Burn the Candles! What or who are you waiting for?
I saw a recipe on Pinterest that led me to a wonderful post that reminded me of a “resolution” I’d made in the fall of 2013.
We moved to Florida 10 years ago and one of the things we left behind in storage in my mom’s garage was our fine china. Mom drove down in the spring of 2013 to help me through a major surgery and surprised us with a few boxes of our “left behind” stuff. When I first opened the box marked “Mikasa,” I thought I should sell the useless plates, bowls, and cups. We’d had these fancy dishes for almost 30 years and had never used them. I didn’t have my china cabinet to display them and as I was trying to figure out where I was going to store the box in the limited space we have for such things, I wondered who I was saving them for? Did I think I might some day entertain someone famous?
So I unboxed and washed all the pieces and made space for them in my cupboard. There is no one more important than my family and they deserve to eat off the fine china. I decided then and there that I wasn’t going to save the “good” stuff for a “special” occasion any longer.
I set the Thanksgiving table with the Mikasa that year. I don’t have sterling silver, but I have a nice set of stainless utensils (that I now let the family use when they so desire along with the every day set). My crystal is still in storage and so are most of my unnecessary table linens so middle son ran to Walgreen’s and bought two 4-packs of wineglasses for under $10 and some fancy paper napkins. I grabbed a pair of dollar store candle holders and candles to complete the table and I lit them. 🙂 It was beautiful and fun. After all, it really wasn’t about the dishes (I didn’t use every piece in each place setting), it was about sitting at the table and enjoying the people I love while sipping sparkling grape juice from “fancy” glasses. From that moment on I knew that nothing is worth saving for a “future” date or a special occasion that may never come. Every day we’re alive and have the opportunity to get together with the people we love is cause for celebration so why shouldn’t we do it up in the best style we can?
Open up that china cabinet and dust off the dishes. Get out those things you’re saving and enjoy them now. Heck, it doesn’t even matter if every piece on the table is made from plastic and paper! Celebrating life is always a good reason to have a dinner party, so call up your friends, set the table. And don’t forget to burn the candles! After all, they’re only a buck a pair at the Dollar Tree. 😃
Happy loving, living, and eating! 😊
Update:
I was gifted with my Grandmother Harris’s very feminine fine china and had so much fun making napkin rings and searching the bargain tables at T.J. Maxx for fun “accoutrement” to help set the table for Christmas 2018!
Culinary Craftiness 