For the Love of China

When do you use your fine china? 1) Daily, 2) Often, 3) Special holidays only, 4) Never, 5) I don’t have china. 6) All of my daily nutrition comes in pill form. If you answered 3) or 4), this post is for you!

You can make a casual dinner a lot more fabulous just by setting the table with your nice dishes. Many of us received fine dinnerware wedding gifts, and the pieces sit in the china cabinet (or worse, in boxes in the basement) day after day.

China place settings look so beautiful and make your meal presentation instantly more glamorous. Why wait until Christmas to show it off?

The Arguments (and my scathing rebuttal!) –

China is a pain to clean. Umm, okay Monsignor McLazy. You are already going through the trouble of making a nice dinner, what are a few more minutes of washing dishes? You might even have a couple guests offer to help wash the dishes. (Those friends are definitely getting invited back!) Check your china – some brands are even dishwasher safe. (But use the “china” setting on your dishwasher if there is one.)

Everyone is going to be wearing jeans. China is too formal. Myth! You are totally allowed to use nice dishes even if your guests are not wearing ball gowns and tuxedos. (But be realistic. If you are hosting a pool party where everyone is wearing a bathing suit and eating burgers, china is going to be ridiculous.)

It will just be my family at the table. So are they chopped liver? If you make a nice Sunday dinner for your brood, serve it up on china to make the whole scene feel more special. Bringing out the nice dishes could lend a celebratory tone for such family events as good grade cards, promotions, reading ten books, snow days, or half-birthdays.

But my dishes look so nice displayed in the china cabinet. Seriously? They are dishes. Meant for eating. Give them the true place of honor for the evening – your dining room table.

My mom only used her china on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some traditions were meant to be trampled. And you can still use your china on the special holidays; using it more often will just make more days feel like holidays.

I only have four place settings. Even if you only received four place settings of china for your wedding, that’s not a problem if you are only having dinner for four people! There is no need to wait until you have a set of twelve to start hosting parties using your china.

TIP –
China dishware can scratch itself! Store your dishes with a cloth or paper napkin between each plate.

Will you be my Valentine, Kate Spade Gardner Street Platinum dinnerware?