We've waited so long for our new dishes to be delivered that I almost forgot we ordered them, but today, I received notice that our dishes have arrived at the Linen Chest and are ready for pick up. They took almost as long to arrive as it took Mike and I to agree on just the right pattern.
We wanted a simple casual pattern that we felt would last for decades. Our current dishes are a mismatch of china I ordered thirty-three years ago when we married, topped up with plain white dinner plates from a department store, some pasta bowls from a local grocery store and a few massive cereal bowls from I can't remember where. Our family dinners have slowly disintegrated from Martha Stewart elegant to flea market chic. Looking much like a 'bring your own plate' affair - we've been long overdue for something grown up and new.
I wanted something timeless, durable, and uncomplicated - reasonably priced dishes that enjoy daily use, not stuffed in a cabinet for special occasions. During lockdown, I broke my emotional ties to this tradition when I revamped my grandmother's china cabinet into a library/liquor cabinet and relinquished the heirloom china to a stranger's loving home. Yes, I asked everyone first if they wanted the set. My kids, my cousins, and my siblings all said no. My mother definitely didn't want them back, and I was unwilling to store them just so the ghosts of generations past could rest easy. For the record, I haven't been haunted even a single time as a direct result of my ancestral transgression. I haven't lost any sleep over it either, and I love my cabinet so much now.
Mike and I hiked store to store, trying to take advantage of post-Christmas sales, but we couldn't find the right look. We settled on an ivory stoneware pattern with dinner plates, Luncheon plates and bowls. Mike wanted the matching mugs, so we bought those as well. It's nice to have grown up serving mugs for company, but I miss our mismatched 'world's best…' collection a little bit. Waiting for the dishes was necessary because we wanted more than the store had in stock. Twelve settings are ideal as our family continues to grow and expand with significant others and friends, and I can only assume grandchildren in the years to come, so we wanted to ensure enough from the outset. It could be thirty years before we repurchase dishes!
To be clear - tonight's photo is not about a healthy salad. It's about the bowl.
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