Thank goodness for dishwashers

I was reading through the blogs posted on Quilter Blogs.com and came across this one from Sherri Howard Designs discussing the dishes that her family has used for generations for holiday meals.

And it reminded me that my mom did a great thing one year regarding dishes. She bought a set of 6 plates each for me, my sister and for herself. It is the Red Rim design from Crate and Barrell. White center with a red band around the outside. Perfect for the holidays, but not too holiday that they can't be used any time. We have added on throughout the years, both on dinner size and salad plates. The salad plates can be used for everything - especially dessert! So now we have 30 each of dinner and salad plates. And we live close enough to each other that whoever is entertaining a large crowd can use the plates. So no paper for us. We also all have boxes of extra glasses for parties so no plastic there. And I do have a bag of silverware that be pulled out if I have to, but it is pretty old and not really up to snuff for a sit down dinner, but will do for a buffet if needed.

We hosted thanksgiving last year and had a pretty good crowd - I think 16. For that we used all the beautiful things we got for our wedding - the china, the glasses and the flatware. I think that was maybe the 3rd time it has been used. We put in some of our regular white plates for the kids and it blended nicely. I think we may do the same again this year. Depends what our final head count will be.



It feels nice to be able to entertain a large group on real plates, etc. Thank goodness for dishwashers (and guests who do dishes)!