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Farm Kitchen:  everyday dishes  |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 21 2005 : 07:20:39 AM
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just like our 'momma's aprons' creating warm memories for us .. do you look back nostalgically about the 'everyday dishes' that your family used? and how have you continued that 'legacy'?
in the 50's, 60's and 70's .. my nannie set the table with 'melamine' .. and every few years .. would replace that set with a newer design. our 'sunday-dishes' were the 'good china' that most families reserved for thankgsgiving, christmas and other big family gatherings.
i have another wonderful memory of a dear cousin (and mentor to me) who always used very 'fine, expensive' dishes for every meal she ever prepared (now .. indeed .. she never had children!!!) i have a vivid memory of her reaching into her cupboards and withdrawing fine cut and hand painted crystal glasses to drink even water from! she has always been, to me, the epitome of elegance!
i always loved fun dishes .. and would also buy a new set every year or two when our kids were growing up.
i have now settled into using antique 'ironstone' .. for everyday and for company. i love how any shade of food looks great on 'white'. i mostly use large oval platter-size plates! also in my collection are accessories (bowls, platters, cups, etc.) of antique dishes in 'seasonal shades' .. reds for february and valentine's day .. soft spring greens and mellow-yellows to represent the grass just peeking through with it's new soft shades and for those yellow daffodils that greet spring with a cheery nod of their head. patriotic red/white/blue dish accessories are brought out to celebrate July! as autumn approaches, i use my earthy shades of gold, tans, brown, deep russet reds and pumpkin orange and darker shades of green pottery .. and then, of course, with christmas arriving .. it's barn red and forest green .. in january .. i use pure snowy whites only.
it may seem silly to some to change the colors of my dishes .. but .. it is just part of the changing seasons and holiday decor throughout the farm .. soooo .. why not the dishes too? and it makes my heart smile! xo, frannie |
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quilt8305
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Mary
Spokane
WA
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Nov 21 2005 : 09:16:25 AM
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I use different colors every day - it's Fiesta, some new, some old. My daughter-in-law liked the idea so much she has done the same thing. Never get bored mixing and matching all the different colors.
Mary
The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. Wm. James |
Edited by - quilt8305 on Nov 21 2005 09:17:48 AM |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Nov 21 2005 : 09:33:15 AM
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I do have a set of snowman Christmas dishes that we always use for the whole month of December..but the rest of the time my "everyday" and "good" dishes are the same...a 1950's pattern called "Colonial Homestead" by Royal. I love it. Green and cream in sort of a Currier and Ives look..but the pictures on the pieces are like the inside of a cabin..a fireplace scene, a wooden cradle, a spinning wheel, a bellows, and like that. My kids have all grown up with these dishes and I love them. My mom didn't have dishes that I remember at all, but my grandma had white dishes with wheat on one side that I loved when I was little. I hope my kids always think of these as OUR dishes and remember them. I have collected them for about 20 years. My best friend's husband started my collection by finding a plate for me at a yard sale that he thought I would like!
Jenny in Utah
It's astonishing how short a time it takes for very wonderful things to happen...Frances Burnette |
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blueroses
True Blue Farmgirl
1323 Posts
Debbie
in the Pandhandle of
Idaho
USA
1323 Posts |
Posted - Nov 21 2005 : 11:45:27 AM
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My everyday dishes are the old Pfaltzgraf pattern, "Yorktowne". I got the set when I got married way back when. I've always loved this heavy stoneware. It makes me feel homey & cozy. I've got cannisters (the old ones that are numbered) and all kinds of neat dishes and mugs. My holiday dishes are a set of china (not expensive) - white with a gold edging. I'm gonna get some gold chargers to make the china look fancier. I do collect Fiesta - too - and I love it! I have dessert dishes, some dinner dishes, platters, salt & pepper shakers and all kinds of cool things that my husband and mother-in-law buy for Christmas or birthdays for me. I do use it whenever I can, but I guess I shouldn't use the red/orange bowl. Read something about it being unsafe. Something in the color they used can leach into the food.
"You cannot find peace...by avoiding life."
Virginia Woolfe |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Nov 21 2005 : 12:45:53 PM
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I LOVE my mother's pfatlsgraf dishes! I think hers is Yorktown, the blue flowers on a nearly gray backdrop? Nice and heavy too.
I have just a simple white ironstone set that I use everyday. I also have a set of amber Depression glass that I use for dinner parties in the Fall, and some forest green Depression glass (Sandwich Pattern) that I use in December.
Over time, I want to take my simple ironstone and have some dishes of other colors to mix with it. Like a light green in the Spring, blue for the 4th of July, etc, and layer them - so if serving a multi-course meal, the bottom plate would be white, the center bread plate would be another color, and the soup bowl on top would be white.
But I don't have room for that in my 400sq ft. living space! Someday when the house is finished I will though! |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 1:19:25 PM
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Frannie, that's a really kewl idea! But how do all these different dishes match your dining room/kitchen?
When I decorated my dining room, I chose colors to match some china that had belonged to my grandmother. I ended up with two good sets. These were a soft buttery yellow with burgundy bands around the edge, and tea roses and wildflowers in the middle. They're Johnson Brothers, and I don't know how old they are; probably fifty to eighty years old. I also have her Haviland, which is a really complete set with ten or twelve plates, dessert plates fruit sauce bowls, demi tasse, coffee cups and saucers, covered veggie dishes, several platters, etc. They're white with a gold band with an art deco design, and are somewhere around a hundred years old. I also have her wedding crystal, from 1924, Fostoria with a golden hue to the glass, all cut. And lots of heavy lead crystal. I have her exquisite hand worked Belgian lace tablecloth, which I think she got in the thirties or late forties. It's the only cloth I've found that's big enough to cover my huge farm sized oak dining table. I can put on a really dressy formal table, complete with sterling flatware and tea service. I think of her a lot when I use her old things, and of the women who came before me.
For everyday I have some cute ironstone dishes my mom and brother got me years ago. They have a picture of a farmer and his wife in front of a farmhouse with lots of little animals all sprinkled around the border. They're sort of ivory and tan, with bits of brown, blue, and pink. I recently added some plain ivory plates with tan borders, because I don't have enough plates in this set. I use them with reproduction yellow ware, so I can put it all in the dishwasher. All my old stuff has to be hand washed; the detergents in dishwasher soaps are way too harsh for the old paints, and it's too rough on sterling.
I think it'd be a kick to do all the different colors; but red, for example, or navy blue, would look goofy in my old dining room. How do you pull it all together with your wall colors, furniture, etc?
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farmgirlannie
Farmgirl in Training
24 Posts
Annie
Chehalis
Wa
USA
24 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 4:09:25 PM
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| Mine's plain white fiesta. When I got married I tried to choose something that wouldn't go out of style anytime soon, plus I just love fiesta. Over the years I have collected a few colored pieces to liven it up a bit. |
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Kim
True Blue Farmgirl
146 Posts
Kim
Pflugerville
Texas
USA
146 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 5:11:25 PM
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I LOVE dishes. I have a set of white ironstone that was my moms. All the serving pieces with lids have red knobs. Then I have my china which is a Noritake pattern, It was my wedding china. I also have a set of pastel LuRay that I use for Easter and a set of Pfaltzgraf tan and yellow similar to the Yorktown pattern. I have vintage glasses and red handles Bakelite flatware.
Longaberger has a new line that is Vintage in Blue and Cream. It's a good way to add a punch of color in a vintage kithcen.
farmgirl@heart
Be at peace with yourself and the rest will follow |
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prairiemaid
True Blue Farmgirl
200 Posts
Margret
Canada
200 Posts |
Posted - Nov 23 2005 : 06:38:58 AM
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I had fun googling the different dishes you all posted about. Interesting to see what they look like! Aunt Jenny, I really like "Colonial Homestead"!
I grew up with Melamine dishes as well. I think they were orange. I guess mom didn't want us breaking any dishes  Once we were bigger, she switched to stoneware. She used to buy new once in a while too, just for a change I guess. I still have the orginal set of dishes we bought when we got married but now I'm using different ones. I've got Betty Crocker dishes "Country Inn Collection". I think I'll stick with these, though I'm down to only 4 plates (I originally had a set of 8). I've found sandwich plates and bowls at the thrift store (so have lots of those!) but am still on the look out for dinner plates. Here's a pic:
Call me old fashioned. |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Nov 23 2005 : 08:50:20 AM
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Cute!! I like those!! Seems like someone I know back in Calif had them!
Jenny in Utah
It's astonishing how short a time it takes for very wonderful things to happen...Frances Burnette |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2005 : 05:35:33 AM
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it's interesting to note that so many of us like 'white' dishes. they sure are pristine looking and do go with most other accessories. Mary Ann .. my 'decorating' is quite 'primitive' .. mostly earthyly tones .. my wide board floors are painted 'pumpkin' .. walls are an 'creamy-white' .. lots of WOOD in the furniture and beams that run across the ceiling. so most any color goes with those (don't do pinks and baby blues .. just those 'buttery mustards', forest greens (except in springtime when i use 'apple green', my reds are more 'barn' shades rather than bright cherry, all autumn colors look great with those olde pumpkin floors. i have lots and lots of olde tinware and cast iron pots, pans, and other kitchenware and lots of woodenware bowls and kitchen pieces. My 'kitchen counter' is from an olde gainery and runs almost the entire length of the kitchen. NO 'new-fangled built-in cupboards). have two large olde cupboard shelves hanging on either side of the sinks .. a butter-shade 'chimney cupboard' (they used to hold the glass chimneys for oil lamps .. we hide a 'tv' in there!) have a most wonderful olde hen-laying box (12 cubbies) filled with cookbooks .. an 1800's "settle" table .. (it can flip up to make a settle bench .. that used to be put before fireplaces to 'catch the heat') .. 2 'shabby chic' but very primitive cupboards that hold dishes .. (my hallway is an extension of the kitchen .. where one of these cupboards sits along with an 'apple green' chair and woodbox). several cupboard boxes .. and my most favorite piece of furniture in the kitchen .. is an old zinc topped 'baker's table'. Zinc stays cool to the touch which is good for rolling out dough. The huge table-size drawer below the zinc top is for rolling pins, dough bowls and baking 'necessities'. ONE of these days, i'm going to learn how to 'post pictures'. The 'basic bones' are in place so that 'accessories' can be changed for each season and holiday. (Since everything is very 'primitive' .. as long as i keep the colors 'earthy' .. just about anything goes great i find.
xo, frannie |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2005 : 05:56:54 AM
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For more fun reading on this same topic, go to "old dishes" on this same portion of the forum, started way back when by Aunt Jenny! There are some good posts to read about dishes everyone loves and uses.
"Sell cleverness and buy wonder" |
Edited by - jpbluesky on Nov 25 2005 05:58:12 AM |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2005 : 08:54:09 AM
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| i roamed through 17 pages of postings and couldn't find it .. can you tell us the page number? xo, frannie |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2005 : 08:56:59 AM
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| i do have boxes and boxes and boxes of 'vintage dishes' that i collected for years and years ... when i presented my 'tea parties' .. i used these all the time .. since moving to kentucky . they have just been boxed up for two years now .. am getting ready to go through them .. set some aside for my daughters .. and to offer the others for sale at my antiques booth and to my 'treasure seekers'. it was sooooooo much fun setting a table in different 'themes' for seasons, holidays and other special events. i used vintage quilts for table cloths sometimes and at other times, vintage table cloths, either in bright, lively colors and patterns or olde crochet ones in muted tones of white. such fond memories. |
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Farm Kitchen: everyday dishes |
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everyday dishes
