Leave A Dish

I decided to do some dishes by hand this morning. I enjoy doing dishes. It has always been a time for me to have fun with my sister-in-laws, my sister, my mother and my kids. They often didn't want to do the dishes when they were teens, but almost always once we got started we talked about their day at school or at work.
My mom would tell me stories and I can even remember doing dishes with my grandmother. Yes, dishes is a short time out of the day for me to solve the world's problems, to worry about my children, and to think about others who have brought food to my table.

This being the holiday season when often folks bring side dishes to your home or when you take food to theirs leave the dish with a smile and say, "You keep it. I had such a good time today. Think of me when you wash it." Well, that is exactly what was happening this morning. As I was thinking about my Thanksgiving Day menu I found myself washing a dish that my late mother-in-law left me one day. She had brought something for a meal. I can remember telling her, "Just a minute I'll quick wash up your dish so you can take it home with you." She said, "Ah, just keep it. It may come in handy some day." I use that dish almost every day and every day I think of her.

I have very old dishes that belonged to my grandmother and my mother. I have given many of them away so others may enjoy them, it being my "golden years" I want them to go to exactly the right folks.
I still have the dish that my mother made home made cottage cheese in when we were just children out on the farm. She would clabber milk on the back of the corn cob cook stove, then she would put it in cheese cloth and hang it from the clothes line. When it was completely dry she would bring it in and mix it with whipping cream and put it in the ice box. Yes, ice box. Oh the memories I have from that first eleven years of my life. They are full of stories, both hard times and fun times. The milk pitcher that you see with sunflowers was on our kitchen table three times a day. We always had milk with our meals often with bits of cream floating on the top. (Probably not so good for our arteries, but no one knew about cholesterol in those days.) Right beside it are three refrigerator dishes that mother always put her churned butter in and possibly some leftovers.

My big computer sits right by my china cupboard. I just turned and looked and there in the back behind the "cottage cheese dish" is a silver crumb brush that belonged to my children's Grandmother Grafing. I'm sure it was part of a set at one time.

Nowadays it is so much easier to take dishes in disposable pans and dishes that can just be thrown away. I agree it is much easier, but if that had always been the case, many of my prized possessions wouldn't now be sitting in my everyday and  company only china cupboards for me to remember the special person while I am doing the dishes.
Happy Thanksgiving, folks. Have a wonderful and safe holiday season.