No, not recipes! But the actual dishes used to serve and eat our celebration meals such as the recent Thanksgiving feast.

When we were married, we received, among our wedding gifts, a few place settings and single pieces of our chosen tableware pattern, Wedgewood “Doric Platinum” – plain white with no rim and a narrow platinum stripe around the edge.  However, there were certainly not enough to use for a dinner party, even a very small one!

Over the next seven or eight years, my mother-in-law, Muriel Hubbard, gave me more pieces and settings for each birthday and Christmas. Her mother, Rob’s Grandma, (Eliza Kerr Neale) also gifted me with pieces until she died in 1972.

I must admit that my younger self was not terribly excited with such birthday gifts at the time!

But for many, many years now, I have felt such gratitude to these two thoughtful and generous women who ensured that I could set a lovely table for eight with three sizes of plate, not to mention a platter, covered veggie dishes and even a gravy boat. The only pieces I don’t use are the cups and saucers.

When Muriel died in 1978, a further thoughtful gesture contributed to my Thanksgiving table setting – she left me her silver chest and silverware for eight settings. And as she had inherited her own mother’s set in the same pattern, she left me that, too; I now have silverware for sixteen and use it whenever there is a special birthday or other celebration here.

As I take each plate out, or put it back into its protective cotton quilt-batting sleeve, or arrange the silver forks and knives, I think of them both with fondness and wish that we had had more time together. I was too young and too busy to really appreciate their life experience and wisdom at the time. In a way, they join us at the table now, if only in memory and love.

Another gift makes its way onto our feast table too – Rob’s three-piece carving set, which he rests on the crystal “knuckles” from my great-grandparents. The handles are made from antler and the blades are of Sheffield steel, excellent quality.  He told us this story last weekend as he set to carving the turkey:

“When I was courting Granny, I was invited to help out at a big dinner at her parent’s place. They were holding a reception for clergy and wives, I believe, perhaps at New Years’ and her mum set a turkey down in front of me in the kitchen, and said, “Could you please cut this up for serving” – which I did. She was pretty impressed with how well I did it (I learned from my own dad) and I felt as if I’d passed some sort of test! The next summer Liz and I got married, and her parents travelled to England. When they returned, they brought me a gift – this very set of carving knife and fork, sharpening steel and case. I’ve happily used them with gratitude for the last 55 years.”

[Jacob’s response to Grandpa’s story was, “Dibs!” Duly noted…]

Tags: celebrations, dishes, Hubbard