Lovely Shelter: Time to break out the good china

My grandmother was over for lunch the other day, and as she usually does, she commented on how much she loves our china. This isn't common practice at most dinner parties and luncheons hosted by other generation-x'ers, so it's always nice to hear. After all, we spent a long time picking it before we got married, and I still couldn't be happier with our choice. When my grandmother made this comment, she was looking at it through a glass cabinet in our kitchen. Not on the table. It got me thinking....why do we lock up our good stuff only to use at special occasions and holidays? I don't generally host our holiday meals, so really, it never gets freed from the cabinet and allowed to exercise its china destiny. I thought this should change.

I decided that over the next few days, I would use the good stuff whenever we ate or drank. After my little experiment, I've decided that food and drinks actually taste better this way. I know that might sound dumb, but I think you eat and drink slower when you're using it and so you savour more. It must be a fear of breaking it that slows us down.

I definitely think I'll start setting the table with the good stuff more often, but for those considering a switch to their finest dishes, be warned. Washing dishes by hand is not nearly as much fun as loading the dishwasher and pressing 'on'.