Our favorite dishwares

 

This morning as I was drinking milk from one of my favorite mugs, I was reflecting on the fact that our kitchens are filled with so many specific pieces of dishware and cookware that become part of our normal daily life patterns.  The photo above contains a small platter and a bistro bowl.  These are Fiestaware pieces from the Homer Laughlin China Company, made here in the United States.  I can't imagine my kitchen without the beautiful colors.  And I certainly can't imagine not eating on these sturdy well-made pieces of dishware.

When I make pasta it often goes into this low broad-based bowl of which I have several, made by Le Creuset.  The broad rim makes it ideal for carrying large servings of all sorts of things.  The soda glass (I have a couple dozen) is excellent for pudding parfaits, ice cream sundaes (and ice cream sodas, of course -- every try a purple cow?) and many other things.  Rugged in structure yet beautiful in form, it's great to be able to pull one off the shelf whenever I need it.

This mug was a gift from a piano student family I work with.  It is part of a small collection of various mugs that all have a story behind them, some sort of narrative as to who gave them to me, or a special memory attached to them, etc., but also actually get used every week at least once.

One of my favorite items:  a set of nested stainless steel cookware made by Magma that is specifically designed for boat owners who have limited space in which to stock their kitchens.  Each set has several pans with lids and removable handles, and everything fits nested inside to become the compact form you see above.  The idea is ingenious and is executed very well.  These are great pans and I cook in them all the time, and they don't take up much space.  I intend to get another set at some point.

This fun mug is a gift from my sister with whom I share a love of birds.  We both have several bird-feeding stations in our yards and compare notes often on the bird activities we see.  This mug carries the image of an American goldfinch.  Goldfinches are frequently seen at the thistle seed feeders in my yard.  I often drink milk from this at the start or finish of a day.  I love the image, and I love the smooth feel from the finish on this mug.

Our homes are filled with so many personal things that speak of who we are.  Kitchens are part of that for many of us who spend a lot of time in them.  I could go on and wax philosophical on this topic, but there's really no need for that, and that wasn't the purpose of this post.  Sometimes it's nice just to take note of something basic since we often take too many things for granted.  And that's all today's post is about:  noticing the beauty and utility of things that often become mundane in our minds as time passes and we forget to appreciate them.