Winsome Dining
I was recently charmed by a lovely blog post I stumbled across regarding "feeding our families".
The basic premise being that the dinner table should be a place of beauty and joy and peace. Ah yes, dreamy indeed. I wistfully remembered her pictures the next time I set the table with Corelle dishes and plastic sippy cups, our tupperware water jug and mix-matched glasses.... I have long been thinking of how I could make the table a more inviting place. I have gotten as far as cloth table cloths (sometimes) and candlelight and soft background music (most of the time), matching plates and actually using serving plates rather than just putting the pots on the table :P.
This week I decided to take the plunge and go for broke. I fondly remember my dear friend Val's belief that "things just taste better when eaten off a silver spoon." and so, with firm resolve... while the practical-schmactical side of me may never allow us to arrive at silver, crystal or china, I have taken some serious strides to make our time at the dinner table a more winsome experience. Drumroll please.....
Last time I was in the city I resolved to buy myself fresh flowers (okay, so they are only carnations, but hey, I still have to be practical... it may be two weeks before I make it to the city again, these babies need to last!) an actual ceramic water jug (yay! who'd have thought such a simple thing could bring such joy :D ) and while I haven't done away with the Corelle and plastic sippy cups *yet*, they have been retired to a higher shelf for now, and I have been setting the table with good dishes and (ready for this?) wine glasses every meal that we share together as a family (with dh I mean). Amazingly enough, the nice table setting does something to the kids, programs them to actually eat *nicely* and there hasn't been a single spill or upset glass all week! Now *maybe* I can haul out my italian tablecloths to replace this practical old vinyl one...
I find even the dirty dishes are rather a delight to look upon, don't you think?
A delight to wash might be taking it a bit far, huh? I've been contemplating finding the sacred in the suds, but I'll shut up now and save that for a future installment. Happy dining y'all.
16 comments:
Cheers my prairie friend! I enjoyed reading your blog and perhaps one day I will become brave enough to follow your advice...
Do you still have the marble table? We have one now and I wondered how you wash it? I find it can really get stuff stuck to it and a warm cloth doesn't always do it...
Hey there! Thanks for your oh-s0-sweet comment on my blog! ;) very fun 'meeting' you!
I LOVED this post about dining. I love using my good dishes for meals. It makes me happy to eat off them, and I agree that it makes clean up more enjoyable, too.
DH prefers to eat of of plastic for some reason. I'm trying to change his mind...but it's hard work... We'll see how it goes.
Wish I could get your pics to load! Arrr... I'll have to get on dh's mac and see if i can see them!
Much love, and happy dining!
A
Hey!
Fleece sheets? No way! Is there really such a glory? Did you make them yourself?! Do tell.
I have been out of the states in Spain for the last year, so pardon my ignorance if they're something new... or... even if they're not and I'm just dumb. ;)But, pa-leeze... do tell...
>>perhaps one day I will become brave enough to follow your advice...<<
LOL! Yes, it was a rather scary experiment at first. Surprisingly, where we used to have spills and upsets most every meal, NOT A ONE since we went "winsome". P even made a toast the other night and we all did the "cheers" and toasting... quite frightening really but not a spill :D
>>Do you still have the marble table? We have one now and I wondered how you wash it? I find it can really get stuff stuck to it and a warm cloth doesn't always do it...<<
Yep, I think that will be a forever heirloom.... it's under that vinyl tablecloth... they are kind of finnicky to keep clean. Once a week I spray it down with Clorox Clean Up and let that sit for awhile and then do a quick scour followed by a rinse with a warm cloth. That works well but I *really* don't like using Clorox in the house though.... I'm a "germs in moderation breed good immune systems" kinda gal ;D
Where did you find a marble table by the way??!! We salvaged our from a rubble pile headed to the landfill in Italy, "one man's junk...." How have you been feeling?
>>DH prefers to eat of of plastic for some reason. I'm trying to change his mind...but it's hard work... We'll see how it goes.<<
That is too funny. Dh *hates* plastic. He is past the point of paranoid about it. He has been known to *throw plastic dishes away* on me! He researched it and is now convinced that we are all walking around with plastic residue in our bodies we will never get rid of. Me, I choose to not even ponder such possibilities, lest I become a basket case of paranoia.... Ignorance is bliss, right? But I have to admit, now that we have stopped using it, I don't have much use for the stuff!
Bummer about my pics... I hope they show up for you.
oh and fleece sheets, yeah baby... they're dreamy! Costco was carrying them this winter, queen size sets for 30.00 canadian, woo hoo! Only thing is they are *not* fun to sleep in if your house is WARM at night. We let the temp fall way low at night and then snuggle into a good winters nap :D
You're coming home on furlough, right? You'll have to get your hands on a set!
We found our table at a big business blow-out at Ashley's furniture. It is eight sided like a stop sign and very fancy looking but was in our price range because of the sale and a chip on one side. We love it. It came with throne like chairs so the kids call it the queen table. Kinda like what you wrote about, they are very good with it so we use it every night even though the thrones have cloth seat there are rarely accidents. We all feel very royal using it, lol... so I guess I am braver then I thought...
>>We found our table at a big business blow-out at Ashley's furniture. It is eight sided like a stop sign and very fancy looking but was in our price range because of the sale and a chip on one side. We love it. <<
Sweet! I think I noticed the chairs in your valentines pics, I didn't recognize them and they jumped out at me as very elegant. The marble is definitely indestructable and child-proof!
The pics aren't loading for me either... can't wait to see them! I've done this a number of times with the boys as well. They love the "special dinners" and even like to dress up nicer. Now the challenge is to dress up the meal to match the rest of us!
Bummer, the pics aren't showing up even for me now... I wonder what happened? Will try to re-load them.
Well, I reloaded them and I'm seeing them now, not sure what happened before. Can you see them now?
Ha ha about "dressing up the meal" Chris, I *totally* hear you. Somehow mac and cheese in fancy serving dishes just doesn't make the grade...
you bet... they are beautiful pictures, Nichole. I have my mom's whisper in my ear when my meal needs more green "to balance the colors of the food on our plates". :)
hey! yea! I can see the pics now! awesome! love em!
we're actually MOVING back to the states. and our bedrooms are going to be in the basement where it is COLD. and we live in Colorado. so i will for sure check out the fleece sheets! thanks for that awesome tip! do they come in toddler bed size, too? ;)
oh yeah...yuck about the plastic. i wrote a post several weeks ago about how i want to get rid of all of my tupperwear when we move home and start using glass Ball canning jars instead...
have you seen this blog:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/2008/01/08/why-glass/#comment-3323
Thankfully, we'll have a fresh start when we move back, and I can trash the plastic here before I move, and the stuff at home as I unpack it! ;)
do you use sippy cups?
subscribing...forgot...
you inspired me to post a pic of my plates on my blog.
go check em out at
http://angeladormish.blogspot.com/
>>do they come in toddler bed size, too? ;)<<
not sure about toddler, I've only seen single, double, queen and king.
>>do you use sippy cups<< well, *I* don't, but my 18 month old does. I was to the point of just putting plastic cups out for all the kids though, because of all the knock overs, but somehow they are on guard and "extra" careful with fragile glasses and things have gone *better*. I also started giving Nate (18 mo) a hearty glass, and that seems to be working for us...
Thanks for sharing that link, I loved it! Now I'm "off to toss"!
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