• This is in answer to:
  • What's the most useless thing in your house right now? See all answers
    • April 27, 2009 by jess
    •  
    • Weazled by the Wedding Channel

    • The first answer to pop in my mind was myself. Because even the rabbit has more designated use than I do at the moment.

      But something more fruitless than even myself sits unused in my grand dining room. My formal china.


      What was I thinking?

      Wait. The fault (of course) is not my own.

      A little over 5 years ago, well-meaning relatives tried to ‘prepare’ me for the big switch from my lower middle-class upbringing (read: mismatched, chipped everyday dinnerware) to the fancy lifestyle of an executive’s wife.

      I guess the vision was I’d be hostessing fabulous dinner parties and serving ity-bitty French creations cooked by a real chef.

      Seriously. Someone should have reminded me to check the century in which I live.

      *I* am cook in my house. And while I occasionally bring in rave reviews, I’m most appreciated for my latin cooking. A fare that does not match delicate bone china plates, or fragile tea cups trimmed in platinum, or prissy GRAVY BOATS (do you have any idea how much these things cost?)!

      My dining room boasts a colossal cherry masterpiece of a china hutch holding a cache of formal dinnerware (service for 20) and crystal that could very well finance my first year’s tuition of law school.

      Again, I ask, what was I thinking?

      Someday, I may finally scrape the price stickers off each and every piece of china, scrub those pieces clean, set them on the table with the other pretty things I’ve collected for such an occasion, and host a fairy-tale style tea luncheon. Maybe I’ll even cook a stodgy dinner for my husband's boss.

      But since I’d have to rewash every dish by hand...probably not. I’d much rather dine al fresco in my backyard, on dishwashable plates and sip from cheap, conversation-starting wine glasses.

       
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  • Comments

    StratPlayer said:
    Ya might pull off some dandy "Mosaics"Throw in a couple shattered margarita glasses
    posted over 2 years ago
    toddiej said:
    why don't you just use it...for anytime...everyday. think it would make a hot dog taste better? or the dinner more romantic?
    posted over 2 years ago
    jess said:
    Toddiej: Because it must be hand washed! I guess I could technically put it in the dishwasher, but the platinum would rub off and all the relatives who bought it would lynch me (if they were feeling nice).
    posted over 2 years ago
    dedalus said:
    Do you have kids? Let them wash the dishes. Worst case scenario: the kid breaks it. But then you won't have that obnoxiously useless china. And you'll always be able to guilt trip your eventually grown up child when he/she isn't sure if he/she can make it down from college for Mother's Day weekend with a "Remember when you broke all of my china...."
    posted over 2 years ago
    manuelg said:
    I love our little home's garage sale gold trimmed china set -- incomplete, of course. The pressure is off, because if we break anything, the set remains incomplete, nothing really changed.
    Hand washing is not a problem, because the little lady is convinced the dishwasher is a colossal waste of water and electricity. She washes, I dry and put away, and I must do it quickly, or else I get a rat-tail whip across my ass with the wet corner of a dish towel. Ouchie.
    posted over 2 years ago
    joyz said:
    perhaps the gravy boats should become converts and be salsa boats? =)
    posted over 2 years ago
    thekaitlin said:
    Yeah, I had a FRIEND who tried to convince me to get platinum-lined china. Boy am I glad we opted for the stoneware we did - may not be as formal as some other stuff, but it still fits the bill of being able to be dressed up but can go dishwasher, microwave, stove and freezer. And it matches, which I suppose was the biggest upgrade we got.
    posted over 2 years ago

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