The 1970s paid a visit this weekend. In my years-long quest to unpack all the boxes I've been moving around the country, every time Uncle Sam pointed his finger at our family and said "GO," I went through one that had not been opened in quite a while. My handwriting on the top said "2008 - Less used serving pieces, Eleanor's kitchen stuff, Glenfiddich water pitcher, Crystal cougar." Ten and a half years ago, I boxed this up in the California desert, and promptly forgot most of this stuff existed. The cougar was a glass piece that the Mr gave me a billion years ago, to match a dog and a cat the girls got one Christmas. I think he might have bought them on a deployment in Germany. I put it on top of a dresser in my room, in the hopes that the cats won't throw it to the floor. It seemed like the safest place. The pitcher came from a tour of the whisky distillery on our second honeymoon to Scotland back in summer of 2000. It was the other stuff that really made me excited though.
There was a large, shallow serving bowl that sort of resembles French white Corningware, and I know I'll be able to put it to use right away with how often we feed the nerd crew here and next door. There was also a large glass piece that didn't survive five moves, six if you count that this ended up in our daughter's garage (why?) and just came over here last week. It was on the bottom of the heavy box, and was probably cheaply made, a bright, decorative, non-food-safe thing from Pier 1. It was pretty, but I won't miss it all that much.
The real treasures were the pieces from my grandmother's house. I found her clear glass lidded pot, the one I can clearly remember being used to make Minute Rice when I was a little girl. The lid has a chip or two now, but maybe that will help vent steam from real rice, if I try to use it just like I remember from childhood. There were three original Cornflower pattern Corningware dishes, the 1 1/2 cup petite square casseroles. I haven't figured out what I'll use them for yet. Maybe artichoke dips or something, to place at either end of a long table on game night. And then there were the Ellinger agatized wood bowls. I'm really excited about those. I remember her serving popcorn in them, back in the days when that small of a serving was customary and plenty for a little kid. I also had countless bowls of cream of celery soup in those (I hated mushrooms, so that was my go-to). I am not sure how, but in my mind, the bowl affected the taste and improved it greatly. I can't use the canned stuff anymore because it has wheat in it, but now that I've found these, I'm going to have to create a more refined, gourmet, gluten-free version of it. I may start experimenting as soon as tomorrow. If I come up with a good recipe, I'll share it.
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