Federalist dinnerware is one of the most popular vintage china patterns I find when scouting. It’s a beautiful white ironstone pattern. A name like Federalist recalls the American Revolution and the years after, when the young country was refined. It shouts “traditional table setting” by name alone, and even more when you see the shapes. [...]

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Not long ago, I found 12 cups and saucers of Laura Ashley china, in the Petite Fleur Blue pattern. That dinnerware now has gone to appreciative new homes in Germany. One of the new owners, Kim R. was so happy she sent me a photo, to show how the new cups and saucers are fitting [...]

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Luscious is the name of this china pattern by Savoir Vivre, made in Japan. Here the soup bowl includes a serving of warm apple crisp and vanilla ice cream. The fresh apples came straight from a local produce market. I used Paula Red, an early variety. The Luscious pattern includes apples in the motif, as [...]

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Hot summer weather seems made for ice cream sodas and root beer floats. A scoop of vanilla ice cream, some good root beer (favorites are Stewart’s and IBC at this house) and you are in business. Just be sure to make them right before you’re going to enjoy them. In Michigan we also have a [...]

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Combing the dish aisle, looking for vintage snack sets, it is very common to find the plates without cups, or perhaps without enough cups to have a complete matched set. Or the cups are too small to serve the coffee or tea that you want to have with your desserts. Yet you want to use [...]

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My grandmother had a set of rectangular glass plates with small punch cups. We always called them party dishes The plates had a little indent to fit the foot of the cup, to help keep it on the plate. The cups were small, about 4 ounces, because they were intended only for punch. The plates [...]

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Cinco de Mayo (May 5) is only a few days away, and it’s time to get ready for your parties or special events to celebrate. There are plenty of ways to use your colorful dinnerware to help serve corn chips, salsa, tacos, guacamole or many, many other foods you might be eating to mark this [...]

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Easter colors of yellow and green, pink and blue are enough to get your table setting ideas flowing. Add in the motifs, such as baby chicks and eggs, bunnies and spring flowers, and you can get your Easter tabletop and entertaining plan off to a great start. And then there’s the food. Since I met [...]

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When my sister visited recently from the UK, I made several of our old family favorite foods, including orange gelatin dessert. Some products that we take for granted here, like fruit flavored gelatin, are difficult to obtain in other countries. And it’s the food that sometimes makes a place feel like home. Of course, we [...]

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Many vintage china patterns are based on the perennial garden favorite flower, roses. No surprise, roses are romantic and feminine. Many of the dinnerware designs that use this motif have a soft, pastel color scheme. Make roses your theme for mix and match table setting and the possibilities are enormous. Whether you are planning an [...]

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