hawwwwible! - and here's a box.
"What's in the box?"
"Some glass thingie and some little cup thingies. It was my Mom's"
OMGosh.
A punchbowl and cups, in the attic where the temperature variances could shatter glass? Shriek!
I rescued it, of course, so now I have three.
Picture my "OH!" face. What did it look like? Cut glass? Footed?
Thank goodness you rescued it. The thing about punch bowls is that they're much like any other bowl...one needs them in various sizes. For small parties or large. A large punch bowl looks so...forlorn with just a teensy bit of punch in it, and if you've got a real crowd, it's awful to have to keep making up more batches of punch. WAY too much trouble.
How did you come to be addicted to such a strange drug? (Not the chocolate--I totally get that--but the molds.)
LOL! No, they aren't pretty (though the finished product that comes out of them is) and they don't hang on my walls. They're stored (by type: Xmas, Valentines, Easter, Halloween, Everyday, etc.)in Rubbermaid tubs in the garage, ready to be pulled out when the need arises. I use them to make chocolates in a variety of designs and to paint chocolates, mostly to give away on holidays or for special occasions like weddings, birthday, graduations, holidays or RWA. ;-)
I became addicted back in 1982 when a new customer at the bank asked me if our staff would consider being her "guinea pigs" for a chocolate making class she wanted to add to the classes they offered at their cake and candy supply store. I said YES and a candy-making addict was born. I started out with three molds and have continued to add to the collection over the past 28 years.
Jeanne also said:
I can sit 25 down, matching, with my late MIL's china, 15 with one set that I own, another 5 each with two other matchings, and a whole bunch more folks on the odds, ends, mis-matches and so forth.
I had 60 people for a party once and never had to break out the paper plates, even for dessert.
Yes. I too am a Dish Whore.
You go girl. Embrace your addiction.
Lessee...since I gave away my service for 36 (I split it up into three sets of service for 12 and gave it to three friends suffering from china deficiency) I now have...my wedding china (service for 8) my heavy black and gold Buffalo china (8) A set of very old and valuable china inherited from Steve's mom who inherited it from her aunt (6) and a set of Christmas china also inherited from STeve's mom (8) Plus my set of 12 (with a few pieces missing or chipped) white English Braid everyday dinnerware, which needs to be replaced. One full Princess House English Rose dessert set for eight....and some odd sets of four or six of one thing or another but not complete sets of any others.
I don't think.
Unless I'm forgetting some.
Dang. I really do miss that set of 36. I just had no place to store it.
I'm not a dish whore. I use paper plates often enough that my mother would be ashamed of me. :( I do have two punch bowls though, one utilitarian one for showers and one cut glass beauty that belonged to my grandmother. Instead of cups,it has tulip-shaped goblets. Alas! Only two goblets survived.
My addiction is porcelain figurines, particularly angels. In my fantasies, I buy all the Lladro I want, rotating the displayed pieces monthly so all my guests can properly appreciate them.
Jeanne said:
Next time, I should serve three kinds of punch!
Champagne punch is rather festive...
Just sayin'.
amay106192 said:
I love looking at dishes. I only have two sets myself, but I enjoy browing through the fine china. Growing up we never, ever, ever ate on paper plates. Even if it was only a snack, my father refused to let us eat on paper plates. I think part of that seeped into me because we usually always eat dinner on regular dishes.
Hey, don't discount two sets--that's a good start on being an honest to goodness dish whore. Especially with you ogling more.
And see? I think your dad was right on. If it's worth eating, it's worth a PLATE, I say.
I know somebody who has a special plate--when there's a special occasion, like a birthday or graduation or someone needs to be congratulated, they get their dinner on THAT special plate. It seems like such a cool tradition. Actually I think Jeanne has a "special plate" tradition. Jeanne, am I remembering that right?
Cassondra said: The closeup of the Haviland flowered sugar bowl in the blog--that's my wedding china pattern.
Which pattern is it? I love Haviland...sigh.
Jomama said:
I do love dishes too. I inherited this beautiful Rosenthal set from my mother. The interesting story is that she bought it on the black market (shhh) in West Berlin, Germany. This was in the 50's before the Berlin Wall went up.
Not only is it a beautiful white and green pattern, but it reminds me of my mother's spunk. Or at least her attempt to run afoul of the law LOL.
OH, what a cool thing to have! And I be it's very valuable now.
But it's real worth, for me, would be in its history and the story behind how it was gotten. I bet it's lovely.
Cassondra said: I have a great punch recipe. It's fairly standard here in the US, and is not alcoholic, unfortunately, but is regular baby shower fare here. It has sherbet in it. Slurp.
Yes, and I want it.
And you have a FAB alcohol-hic one that is The Secret Bandita Elixer. Grins.
Cassondra said: And I would be in debtor's prison if I worked for Williams Sonoma. My whoredom extends to all things kitchen. Which I also do not understand because my mom is the complete opposite. She'd eat on paper plates every day if she could, does not like to cook really and prefers bland-tasting food. It's very strange how I came out the total opposite.
And the strange, evil-twin thing continues....
Jeanne, yes, seriously, the dh was adamant about "no stuff in the middle of the plate." Several of my friends reported similar fiance comments.
In general, getting the future dh to express a dish or glassware preference was like the proverbial tooth pulling. That was the only comment he volunteered.
Finally, I said, "You know, we assume you'll be eating off these dishes a long time. If you like one better than the other, this is the time to say so." Reluctantly, we did. His first choice was my second, but we went with it. I figured he had expressed an opinion at last, so I would honor it.
Cassondra, sorry to blow your regional streak, but I don't fit the punch bowl pattern, and I grew up in the South. My mother grew up in the South. Both of her parents grew up in the South.
My mother did not own a punch bowl, nor have I ever. Though I did notice some really pretty ones that were not all that expensive the last time I was at Replacements Ltd. Only space constraints and the never using it thing stopped me.
We drank Coke at my baby shower. And my wedding shower. Except I drank sparkling apple juice at the baby shower.
Nancy said:
Cassondra, I deeply, seriously covet those Lenox Christmas dishes pictured on the blog. I loooove them. However, our house is bursting at the gills already. So I've contented myself with buying a couple of serving pieces for use during the holidays.
Yes, so do I.
I've loved that pattern for years. However I got a lovely set of Christmas dishes when Steve's mother passed, and can't even use the "I want Christmas dishes" excuse, because I have some already. They're edged in green and have a pale watercolor-like poinsettia splashed across one side of each piece. I haven't used them for a holiday meal yet, but I think I will do so this year.
Even more than dishes, though, I love crystal. I love what it does to light. We chose Waterford's Lismore, knowing we wouldn't get much of it because our friends weren't in the income bracket to buy Waterford easily (neither were we), and I've also added to that a stem at a time.
This is EXACTLY me. It is the crystal which is my first love, and I consider that part of dish whoredom. I really do want a set of waterford. Even when I was a crystal pimp, I never got a complete set of the hand blown or the lead cut crystal. I did have 8 incredibly lovely iced tea glasses. 24percent lead crystal, cut glass with a pretty wildflower pattern etched in the smooth glass at the top. Really unusual combination and fit the soft wildflower pattern of my wedding china so it made a stunning table. Alas, I had it displayed on a shelf in my kitchen, and a bird got into the house while I was away. The cat was desperate enough to go where cats had never gone before--that's right--the crystal shelf Broke every piece. I lost several hundred dollars worth of crystal that day. Even at the 50 percent replacement guarantee, I couldn't do it. *sigh* I miss those beautiful glasses.
They were not, however, as stunning as Waterford. Candlelight on Waterford is absolutely magical. No place here carries enough of a selection that I could even compare patterns to see which one I'd want.
I want to touch it before I pick. Not just look at it online, yaknow?
There's this place near Greensboro, NC, Replacements Limited. They carry current and discontinued dish patterns, along with Caithness paperweights (more gorgeous glass!), silver (oh, don't I wish!), and crystal. I could spend the day just wandering around in the showroom.
I don't even need to go near that place. Just sayin.
So no, dear DeHo, you are not alone in this obsession.
Yay! Another one among our ranks!
But Nancy, do you have a punch bowl?
Gamistress66 said: That footed cake dish -- I so would love that. I have more than that (much more) and am constantly tempted to buy more when I see them at the store
THIS is my curse, even more than china in particular is. I have nine cake/cookie/footed stands.
Yes, I said nine. I can't resist them. I could have 10 different pies on service - 9 on stands, one on the table - and all at different heights.
It isn't a terrible sickness though, as you also mentioned, Gamistress. :> And they're SO pretty....
Cassondra said: I do not understand this. I seriously doubt punch bowls were invented in Atlanta. I could be wrong though. This may be a topic for further research.
Perhaps it's worth a study...why on earth would I Have THREE otherwise? And feel nearly compelled to ask you what that cut crystal, angular one is in the blog post. Loverly!
Cassondra asked: Picture my "OH!" face. What did it look like? Cut glass? Footed?
Both. Simple cut glass on the bowl and the cups are clear with just a little edging of the cut glass. Very nice.
And you're right, that MASSIVE silver punchbowl we used for Sangria's Special mix yesterday as we were Hanging the Greens; which then became a Wassail bowl when we ran out of Sangria, is so huge I'd never be able to use it at home. But for the kinds of crowds we have for Lair parties? Ohhhh yeah.
I have two fairly good sized ones, but they don't have matching cups, just matching ladles. One is a halloween punch bowl. Grins. You KNEW I'd have one of those, right?
The other is plainer, medium sized. The cut glass is on the smallish, bridge-club size. :>
Nancy said:
want a punch bowl, too, BUT we never entertain, I have no place to put one, and then there's the whole cups issue.
Okay, never mind my question above, as you've answered it. Nancy, Nancy, Nancy. You are from the US. The Upper South. Further, you are a dish whore from the Upper South. You must have a punch bowl. And yes you do entertain! You entertained at Thanksgiving, or so I understand. A small punch bowl with Champagne punch or eggnog is a perfect setup for a small gathering with appetizers.....
Just sayin...
And a cut crystal one...you'd love that. The cups don't even have to match, IMO. I do "Crazy punch sets" the way the Aussies do the Crazy Tea sets--if I understand that correctly. Any cut glass punch cup will do. Or even plain glass cups with a cut glass bowl.
And do you know that if you rinse your crystal in vinegar water it will make it sparkle even more? *grin* Toldya I was a pimp.
Janga said: Instead of cups,it has tulip-shaped goblets. Alas! Only two goblets survived.
Oooohhhhhhh. I'm loving just the thought of that. :>
And I love Lladro too. :>
Cassondra said: Actually I think Jeanne has a "special plate" tradition. Jeanne, am I remembering that right?
Sort of. :> We have a ribbon plate on which you can write with an erasable marker. We put HAPPY BIRTHDAY! CONGRATULATIONS! or whatever the occasion calls for on the plate and put a colorful ribbon through the intredit holes around the edge.
It's from Southern Living at Home (Which is now something called Willow House)
Nancy said:
When we have a big group, we use the everyday dishes. We got lots of those for wedding gifts, and they were cheaper to supplement than the china
I've found a really cool way to supplement is with a coordinating set--a different set in similar colors--like two different florals--or a white set with a floral. Use a white plate with a patterned salad plate or a soup bowl, and vice-versa. It makes a pretty table. I'd love to have 12 of everything, but I don't.
We bought a table that seats four, but has two leaves which can be added so I can seat ten if I have to. But it's a tight squeeze in our small dining area.
Nancy said: Finally, I said, "You know, we assume you'll be eating off these dishes a long time. If you like one better than the other, this is the time to say so." Reluctantly, we did. His first choice was my second, but we went with it.
At least he commented. Grins. My DH said, "We already HAVE dishes!" when asked if we should get a china pattern. I rolled my eyes.
I don't get it about the pattern in the center, however. How does that make the food look weird?
*shakes head, ponders the strangeness of the male of the species*
Louisa said:
Dish Whores of the World Unite!
YES! Another dish whore!
And I too, LOVE beautiful dishes. My house is rather small so I don't have nearly the dishes I would have if I had more room.
Well, I'm fairly impressed with the ones you DO have. You could seat quite a few people with real china if it came down to it. And how cool that you got the lunch dishes!
Your purple "iris match" dishes sound lovely.
I do have a punch bowl. My mother has three!
Okay then. You may stay in the south. *grin* How do people live without punch bowls?
Cassondra said: And do you know that if you rinse your crystal in vinegar water it will make it sparkle even more? *grin* Toldya I was a pimp.
Really? Why? Cool! I have to try this.
Kirsten said:
HI Cassondra! I must admit, I'm terrified of fine china and definitely not a good collector of it. I think it's because my mom adored her china when I was growing up, and every Thanksgiving something got broken, and it would be a huge emotional trauma for her. I definitely wasn't interested in that. We have a set of china but I honestly have never taken it out. It's really sad.
No wait! Amend that -- several of the china tea cups were out last week when my daughter and her best friend had a tea party!
Oh, I was this way for a long, long time. I've decided that you can't let them get too precious. Especially if you have kids. Kids are gonna break stuff. However I do believe in using the stuff. If it's the good stuff, you use it for special occasions or when there's adult company. You use it, and if it gets broken, you replace the piece or you don't, but no use letting it just sit there. I did that my whole growing up years. It was such a trauma when something got broken. It was as though we'd accidentally broken my mother's heart along with whatever "thing" it was.
I love pretty things too much to not have them, and if I have it, I'm going to use it. I figure people are the most important things, and I'll work hardest to not break those. If I break a dish now and then, even a valuable one, well, at least I've had the pleasure of using it.
I have one friend who says that if she has stuff that's too good for her to use, then she doesn't need to have it. I kind of agree with that.
I could be a whore if needed...
er, that didn't come out right.
I envy you, your collection Cassondra. I subsist on a mismatched set of strawberry and cream design bought at Winn Dixie years ago and a 4 place setting with Micky Mouse (profile in blue) dishes my brother gave me for Xmas one year.
I YEARN for grown up dishes!!!!
It's from Southern Living at Home (Which is now something called Willow House)
I adore Southern Living at Home...a little too much! I hosted a couple parties for a friend who was selling it (several years ago) and ended up with some beautiful stuff.
Kate said:
First of all, there IS a punchbowl in California! It's here! In my home! Well, actually, it's somewhere in the garage, behind the DH's high school textbooks
AHA!!!!! *frowns* For some reason I did not make this connection in 2008. OH WAIT...you were flying in. Same reason I couldn't bring mine. Right?
I am so glad, though, that there is at least one punch bowl in California. I can believe the state is salvageable now.
In a former life, I collected beautiful teacups and saucers. I've given some away but still have ... (I'm counting) ... eight left in the dining room cabinet. They're so pretty, all different patterns. I should take a picture and send it to you.
Oh, good. Another dish whore--though it appears you may be on your way to reform. Hmmm....
So cool that you have your grandmother's wonderful things.
Still...you all do drink eggnog don't you? That's a perfect reason to get out the punch bowl. Can't very well swirl eggnog. And if it's summer and it's white wine, it makes into lovely wine punch. I know, I know. Just think about a BIG crowd, and less expensive wine, and you'll be able to manage the thought of putting that other stuff into the mix.
And what about baby showers? The bride can't drink. Does everyone else have wine and leave her hanging with water? That doesn't seem very sporting. If she must suffer the indignities of no alcohol for 9 whole months, the least her friends can do is have....PUNCH.....instead of wine for her shower...
Don't you love how I reason out these excuses to use the pretty punch bowl?
gamistress said:
Have always loved that Lenox holiday set and could picture it on my table.
While I am not a dish whore, I do have a slight variation of the illness that I regularly fight. I love serving dishes. You know, the items you put out for company with cookies, cheese & crackers, appetizers, chips & dip, etc. I love the cozy county home styles, the fancy formal platters, the funky shaped pieces. That dish set for outside -- I even have an appetizer set (plates, "wine" glasses) that matches it. I rarely entertain (I don't even have furniture in the formal living room!) & even when I do one or two dishes would be more than enough to meet my needs. That footed cake dish -- I so would love that. I have more than that (much more) and am constantly tempted to buy more when I see them at the store.
Ummm...sweetie...I hate to break it to you, but...YOU ARE A DISH WHORE!!!
I see that you already suspect that you MIGHT have the disease. I'm glad we could diagnose it for you, so you can get help now, before it gets too bad to treat.
I also have the desire for the beautiful plasticware for outdoors. I don't like taking the breakables out there and usually do not. I haven't found a set I love in my price range yet. But I'm working on it. For the dinners around the...uh...waterfall.
The poinsettia set--isn't it pretty--is just a pic I found on the web last night when I googled holiday dishes. I've gone looking just now and have not found it again. I'm so sorry. I'll see if I can't find the location where I found it.
Christie Kelley said:
But I will admit that I've always loved the Lenox Christmas pattern. I just couldn't justify it. If I bought that then the only time we'd use our other china is either Easter or Thanksgiving (we're usually here for one and gone for the other).
As for the punch bowl, maybe it's an East Coast, West Coast thing. I have a punch bowl. I think I've used it about four times...but I have one!
Even the non-dish whores love that Lenox Holiday pattern. I have to admit that that one, and the Holiday Tartan pattern are the prettiest Christmas dishes I've ever seen. My Christmas dishes are the Cuthbertson Poinsettia Pattern dishes. I know nothing about them really, and they're probably not costly, but they're pretty. My wonderful mother-in-law had four sets of dishes. She gave one to each of the three daughters-in-law. The fourth set was another set of Christmas dishes--very expensive ones--and the complete service for eight with all the serving pieces. She specified she wanted that to go to her only granddaughter, and I think that's nice--what a great gift to leave her for when she has a home of her own. My MIL served Christmas dinner on these every year, so the granddaughter was old enough, just barely, to remember her grandmother using these dishes. I hope she treasures them when she's older. She sure did love her grandma.
PJ said:
Cassondra, it's not just the South...or at least it didn't used to be. I grew up in Michigan and I remember my mom using her punch bowl numerous times. She'd pull it out for bridge club, civic club, Christmas parties, baby showers...all kinds of stuff.
Hmmmm....interesting to me, though, that certain regions of the country don't seem to do the punch bowl thing as consistently. In the south, it's almost expected. Not "do you have a punch bowl?" But...WHO will bring the punch bowl...as if everyone has one and it's a matter of who's willing to schlepp it about.
PJ said:
I became addicted back in 1982 when a new customer at the bank asked me if our staff would consider being her "guinea pigs" for a chocolate making class she wanted to add to the classes they offered at their cake and candy supply store. I said YES and a candy-making addict was born. I started out with three molds and have continued to add to the collection over the past 28 years.
That's so awesome! I don't know how I've missed this about you! Someday I'd love to see some of the lovely chocolates you create!
Oh, pretty dishes! I don't collect dishes, have only two sets (both of which were wedding gifts -- a cheaper set and a heavy Pfaltzgraff set), but I do often see pretty sets that make me consider replacing all my dishes. I manage to resist, but I do enjoy "window shopping" the dishes and the rest of the housewares department. Another love of mine -- towels!
Oh, and I own a punch bowl too, though I think I've only used it once or twice.
Cassondra said...
Ummm...sweetie...I hate to break it to you, but...YOU ARE A DISH WHORE!!!
I'm not, I'm not, I'm not ;p
really, honestly!
weeeelllll, okay, maybe, just maybe a little bit
anyhow, about those dishes ......
:D
Nope - no punch bowl over here, Cassondra, because there is no punch. Sangria, mulled wine and Pimms, but no punch. And we drink those in whatever glasses come to hand of an appropriate size *g*
On the other hand, we do have endless different glasses for different drinks ... when we cleared out lovely hubby's aunt's house (her of the cake stand) we found sets and sets of different sized glasses - dry sherry, sweet sherry, port, etc etc
Cassondra
I started my crazy teaset just before I got married I was given 2 royal dalton cup saucer and plates different patterns by a friend for a kitchen tea present and it went from there I started collecting them in different patterns I do have a cup saucer and plate that was made when Princess Margaret was born it was my hubby's grandmothers and it has birds and flowers on it and is so nice that one I have never used LOL. In total I have 8 of these with different patterns and that is what I call a crazy teaset but I don't have a teapot or anything else to go with them. My Mum's sets that I have do have a milk jug and sugar bowl but no teapot.
BTW I have a punch set as well that has been used often although it hasn't been out of the box in a long while.
Have Fun
Helen
Cassondra, great minds. I thought about buying a Fiesta ware set when it was on sale as a supplement to the everyday dishes (Lenox Gray Brushstrokes chinastone, which unfortunately was discontinued, but I added to it via Replacements Limited--those people know how to ship dishes, I'm telling you!).
However, I concluded that we have enough everyday dishes. We got some very pretty serving dishes, blue outside with blue stylized chrysanthemums (I think; my main contact with flowers is to kill them inadvertently if they grow in the yard.).
We did entertain at Thanksgiving. Our table seats six WITH the one leaf in it. We usually just leave it in. However, with the hors d'oeuvres on the sideboard (can't use the wood stove, as we used to, because the dog not only can reach it but thinks she's entitled to), there was no place to put a punch bowl. I do like the crazy cups idea, though.
Yes, I would love a cut glass punch bowl. The dh, patient and lowkey as he usually is, would be gobsmacked if I brought a serving piece that size into this crowded little house, though.
Jeanne, apparently there is something off-putting to some men about colors and patterns under the food. I dunno. It never bothered me.
You wrote: My DH said, "We already HAVE dishes!" when asked if we should get a china pattern. I rolled my eyes.
Guys don't get the dish thing. Since my dishes were the Corelle service for 4, and his were Kroger cheap-with-purchase, however, he conceded maybe we needed dishes that would enable us to have matching dishes for company. Not that he cared. He was indulging his bride, I'm pretty sure.
Since we're all fessing up, I will admit that we have the china (originally service for 12) that was part of the dh's grandmother's dowry. The dishes are paper thin with gold trim. Most of the matching glasses and the serving pieces are gone, but we have all the plates and a few of the servers.
This is how we got a dining room suite.
When we got married, we used a table he got at a yard sale and the four chairs from my dinette set. We had a lamp on the table. That was all our dining room contained. Except the not very attractive carpet laid down by the prior owners, which we have never replaced because dogs with muddy feet go across it all the time. But someday . . .
Anyway, the dh's grandfather was closing up his apt. in NYC to move permanently to his summer home in California. Seeing as how the dh is the eldest son of the eldest son of the eldest son, and so on, back into the mists of time in the Old Country, his grandfather shipped us the dowry dishes, a beautiful table that folds out to make a bigger top, and a really hideous lamp that lives in the attic.
So we needed a china cabinet. In the want ads, we saw a whole dining room suite, from the 1920s, for sale for less than a new china cabinet would've cost. The owner had inherited it from her great-aunt, didn't need it, and was willing to sell it cheaply to keep the suite together.
So we bought it. Because of dishes. Which I am afraid to use because I fear there may be lead in the glaze.
We also have my parents' wedding china (in storage), but we will never use it because it has a pink rose in the MIDDLE of each plate. I plan to give it to my niece.
Christie, we use the "good" china at Christmas and Thanksgiving and, if we think of it, our birthdays. Like you, I would have to give up one of those occasions if we had the Christmas dishes. Which we won't because there's nowhere to put them.
Louisa, I love the idea of your teacup collection!
Janga said:
I'm not a dish whore. I use paper plates often enough that my mother would be ashamed of me. :( I do have two punch bowls though, one utilitarian one for showers and one cut glass beauty that belonged to my grandmother. Instead of cups,it has tulip-shaped goblets. Alas! Only two goblets survived.
Oh...those goblets sound lovely. I bet that punch bowl is beautiful when it's set up. It's a shame, actually, that you aren't a dish whore. You'd have a good head start, with two punch bowls, if you ever wanted to take up the addiction...
My addiction is porcelain figurines, particularly angels. In my fantasies, I buy all the Lladro I want, rotating the displayed pieces monthly so all my guests can properly appreciate them.
Oh, see now? I have no interest in that at all. Not because they aren't beautiful. But because I'd have to dust them and they serve no purpose. And I hate knick knacks. These sound way too nice to be called by such a kitchy phrase. However, the dusting would still be required.
Still...you have fallen to the lure of the china....
Jeanne said:
Which pattern is it? I love Haviland...sigh.
Hmmm...I don't know. I just went to the china cabinet and looked at a plate. No pattern name. Which distresses me a bit. I will have to look around on the web and see if I can find it. I knew it at one time, but I've forgotten.
Cassondra, I'm sorry your beautiful crystal got smashed. What a shame!
Jeanne said:
Yes, and I want it.
And you have a FAB alcohol-hic one that is The Secret Bandita Elixer. Grins.
Yes. I'll have to see if I can remember the proportions for the Bandit Bash Wine Punch.
You can have the non-alcoholic punch recipe, but I figure you have it already. It's your basic baby shower fruity punch with sherbet. It's usually strawberry/raspberry, but it can be made any flavor. It's fantastic made green for St. Patrick's Day. Orange for All Hallow's Eve, etc etc...very festive, and put-your-face-in-it good.
Nancy said:
We drank Coke at my baby shower. And my wedding shower. Except I drank sparkling apple juice at the baby shower.
Horrors! Really?????
And your mother was married to a military man, right? So she was unduly influenced by outsiders.
That's all I'm saying about that.
IN response to Gamistress, Jeanne said:
THIS is my curse, even more than china in particular is. I have nine cake/cookie/footed stands.
Yes, I said nine. I can't resist them. I could have 10 different pies on service - 9 on stands, one on the table - and all at different heights.
*hangs head in shame. I have only three footed cake stands. One square (much more rare than the round ones) and one round crystal, one round china.
HOWEVER, I have a three-tiered cast iron dessert stand which can hold five pies/desserts at once--all at different heights, on matching porcelain. So that makes me feel better. I could have 7 pies/cakes going at once, counting one on the table. Still, my three cake stands are nearly all the same height, so I'd have to use risers to get the tiered effect with those.
One of the china stands matches the ruffled edges of the porcelain holders for the tiered dessert stand. It's a pretty effect.
Jeanne said:
Perhaps it's worth a study...why on earth would I Have THREE otherwise? And feel nearly compelled to ask you what that cut crystal, angular one is in the blog post. Loverly!
Something rare and old apparently. I found it on an auction site. Undoubtedly out of my price range, and I'd get hives at the thought of that being shipped. *shudder*
In response to Cassondra's vinegar assertion, Jeanne wrote:
Really? Why? Cool! I have to try this.
Yes indeedy.
Set up your dishwashing sinks with a hot water wash on the one side, and wash one piece of crystal at a time. Rinse it under the faucet, over the dish water, then dip it into the vinegar rinse water on the other side of the sink. I put about a cup of white vinegar in the hottest water I could stand (tap, never heated of course) and dipped each piece, then set them on a rack to air dry.
I did this because I'd set up candles on the table to display the crystal, with jewels and decorations of all sorts for the holiday/occasion. It sparkles so much that people drool over it.
Joanie said:
I YEARN for grown up dishes!!!!
Honestly--Gibson's better lines--the ones they sell at Target (WalMart's Gibson lines are too light for my tastes) are excellent dishes. My white English Braid set is porcelain, and has held up beautifully to total abuse. I USE those dishes. Feed cats out of 'em, serve food in them, microwave them...you name it. And I got one set for Christmas, went looking for a second set (six was not enough) and found them on sale for $14. So I got service for 12 for $28.
You just can't beat that, and everybody says how pretty they are.
I wish this pattern had not been discontinued. I'd just go right back with these if I could. But no. :0(
Still, they have some gorgeous ones out now. I'm so tempted to go with square plates this time. If I could find a pretty white one. I love the deep Aztec reds with black backs, but I really do need a set of white dishes so I can use them to match up everything else.
There were just places I don't go into, like the outlet stores that sell tableware and Pottery Barn after Christmas (the former for Lenox and the latter for the reindeer stuff). Although I'm fine controlling myself when the tableware are full priced, I, too, can't pass it up when it's discounted.
I don't own any punch bowls but I live in CA.
Trish said:
Oh, pretty dishes! I don't collect dishes, have only two sets (both of which were wedding gifts -- a cheaper set and a heavy Pfaltzgraff set), but I do often see pretty sets that make me consider replacing all my dishes. I manage to resist, but I do enjoy "window shopping" the dishes and the rest of the housewares department. Another love of mine -- towels!
Oh, yeah. I'm a total towel whore too. But I don't have nice ones. I subsist on hand me downs and a few I've bought to put out to make the bathroom look pretty for company.
I've never gotten the towel collection going. Mostly because I can't decide on a color....
Trish also said:
Oh, and I own a punch bowl too, though I think I've only used it once or twice.
Doesn't matter. You've got one. That earns you a Southern Homemaker qualification badge, right there.
On the road to being a dish whore, yes you are. Two sets already and loves looking at more....you, my dear, don't have far to go. You'll be in my newly-founded 12-step program before you know it.
Come in, come in. Have a seat and tell all. It's a warm family we have here.
gamistress said:
I'm not, I'm not, I'm not ;p
really, honestly!
weeeelllll, okay, maybe, just maybe a little bit
anyhow, about those dishes ......
:D
Ah...she's getting past the denial phase. Full acceptance, then potential recovery, can't be far in the offing.
Anna said:
On the other hand, we do have endless different glasses for different drinks ... when we cleared out lovely hubby's aunt's house (her of the cake stand) we found sets and sets of different sized glasses - dry sherry, sweet sherry, port, etc etc
I need some Port and Sherry glasses. I love Ports and Sherries, Marsalas, all of it. And there's a bit of a dispute over here about which glasses are the best ones for that, so I'd love to go with the traditional.
That said, I saw a "sherry glass" recently, and it was tiny. Teensy tiny.
That would never do.
I've never seen them for sale anywhere around here. I'm sure I could find them online and order, but once again, I like to fondle before I buy.
Helen said:
I started my crazy teaset just before I got married I was given 2 royal dalton cup saucer and plates different patterns by a friend for a kitchen tea present and it went from there I started collecting them in different patterns I do have a cup saucer and plate that was made when Princess Margaret was born it was my hubby's grandmothers and it has birds and flowers on it and is so nice that one I have never used LOL. In total I have 8 of these with different patterns and that is what I call a crazy teaset but I don't have a teapot or anything else to go with them. My Mum's sets that I have do have a milk jug and sugar bowl but no teapot.
Aha! So it is mismatched that makes it "crazy." Are there any rules? Like...all of a certain type, or all floral, or all porcelain, or all antique or of a given quality or something? Or is it totally random?
BTW I have a punch set as well that has been used often although it hasn't been out of the box in a long while.
REALLY? Well then, the whole punch bowl can't be a totally United States thing...and I swear I read about punch in Regency novels. Surely there was a punch bowl.
And you can't have PROM without a punchbowl....what do kids in California hover around when they're too scared to ask one another to dance? (I mean what did they hover around before they had cell phones for texting?)
Nancy said:
Yes, I would love a cut glass punch bowl. The dh, patient and lowkey as he usually is, would be gobsmacked if I brought a serving piece that size into this crowded little house, though.
Hmmmm...Get rid of something else to make room. It's worth it.
Yes. It is.
*grin*
Cassondra said...
*hangs head in sadness. Especially for the black lead crystal*
It was beautiful, it shone like crystal but was solid black, it was made by Tiara Glass which is gone now. Made from volcanic ash, I had an iced tea picture and glasses, goblets, candy dishes, creamer and sugar bowl and butter dish, at the time I displayed it mixed in with my clear lead crystal.
Nancy said:
Guys don't get the dish thing. Since my dishes were the Corelle service for 4, and his were Kroger cheap-with-purchase, however, he conceded maybe we needed dishes that would enable us to have matching dishes for company. Not that he cared. He was indulging his bride, I'm pretty sure.
No, they don't. Steve, however, knows a pretty dish and a pretty table when he sees one. He'll stop and say, "Oh, that's beautiful!" And he'll say it with a certain reverence that lets me know he's not blowing smoke up my skirt. He appreciates said beauty, but has no clue how to attain it, nor would he care if he never had it about. As long as there's something to put in the belly, he really doesn't care what it is or how it gets there.
Nancy said:
Since we're all fessing up, I will admit that we have the china (originally service for 12) that was part of the dh's grandmother's dowry. The dishes are paper thin with gold trim. Most of the matching glasses and the serving pieces are gone, but we have all the plates and a few of the servers....
We also have my parents' wedding china (in storage), but we will never use it because it has a pink rose in the MIDDLE of each plate. I plan to give it to my niece.
OH! Get that out! Build a plate rail near the ceiling! Use it! Use the wedding stuff when friends come over who are NOT male--like for lunch and stuff...REALLY! It sounds lovely.
*raises eyebrow*
And you have WAY more china than you first owned up to.
You, Nancy, The Bad Bandita, are quite possibly as big a dish whore as I am!
I never would have thought it.
Nancy said:
Cassondra, I'm sorry your beautiful crystal got smashed. What a shame!
Yes. It was a sad day.
And the cat thought for certain all hell had rained down right there and he was done for. Cats can, indeed, look ashamed. I have made it so.
Heck. I didn't have to make it so. He was so ashamed already that he was hiding when we got home. It took us a while to get to the carnage, but we knew something was wrong, cuz he was nowhere to be seen.
Sheree said:
There were just places I don't go into, like the outlet stores that sell tableware and Pottery Barn after Christmas (the former for Lenox and the latter for the reindeer stuff). Although I'm fine controlling myself when the tableware are full priced, I, too, can't pass it up when it's discounted.
Ha! Another dish whore confesses!
It's okay Sheree. We're here for you.
I don't own any punch bowls but I live in CA.
Snork. Apparently we have determined that this is, in fact, teh deciding factor. Although Kate has one. Hmmmmm....Perhaps SHE is the exception which proves the rule!
a.k.a. Dianna said:
It was beautiful, it shone like crystal but was solid black, it was made by Tiara Glass which is gone now. Made from volcanic ash, I had an iced tea picture and glasses, goblets, candy dishes, creamer and sugar bowl and butter dish, at the time I displayed it mixed in with my clear lead crystal.
That sounds stunning. I would have loved to have just SEEN that! Of course, I would have lusted horribly. Sinfully.
We were just at SAM's Club earlier getting dog food, and I always swing by the kitchen aisle just to..you know...LOOK at what's there.
There was a gorgeous set of cut glass iced tea glasses (short stems). Not Waterford, but Irish nonetheless.
I want them. :0/
Cassondra,
I have a confession to make. My everyday dishes are the two sets of antique Blue Ridge pottery my mother gave me over the years. Yep, antiques.
Here's the history lesson for those not from the Blue Ridge portion of the Appalachia mountains.
In Erwin, a small town in Tennessee, there was a pottery where all the dishes and serving pieces and decorative pieces were hand painted. It started in 1917 as the Clinchifield Potteries as part of the expansion of the Ohio, Clinchfield and North Carolina Railroads.
By the mid 40's they were widly popular throughout the Eastern United States. Thousands of patterns were painted and you could buy entire sets through national distributors, like Sears & Roebuck.
But these antiques have a special place in my heart. Not only do my mother, aunt and cousin buy and sell these wonderful china pieces, collected by crazed fans throughout the East, but my family has a huge connection to the pottery and the pieces.
My father had 11 sisters, (Yeah, he was one of 18). Several of those sisters, along with my mother's oldest sister, were part of the ladies who hand-painted for the pottery.
I LOVE my dishes. And on the rare occasion I find myself in a flea market or antique store, I look for plates or saucers or tea cups. I especially look for serving bowls.
My children know the history behind the family dishes. They would be upset if they broke one. Not because I would be mad, I usually wasn't, but because they couldn't be easily replaced. Now, my grandbabies are learning some family history through the dishes.
Suz, that is so cool about your antique dishes. I bet they're beautiful.
Dianna, that black crystal sound just gorgeous.
Cassondra wrote: You, Nancy, The Bad Bandita, are quite possibly as big a dish whore as I am!
You never know what lurks in the mind of a person wearing a Superman t-shirt. *g*
The dh reminds me we also have (in storage) my grandparents' china, which they used every day and which is very worn, with the design washed off and some of the pieces cracked. I should get rid of most of it.
I mean, we have one male child who does not give a rap about dishes and likely never will. His wife, assuming he acquires one, will likely want her OWN dishes.
What becomes of all these dishes someday?
A friend of mine cleaned out her mom's (fairly large) house. Her parents entertained even less than we do, and her mother had something like six complete (meaning, with serving pieces), sets of dishware with 12 place settings each.
Jeanne, I found the Haviland pattern. It's "Floral Splendor" apparently. Two sources have pieces listed as that.
Suz said:
My father had 11 sisters, (Yeah, he was one of 18). Several of those sisters, along with my mother's oldest sister, were part of the ladies who hand-painted for the pottery.
OH! (Yes that's my OH face again)
You are a dish whore of the highest rank! *bows low*
I think that is so awesome. I wish I knew what it looked like--your pattern--I would watch for it for you.
You just never know.
Nancy said:
I mean, we have one male child who does not give a rap about dishes and likely never will. His wife, assuming he acquires one, will likely want her OWN dishes.
Maybe. Or maybe she'll be a dish whore like me, and will go into spasms over those antiques of yours....
Just sayin...
Cassondra wrote [of the boy's so-far hypothetical future wife]: Maybe. Or maybe she'll be a dish whore like me, and will go into spasms over those antiques of yours....
I should be so lucky!
Cassondra,
I wish I knew what it looked like--your pattern--I would watch for it for you.
The two patterns are Greenbriar and Stanhomme Ivy.
When it comes to serving platters and bowls, I'm more eccletic. I have several pieces of other Blue Ridge patterns for those. Anything with greens, apples or yellow will do!!
Sheree said: I don't own any punch bowls but I live in CA.
I think we have the makings of a really good Urban Legend here.
"There are NO punchbowls in CA!"
Grins.
Cassondra said: You, Nancy, The Bad Bandita, are quite possibly as big a dish whore as I am!
I never would have thought it.
HAHAHAHA! She's CAUGHT! I love it.
Suz said: Now, my grandbabies are learning some family history through the dishes.
Oooh, Suz! This is cool! Which patterns do you have? I have one cup and saucer in an ivy pattern and one with a dogwood, that came from the Erwin potteries. They were my Mama's, but I've never found many others like them. Obivously I've not been looking in the right places!
Oh, belatedly saw your post, Suz. Yep, I've got the few bits of the Stanhomme Ivy. :>
Thanks for reminding me that I have
a set,which serves 12,of Christmas -designed dishes. Needless to say,
I haven't used them in some time!
LOL. They are not anything really
fancy, it is a design that I liked.
Due to your reminder, I'll now get
them out for Christmas dinner.I do
have two punch bowls,but they too haven't been used in a while. I'll have to find a nice recipe and serve punch at our Christmas Eve &
New Year's Eve gatherings.(The last
2 times I used the bowls was at a
HS band reception & a baby shower)
Pat C.
Pat Cochran said:
Due to your reminder, I'll now get
them out for Christmas dinner.I do
have two punch bowls,but they too haven't been used in a while. I'll have to find a nice recipe and serve punch at our Christmas Eve &
New Year's Eve gatherings.(The last
2 times I used the bowls was at a
HS band reception & a baby shower)
Wooot! Pat, good on you for getting out that pretty tableware! And the punch bowls. You are OBVIOUSLY not from California....
Just sayin.
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your love (or not) of dishes with me!
What a great day we had!
Cassondra, Thanks for the lovely
and nostalgic post! BTW I'm a native of Houston,Texas where you cannot live unless you have at least one punchbowl! LOL My dear mother-
in-law, a true Southern lady, was
my guide into the customs of the
South.
Pat Cochran
I dont have fancy dishes, I'd probably break them. I use glass but like plastic too.
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