On a Silver Platter

It’s no secret that I have an obscene love of food. What most people don’t know however, is how much that love extends to the utensils and dishes with which food is prepared, served and enjoyed. I would wager, in fact, even my own family is in the dark as to how deep my fondness for all things food-service related runs.

They know how I adore a fitted apron, a wooden spoon, a vintage mason jar collection, a well-set table at dinner time. When it comes down to my obsession with red-handled vintage kitchen utensils, retro-mixing bowls, and tarnished silverware on the other hand, they’re not so well versed.

Regardless of how lovingly a squash was tended to, how near to my home or even by whom it was grown I can find little joy in scooping into it’s flesh with a sterile, plastic, penny-per-hundred spoon from a big box store. Allow me to wield instead a vintage melon baller or the hand-beaded handle of a scooper on the other hand, and I am in heaven.

There is something about a slightly misshapen bowl, a spoon whose handle is engraved with the initials of a generation gone by, the weight of a mug that has seen better days filled with mulled cider at the end of a long, cold day. There is a charm that makes the food it holds a little more valuable, a little less disposable. It makes me take stock of its taste more wholly, appreciate its origins more thoroughly.

Of course, service on a silver platter never hurt. Do you have a favorite platter? Serving spoon? Mis-matched set of silverware you inherited from your Grandma? I’d love to hear about it! And for those things that may no longer be food-safe, in what inventive new ways are you using them?

Diana Prichard

Diana Prichard is a homegrown and artisan food junkie; owner-operator of the small farm Olive Hill; and freelance writer living in rural Michigan. You can find more on her work and life at dianaprichard.com.

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