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The Joy of Dishes

/ still a dreamer

As I was looking at my newest and most (currently) favorite mug this morning, I felt a desire to write about dishes. What is it about dishes that is so incredibly wonderful? I will admit, I have plenty, and quite a few complete sets. But with rare exception, and this mug is one of them, (available here), I haven’t paid much – or anything at all – for them.

Just to give you an idea of the wonderful dishes that call my table and cabinets their own are the following … a set of Johnson Brothers china, (given me by my college roommate), a complete set of Vernon Ware, which is like a soft-hued Fiesta Ware, (dishes I grew up with),  a 1920’s set of hexagonal amethyst glass dishes, (I paid $15 at the first auction I ever went to with my friend, Jan, in the late 80’s), a Royal Doulton Art Deco tea set missing a sugar bowl, (dirt cheap on London’s Portobello Road in the mid-70’s), hand-thrown bowls, large and small, and serving dishes and casseroles, (all gifts), cobalt crystal tumblers, ( a gift), and …. a lovely assortment of “factory-second” sets from Pfaltzgraff’s factory outlet, ( at $1 and $2 per piece), when they were still open in Flemington. I also have a gorgeous set of hand-thrown stoneware glasses and plates to whose talented creators I happily paid a fair price. And, of course, the hand-thrown mug you see pictured. (In all honesty, there are still more odds and ends in more hand-thrown mugs, pie plates, glasses, serving platters, etc. gathered over the years.)

So what can we conclude from this? That I have tons of company for dinner? Nope, that’s not it. That I am a disaster to only myself when packing to move? Oh, yeah! That many of these dishes have sentimental value? Yup, that’s true, too. But the overriding conclusions are the following … the dishes that I have collected over the years are beautiful, and, in my estimation, a form of art. It’s true. Dishes are a relatively inexpensive – if you know where to shop – form of art.

But wait, there’s another conclusion. Dishes make food look wonderful. Food, one of the true delights in life, can be beautiful on its own when prepared, but placed on the right plate or served in the right bowl or dish, surpasses its own singular appeal. A table set with just the right dishes holding even the simplest of foods can be a form of art. Think of some of the best food magazine photographs – they have you salivating just looking at the food so beautifully presented. And behind every mouthwatering morsel is a carefully selected dish.

So that’s it – there’s joy in dishes because of their beauty as an art form all their own. (And just so you know … I had to actually resist photographing more of my dishes for this post … but maybe another time.)

Textures of Snow and A Question

/ still a dreamer

If you’re anywhere in the mid-Atlantic region you’ve been getting hit with snow. Here in New Jersey we got hit with a 1-2 punch yesterday and again last night. Thankfully, I shoveled after the first round because now there’s another 12″ or so in most places, and maybe 3′ out there where the plow went through. I decide to do a first pass at 8 a.m. to make an access lane from my side porch to the street and also clear off the back/side porch and wherever Little Fee, the feral I feed, might be coming from.

BUT … before I did … I had to take some photos of the unmarred beauty of the snow. And the question? Whatever happened to the teenage boys that used to come around on snow days looking to make some money shoveling some of us out? Yeah, yeah, I know … they’re home texting and playing on the internet. Kinda sad, as I guess it’s a time gone by.

That’s it – I’m hearing my shovel call …

My Own Personal Ice Cream Challenge

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

It’s not that I don’t have more serious things to write about, (Ooooh, like a great movie I just saw!), but sometimes, who wants to be serious!?

Not long ago, a friend had sent me a link where the staff had conducted a taste challenge for chocolate ice cream – a delicious subject for both my friend and me. It didn’t take long to see that these folks had also reviewed and rated vanilla ice cream! In vanilla they only rated 4, not 5.  Though one brand of ice cream is not sold in my area at all – no prob, I have a substitution in mind – and another can only be found an hour away, I decided to do my own rating. Ahhhh, what a dreary task – consuming and rating ice cream!

Below are the rankings for the ice cream as slashfood.com rated them. So far, I have consumed and ranked 2 of them, with my next food shopping bringing home  a third selection.

Chocolate Ice Cream:
1. Friendly’s Classic Chocolate
2. Trader Joe’s Ultra Chocolate (Nearest Trader Joe’s is an hour away in Princeton – I’ll get there!)
3. Turkey Hill Dutch Chocolate
4. Haagen Dazs  Chocolate
5. Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate (not in this area, planning to substitute Blue Bunny)

Vanilla Ice Cream:
1. Trader Joe’s French Vanilla
2. Stonyfield Farm’s Gotta Have Vanilla
3. Blue Bunny Homemade Vanilla
4. Haagen Dazs Vanilla

Perhaps you’d enjoy this little taste test at your home – enjoy! I’ll be back with results when I’m done.

Fabulous Farmstand Food

/ still a dreamer

For those of us living in or near agricultural counties, New Jersey is a cornucopia of gorgeous fresh produce, pouring in during a long growing season. It’s absolute heaven.

And it’s a shame that so many people think of New Jersey – the Garden State – as a series of networked, ugly highways thorned by uglier power plants and factories. While a small portion of eastern New Jersey may look like that, so many more parts of the state are lush, green and abundant. In Hunterdon County, small farms and farmers’ markets abound, all offering an assortment of delicious fresh produce from early spring through November.

The other day I went berry and peach picking with a friend and her 3 kids at Phillips Farms in Holland Township.

The blackberries were outstanding, but I had really gone for some white peaches and Jersey tomatoes. I suppose many states lay claim to having the best tomatoes, but I’m still sticking with New Jersey.

Same for Jersey corn! Phillips Farm also had a great assortment of flowers – sunflowers plus many other kinds in bouquets, and some plants and herbs at $5 apiece.

Now if you can imagine, we have all this for months on end. Inside there was corn picked just that morning, gorgeous string beans, zucchini, kale, radishes, onions, cucumbers and more.

This same friend had come back from a trip to Colorado – a somewhat isolated city, (as they called it – a suburb to New Jerseyans), where the food was … well … pretty poor, as she described it. And then I realized how enormously fortunate we are to be sitting right next to our food sources for so much of the year. I sure am grateful!

In the area? Visit one of the many fabulous local farms/farmstands or farmers’ markets in New Jersey – they’re all over the state. And if in western Hunterdon, visit Phillips Farms on Church Road in Holland Township!

What IS That in Your Shopping Cart?

/ still a dreamer

How often do you go food shopping and find yourself looking at someone’s shopping cart filled to the brim with junk food and over-processed food? And often as not, with a child or two hanging onto the side of the cart. I don’t know about you, but I nearly fall over when I see all that heavily processed, chemicalized, sugared food … and fed to children. Yes, I know how busy we all are – I’m one of those people – but I also know that we are becoming an obese, increasingly unhealthy nation. Childhood obesity is at an all-time high, and stroke, heart disease, diabetes and cancer are killing us all way too young.

I read a lot about the food we eat and try to eat as wholesomely and purely as I can. As much as I possibly can purchase or afford is organic. I make most of my choices in consideration of what has been added to our foods along the way, (hormones, antibiotics, pesticides), or how they have been altered, (GMO), the horrific cruelty involved in getting animal products to our plate, (most meat), how the environment is affected by the production of that food, and when possible, how the workers who produced the food are treated/compensated. I know most people are not as deeply concerned about what’s on their plate as I am. And I also know  it’s still quite possible to eat well without all the considerations that I choose to make.

I recently read am article in the March 2010 issue of Prevention magazine about the 50 healthiest everyday foods, and a simple pictorial guide as how to stay with the healthiest choice, and skip the highly processed choice, plus a health/shopping tip at the right. Each line had 3 columns, for example – 1st choice – an apple – 2nd choice – and somewhat processed – applesauce and 3rd choice to be limited and highly processed – apple toaster pastry.  Whole grain bread, wheat bread, fortified white bread. Fresh chicken breast, deli-sliced chicken and chicken nuggets. You get the idea.

Most people may know at this point there is next to no chicken in chicken nuggets, but did you know that pasture-raised eggs may have 35% less fat, 60% more Vitamin A, and 200% more omega 3’s? This article is a little gold mine of short, concise facts.

I was very disappointed that I could not find this article on Prevention’s web site to link to – I think for the average consumer, it provides a straightforward guide about how to make better food choices. That third column is what I see an awful lot of in shopping carts nowadays. So if you’re reading this, I may already be preaching to the choir, but eat whole foods … stay in the left column .. and maybe we’ll meet each other when we’re 90!