do you use your fine china?

**monkeywrangler71** · 01-19-2010, 08:35 PM

I got some when I was young and hardly used it and it really didn't suit me anymore. I put it in the cupboard one day and started using as everyday dishes.

Last fall I received the china that I inherited from my aunt. I used it at Christmas and Thanksgiving, and if I had more accessible shelves I'd probably use the luncheon plates more often.

I packed up the other china, threw out my chipped stoneware, and put a set of dishes that I actually like in the cupboard for everyday.

I have some princess house crystal but never use it. I'm not sure why I ever thought I needed brandy snifters.

**Contrary Housewife** · 01-19-2010, 08:38 PM

I have a "good" set of gold rimmed dishes and serving pieces that we got for our wedding, it is not "fine china", just fancy. I get it out for Thanksgiving dinner if I am in the mood to wash it afterward. There are some crystal glasses that go with it, no designer name, just pretty.

I purposely did not register for high end dinnerware because I knew I would not use it much, and I did not want to go to the expense for something that spends so much time packed away.

I do not have holiday dinnerware. I have thought of getting some serving pieces from one of the "name" lines, something that I know I can continue to add to over the years. The snow this year kept me from getting to the after-christmas sales though.

I have some of my grandmother's silver tarnishing in the depths of the garage, I think. I would display it if I had space for it or could find it.

**sunshine** · 01-19-2010, 08:50 PM

Originally Posted by monkeywrangler71

I have some princess house crystal but never use it. I'm not sure why I ever thought I needed brandy snifters.

I use our brandy snifters, wine glasses, champagne flutes for "fancy" desserts. . . . always wows the company, makes any dinner/dessert seem special, and is loads of fun.

**brennasmom** · 01-19-2010, 08:59 PM

Fine china *snort*

We have one set of dishes....

I do have a 100 year old set of silver that was handed down to me but we haven't actually used it.

**dcompton** · 01-19-2010, 09:07 PM

I used to have boring old white corelle. Then I decided that since it's just me, a complete set of "china" is one plate and maybe one bowl. So, this was years ago, I went bohemian, gave away the sober white stuff, and bought single plates/bowls corelle patterns I liked. I could match my mood, or grab the top one and be surprised, as it were.

But eventually we grow up and settle down, so I gave that away and went whole hog with posh china - Corelle beige! I have three dinner plates, three of the smaller plates, two of wide flat bowls (I'm so china illiterate I don't even know for sure what you call these different things), and two or three random bowls. Since I never entertain, it is a great abundance.

I have really nice thin glass tea mugs, and a couple of original Walmart design plastic glasses, pretty blue bubbly pattern.

Yes. I use them.

**nancycg56** · 01-19-2010, 09:08 PM

I have a couple of sets of fine china that I pull out every once in awhile. I don't have or want silver or crystal.

I have Thanksgiving china and Christmas china, too.

What I like to use most are pieces I have picked up from flea markets and garage sales with my good china to make a unique table

I use Fiestaware for everyday.

**Thrifty Mom** · 01-19-2010, 10:06 PM

I do not have fine china. I have a massive set of Correlle, a blue pattern. I love it because it has so many pieces. Three sizes of plates, two sizes of bowls, cups & saucers. I have service for 16. Plus I have serving bowls & platters. I can feed my whole extended family (kids use the luncheon plates), everything matches & nothing is delicate. All goes in the dishwasher. I do own two sets of silver plate that I used twice a year, but recently I got new stainless, (Service for 12, but the salad forks look like the regular forks, so again the kids can use the smaller pieces & everything matches) so I probably won't get the silver out ever again.

My sister is a china junkie & knows all the names & info you want. She owns many dish sets, but she can't set a table for her family that all matches. (I am very into matching, can you tell?) Also I went to her house & she gave me a cup of tea in a BROKEN ironstone cup with advertising on it. She made some remark about the broken cup & gave it to me anyway with a big hunk out of it, while 500 perfectly good cups were being kept for "good".

**MaryCarney** · 01-19-2010, 11:42 PM

I never had china when I married (34 years ago). Dad gave me a set of Franciscan Desert Rose years ago, and my MIL gave me a pretty set of Mikasa with roses on it. She also left me her nice silver, bought a piece at a time and seldom used.

THEN one day I got a catalog from King Arthur Flour, and in the pages of that catalog I met, and fell in love with, Polish Stoneware. VERY PRICY - mooned over that catalog for a number of months. Lo and behold, for Christmas that year, DH bought me a gorgeous scalloped serving bowl and four smaller scalloped bowls. I about died!!!

When DD#1 left home, she got the Franciscan DD#2 (Rosie) got the rose patterned stuff, and I started getting the beautiful stoneware for birthdays, Mother's Day and Christmas. Now I have a huge collection, and YES we use it.

I like the geometric pattern, not the flowery stuff you see on QVC. The story behind it is interesting, and while no two pieces are alike, it all matches somehow. Found some deep blue goblets at WALMART which match perfectly, and I use MIL's silver.

Sadly, it's all packed away temporarily as we're between houses. We ate our Christmas dinner on it, and I'm hoping the Easter ham will be served on my beautiful dishes in our NEW home, wherever that ends up being.

(I do not collect anything else, not jewelry, handbags, shoes. I have minimal amounts of clothing and such.)

**TigerGirl1226** · 01-20-2010, 12:07 AM

Everyday we use our Fiestaware and either plastic cups or glasses from Bed Bath and Beyond. We have a partial set of Vera Wang Grosgrain china and glassware. Not enough to serve more than us on. Tomorrow for our 3rd anniversary we will eat dinner on on though!

**frugalwarrior2** · 01-20-2010, 12:47 AM

I had penzance by Noritake. Kept it 24 years. Used it twice?? Donated it w/ completer set to Salvation Army last summer. Forgot about it until this thread.
We use the same corelle I got when were married. I keep finding it at garage sales.
When the kids leave I swear I may eat out of the cans.

**MaryCarney** · 01-20-2010, 01:00 AM

My friend Cathy says that when the kids are gone, they'll find her in a muumuu on the couch, surrounded by microwave popcorn bags!!!

**rosey7415** · 01-20-2010, 03:18 AM

i have a set of princess house crystal. a hutch full of the stuff. i had a friend that sold it...so that is how i got started...then party after party....you know how that goes...it runs in circles until everyone has it. i wish i had never bought it. it stood stored in boxes for many years before i bought my house and could fit it all in a hutch. i didn't even know what i had. i use it for company and my christmas party every year. i also use the brandy sniffers and wine glasses for desserts as well. (same as prev. poster) i try to use it more.....what is the point of having it if not to use it? and yes.....i do put it in the dishwasher. so far so good. but i would not cry if anything broke.

**WV_mom_of2** · 01-20-2010, 04:15 AM

do you have fine china? do you use your fine china?
sterling? silver plate?
crystal?
do you own and or use holiday china?

The answer to all the above is NO! I have three sets of matching Corelle dishes that I love. Use them every day.

My cups and glasses were mostly won at the dime toss booth at the county fair(my ds and dh LOVE to pitch dimes LOL) or bought with meals at McDonalds.

One set of silverware was a wedding gift and is the kind you can buy at Walmart. I have other pieces that I've picked up at a thrift store, mostly to use in the camper but I use them in the house in the winter.

I have no need for fancy dishes. I just need something to eat off of/drink out of. I don't entertain and the people who do eat with us aren't the type to care what they eat off of.

**pat in east texas** · 01-20-2010, 07:00 AM

I have some Noritake that we used to use at holidays. But now there are so many of us that holiday dinners are buffet style on "good" paper plates.
I like the idea of mixing designs on good china. Sets are IMHO, boring.

**frugal-fannie** · 01-20-2010, 07:14 AM

I have thousands of pieces of china. I had about 5 antique stalls at one time but shut them down several years ago. I got started finding replacement bowls for my moms Pattern that the Grandmother passed down. Metlox Red Rooster. She also has a full set of Fenton milkglass that looks great in a cherry hutch. I have a set of Rosenthal that I love and a set of Mikasa that I bought the whole set for $20 at a yard sale.I also have a set of white Wedgewood that I can use for large gatherings. I have princess house and other crystal. I use the crystal all the time and the other on holidays. I have a Longaberger set of stoneware that we use everyday. The fine china I do not put in a dishwasher.It also messes up the metal trim. My daughter oldest daughter decided she was starting a tradition this year. She bought me a bone china tea pot and my three daughters each one of the matching cups. Now each year someone will get a new teapot and everyone will get matching cups. The tea tastes better from a fine cup.LOL The teapot has a bright orange poppy that makes me smile when I see it.I am wanting to set up a replacement china site.