Grandma's dishes: Part 2

My Grandma was a perfect host.  In addition to the big family functions she'd host, every Sunday she and my Grandpa would leave the front door open to anyone who was able to stop by.  They never knew for sure who was going to be there and at what time, but without fail, every time I went (which was just about every Sunday) there was a pot of tea on the stove (she used to mix two different tea bags together.  So good), veggies and dip, a big fruit platter, hard boiled eggs, tons of home-made pastries and cakes, and whatever else she had up her sleeve; a yummy soup, curry, or fried spinach.  It was a feast, to say the least. 

So, without a doubt, my Grandma's dishes will always remind me of sitting around her kitchen table with my family on Sundays, eating her food and debating the topic of the day with my Grandma.  I wrote a blog on how to make Grandma's tea cup candles, and to continue on the theme of using her dishes instead of storing them, here are some more ideas.  

Do you ever watch Come Dine With Me Canada?  I do, and I love it.  On that show, the contestants always serve a plated appetizer to each guest, instead of putting it out on a coffee table.  If you have occasion to serve plated appetizers, why not use a tea cup and saucer?  I mean, look how cute it is!

If plated apps aren't your style, you can put out a few cups and a few saucers.  In each cup you can have a different cracker, and each saucer a different cheese.  Or fill one cup with carrots, one with cucumber slices, and one with dip. The possibilities are really endless.

What's better than cheese and veggies?  Chocolate and candy, of course!  Not everyone likes a big piece of cake after dinner (although, I don't know who these weirdos are), so in addition to the dessert you're serving you can set up a candy bar with Grandma's tea cups.  

If you're having your mommy's group over for lunch, or maybe you're having your mom over for lunch, or maybe it's just you, and it's lunchtime, and you're hungry...either way, serve the soup in a tea cup and the sandwich on the coordinating side plate.  It will make lunch feel a little more special, even if it's just a canned soup and a peanut butter sandwich.  

Ok, so you're a bit of a traditionalist.  You serve food on serving platters.  I get it.  So for you, I have this idea.  Put a bit of water in the tea cup, snip a few daisies from a large stem, and you have these adorable little flower arrangements. 

Chances are you have 8 or 10 of Grandma's tea cups.  If that is the case, you can put a little flower arrangement at each place setting.  Or you could group a few on a pretty tray in the middle of your table as a centerpiece.  Or you can put a couple on the counter or table where you'll be serving the food from.  Adorbs!  That's a word I just learned.  I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.  I'm just trying it out.

For a non food or flower way to use Grandma's tea cups, why not take one into the bathroom?  You can keep Q-tips or cotton balls in the cup, and the saucer is a great place to keep your watch and rings when you take them off at the end of the night.  You can keep one by your kitchen sink too, if you take your watch and rings off before you do the dishes.  Growing up, my friend's mom had a plastic hand by her sink that would hold her rings and things while she washed dishes.  It would sit on the counter on it's wrist and the fingers would point straight up.  It always creeped me out.  This tea cup option won't do that.  

And finally, yes I went there, you can work these little tea cups into your holiday decor.  You can use them as a centerpiece, dress up a buffet table, where ever you need a little Christmas cheer, put a tea cup.