Serving Pieces

There are more spoons that any other piece of flatware. The spoon is versatile and has many uses. The top spoon here is a Berry Spoon. It should be used for blackberries, blue berries, raspberries or strawberries. There is a Strawberry Fork but you certainly can use a Berry Spoon for this popular fruit. This piece can also double as a serving spoon for most any dish. The bottom spoon is a Bonbon or Nut Spoon. When candies are seven on a plate on in a silver pedestal candy dish this spoon is used. It is also used for nuts served in a bowl.  The Berry Spoon is large, nine or ten inches in length. The Bonbon spoon is six to seven inches long and also comes in a pierced version.

     

Here is a large Serving or Table Spoon, a Cold Meat Fork and a Pickle Fork.

This is a set of four Fruit Knives. They are quite old and are monogrammed. Fruit knives are six to seven inches long and are used along with fruit spoons. They are used for cutting and peeling fruits served at the dinner table.

Here we have a large serving spoon or table spoon. The smaller spoon is a sugar spoon.

These four ladles are different sizes and have a variety of uses. The first from the left is a large gravy ladle. This is the most common of ladles. Large gravy ladles are six to eight inches in size. The next ladle to the right is a smaller gravy ladle. The size of the gravy ladle should be determined by the size of bowl or gravy boat you use for gravy. The third from the left ladle is a cream sauce ladle. Sauces like Bearnaise or Hollandaise call for this size. The last piece is a mustard ladle. This is a very old piece of flatware and not used so much today. This is a particularly attractive piece and there is a closer view in the next photograph.

This cute little spoon is a jelly server. They are six to seven inches long and are used for scooping and serving jelly and jam. Sometimes they come with a jelly bowl sitting in a rack. The jelly spoon hangs in the rack above the bowl.

This odd looking knife is a cheese pick. The blade is used for cutting through smaller blocks of cheese while the teeth at the end are used to pick up the small slices of cheese. The cheese pick is longer than a butter knife measuring eight to nine inches.

This is a Pierced Bonbon Spoon from the 1930's. The bonbon spoon is pretty easy to figure out....it is used for serving bonbons. The term "bonbon" dates back to 17th century France. It refers to candies that were used as centerpieces and eaten. "Bon" in French means "good". There are pierced bonbon spoons and solid bonbon spoons. They have the same use. Many examples are quite decorative as is this spoon.

This is a sterling Candle Snuffer. It is used for snuffing out burning candles. This one belonged to my mother and has seen many years of use.

These Iced Beverage Spoons have the look of vermeil. Vermeil is made by applying mercury and gold. This is done today by an electrolytic process. I received this set of spoons from my father one Christmas for my hope chest.

 Here is another Bonbon Spoon. This is the solid variety. I use this one for sauces since it is seldom that I serve bonbon's other that from the Godiva box they come in. It is a lovely spoon and was a wedding gift.

These are the largest of the spoons in my Salt Spoon collection. I was given an entire collection of Salt Cellars and a couple of Salt Spoons. Over the years, I have added to the spoons. These three are about four to four and a half inches in length, which is on the longer side for salt spoons.  These are sterling.

On the other end of the spectrum, these are some of the smallest salt spoons I own. The two spoons with shell shaped bowls are not more than two inches long. The first on the left is a modern 1960's pattern and the two on the right end date back to the turn of the 20th century. These five spoons are also sterling.

And finally these three Salt Spoons are to my sterling pattern. They have gold bowls and are about three and a half inches in length. I use Salt Cellars with Salt Spoons at most dinners I serve in my dining room. It is something my mother did and as a child I loved little bowls and the tiny spoons. My daughter was the same way growing up and it is still her job to go to the display cabinet where the "Salts" are kept and select one for each person at the table. I use tiny silver or crystal pepper shakers beside the Salt Cellar.

This is a Baby Fork and Baby Spoon. The fork dates to the 1940'd and the spoon to the 1930's. They are both sterling and well used.

This is another Baby Fork and Spoon set. It is sterling and they measure four to five inches. This set dates from the 1940's.

This is a sterling baby fork in the Chantilly pattern by Gorham.

Serving Pieces and Specialized Place Setting Pieces

In an earlier post I showed a Pierced Casserole Spoon which belonged to my mother. I mentioned that I remembered a meat fork that went with the spoon. Well, not only did I find the meat fork, I found another pierced casserole spoon and a ladle. The pierced casserole spoon shown here is a slightly different shape from the first mentioned in my blog. This one is an oval shape but the use is the same. The ladle in this set is rather large and should be used for serving soups from a tureen.

This beautiful elaborate carving set is part of my mother's sterling. My parents were married in 1933 but my research says this pattern dates to 1905. We still use this set at Thanksgiving an Christmas for serving turkey, ham and rib roast. The pieces are monogrammed with my mother's three initials. Although the knife is meant for carving meats, this one has cut many wedding cakes. My mother sometimes made wedding cakes for friends. The cakes were beautiful. I loved to watch her make each icing rose by hand. This was before the methods used today which are quite pretty but lack the attention, skill and patience, not to mention elegant good taste, of those cakes from the 50's and 60's. Along with the cake she would let the bride use this knife to cut her cake. Mother would tie a tiny bouquet of fresh flowers with satin ribbon on the handle. I used this knife to cut the cake at my wedding and hopefully my daughter will use it at her wedding.

This is a set of six sterling soup spoons. There are bouillon, creme and gumbo soup spoons. These three types range in size from five to eight inches. My spoons above fall between bouillon and creme soup spoons. I have a set of covered Italian soup bowls that work perfectly with these spoons.

Oh, my favorite piece of silver, the caviar fork. My husband and daughter eat caviar and even seem to know the difference in cheap caviar and good caviar. Other than a dollop on top of a deviled egg or atop a daub of sour cream, I do not indulge! The design of the caviar fork is quite useful. The wide tine enables one to scoop up the tiny fish eggs and the closely spaced smaller tines keep the morsels from falling through. These are of a simple pattern which blends well with whatever your flatware design is.  The caviar fork is small, about five to six inches in length.

Once again, here are some of the demitasse spoons in my collection. They are indented for use with espresso or any strong coffee served in a demitasse cup. They are like mini-teaspoons measuring four to

five inches in length

Even More Obscure Serving Pieces You Must Have

 I must admit this is one piece of flatware (that is not very flat) that I have never used. For some reason I stuck it in my pot lifter drawer and there it sits. In fact, there was a bit of searching to find this little guy to photograph him.
This piece is pewter, not silver of any sort. It is large, about thirteen inches in length. I have always thought it would be great for serving some kind of stew, maybe Brunswick stew. I used to eat Brunswick stew that was made with chicken. It had corn and tomatoes in it and was quite tasty. Then later, as an adult, I ran across a recipe for this concoction and it called for squirrel. Need I remind everyone, I am from the suburbs not the country.
Well, whatever! I find this piece very attractive and interesting but I have yet to find a use for it. Any suggestions?

The top fork is a lemon fork. It is used for picking up lemon slices. The outside tines are flared. It is slightly smaller and more delicate than a salad fork. Although you could use this fork for serving lemon with iced tea or iced water, I think of it on a silver tray with a beautiful old teapot and tea cup for hot tea. I happen to be one of those people who likes milk in my hot tea but if I used lemon in this beverage, I would use this fork.

The bottom fork is a pickle or olive fork. The long handle is good for removing these treats from tall jars. This fork is generally about six inches long. There is a longer handled olive fork that is between eight and nine inches long. The shorter size shown here is more contemporary and versatile.
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 Here are three vintage butter knives. The blade of the top knife is twisted at an opposing angle from the handle. This makes holding the knife while cutting a pat of butter from a stick easier. This is a master butter knife and is used to serve butter on the dinner table.

The next knife is also a master butter knife and has an off-set blade which serves the same purpose as the top knife.

The last knife is an individual butter spreader with a flat handle. This knife is used at the individual place setting and rest across the top of the bread and butter plate. This butter spreader is used for just that, spreading not cutting. If there is not a pat of butter already on the bread and  butter plate, you would cut your butter with the master butter knife, place it on your bread and butter plate and then use your individual butter spreader to apply the butter to your bread.

Master butter knives are slightly larger than individual spreaders. They measure six to seven inches and individual butter spreaders are five to six inches in length.

 This is actually a cheese knife. I have not used it as such in many years. When I was first married, I loved to serve fruit and cheese for the dessert course and I used this piece. My entertaining is much more casual now due to living in California, being a "simpler" person and perhaps a bit more lazy. But I have found a new and I think better use for this piece.

I call it a petit-four server. On Christmas eve, our family follows in my mother's tradition of having favorite appetizers and tiny desserts, nuts, candies...all the things we love but do not dare eat the entire year. I even break out a big dish of cocktail wieners in barbecue sauce! Well, this little server is always used on Christmas eve. It is great for those tiny two bite cupcakes.

Oh my gosh, it is the irreplaceable ramekin server. How can  you live without one of these? I actually received this piece as a gift from one of my dear aunts when I was a teenager. Bless her heart, she must have known I was going to marry a proper Yankee and need such a gentile piece in my collection. The proper use is rather obvious. You have a tray full of the little baking dishes used for baking individual chocolate souffles and rather than simply picking the hot little bowl up, you slide this thingie under it and place it on your dessert plate.

I have also found it handy for serving cookies at very formal occasions. The above mentioned "tasting party" could be an event for this obscure piece to shine. It is quite small, about five inches in length.

Merry Christmas to All!

Our family will be celebrating together this year. We usually select something for the "family gift" and this year it is going to be a few days in New York City. I am the one family member who has never been to the city at this time of year and I am really looking forward to seeing everything. The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza, the store windows at Macy's, Bloomies and Barneys are on the list. The windows at Bergdorf's feature courtier fashions and authentic antiques so I will not miss a stop there.

One of our favorite adventures on every visit to the city is the family walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We'll have to see how that Yankee weather treats us this time though. It may be a bit chilly for the hike across the East River. I have noticed that a lady can still wear her fur in the east and in Chicago. These people are practical and understand that fur equals warmth. Here in Southern California, fur is and always has been a fashion not a necessity. Although a fur coat was on my Master List of Things I Wanted back in the late 70's, I will not be sporting any part of a dead animal as I trek across the bridge.

Keep your eyes peeled for my future post on the trip. Who knows, my husband just may take his old  hockey skates along for a spin on the ice rink in Central Park! Ice skating is not in  my Southern blood and I have proudly never skated since a horrid attempt at the Homestead in Virginia many years ago.

Here's wishing you and your families the merriest of Christmas's. It has been a hard year for many Americans. My wish is for peace in the world, in our beloved country and in each of our hearts.

Less Used Place Pieces

 These two lovely spoons are Fruit Spoons. They are slightly smaller than teaspoons and have a more pointed bowl. This is good for scooping grapefruit, oranges or a wedge of melon. The fruit spoon is either the size of a teaspoon or can be slightly smaller as these two. These two monogrammed fruit spoons are quite old but I have a set of more modern fruit spoons that have serrated edges.

These beautiful forks are dessert forks. They are almost "sporks" that wonderful invention of half spoon, half fork which is great for ice cream and cake. These have no markings and are somewhat of a mystery to me. I tend to think they may be of Mexican origin since I purchased them here in Southern California.

These four assorted demitasse spoons probably date from the 1930's to the 1950's. I own many demi-tasse spoons from the ones that match my wedding sterling to sets of six and a whole pile of mismatched. With the popularity of Espresso and coffee based drinks, they are very in demand these day. Lately I have been using them for "tasting party" dishes. You know those tiny desserts many restaurants serve today. Well, that idea has been brought home with time appetisers, tiny bits of main dishes and yes, tiny desserts. Demitasse spoons are intended for small cups of coffee served at the end of a meal or as an alternative hot drink at tea parties. Little girls love demi-tasse spoons and demi-tasse cups. When I was growing up my mother and many of her friends had large collections of demi-tasse cups. I loved when I accompanied my mother to any kind of tea or party where the hostess brought out her collection and served Russian tea in these dainty cups. My mother's collection sits on a large silver tray in my dining room today. Demitasse spoons are four to five inches in length.

Here are two very old oyster forks. Oyster forks and their first cousin, cocktail forks are used with five piece place setting. The difference in oyster forks and cocktail forks is the length of the tine. Oyster fork tines are a bit shorter than cocktail fork tines. Oyster forks are as you have guessed, are used for eating oysters from the half-shell. Cocktail forks are for shrimp cocktail. Since my husband is from Boston, we have eaten many stuffed clams and either fork is good for this treat but I like the oyster fork better. The shorter tine is easier on the mouth since you are sliding the stuffing off the fork. Both are five to six inches in length.

A Serving Piece for Every Food!

 Aah, the Cold Meat Fork, a fork of many uses. This fork is usually eight to ten inches long and is intended for cold meats such as ham, roast beef or turkey. It can also be used for cheeses, hot meats like pork or lamb chops, waffles and it is quite handy for grilled veggies. If you do not have a salad serving set, you can pair it with a tablespoon and use them for lettuce. This particular fork is most likely from the 1920's - 1930's. It is silver plate.

 This Pierced Casserole spoon is a piece from my mother's collection. I remember it having a companion Meat Fork but it seems to have been misplaced. Between the handle and the bowl of the spoon is a bolster which is a decorative accent but also hides the connection between the two pieces of the spoon.

This piece is a Pie Server. I own many and have found many uses. I keep one handy in my everyday silver drawer at  home. Obviously the shape is perfect for a wedge of pie. It is also good for cake slices that have been previously cut, small individual iced cakes, soft cookies and in a pinch you can even use one for sliced tomatoes.

Common Serving Pieces

 There are sugar shells and sugar spoons. Sugar shells are more elaborate and the bowl of the spoon resembles a shell. Sugar spoons may be fancy patterns but the bowl of the spoon is plane like any other spoon with a wider shape at the "mouth" of the bowl. Here are two special examples of sugar shells. The top shell is a monogrammed piece made of coin silver. Coin silver is usually ninety percent silver with another metal mixed in. Pure sterling is very soft and by adding another metal the spoon is more durable. The bottom sugar shell is extremely fancy and is sterling. Sugar shells are meant for dipping sugar from a bowl but any as pretty as these could be used for sauces, nuts or small candies.

Butter knives are just as diverse as sugar spoons. There are individual butter spreaders and there are master butter knives. Individual butter spreaders may be flat handled as the one in the picture or hollow handled. Which ever yours is, they are intended to be placed on the bread and butter plate at each place setting. A butter pat or two should be placed on the bread and butter plate before guests are seated. If not, a master butter plate with a master butter knife is passed and you cut off the amount of butter you wish to have and place it on your bread and butter plate. Then you use your individual butter spreader to butter the bread. A master butter knife is larger than the individual and may have an off-set handle. The master butter knife is used for cutting pats of butter and placing it on your own plate. It is never used to spread butter on your bread. A flat handled butter spreader is five to six inches long and a hollow handled individual butter spreader is a bit larger, six to seven inches. The master butter spreader is also six to seven inches long. You need one individual butter spreader for each place setting in your service but one master butter knife is normal for a flatware set. The master butter knife can also be used for cream cheese.

There's a Piece of Flatware for Every Use!

     Flatware is the word used to describe the silver utensils we use every day to eat our food. It ranges from the "place setting" to the most specialized pieces your imagination can come up with. Having grown up in the South, I sometimes think I know every piece of flatware known to man and womankind and then I find a piece that I have never seen before. It is one of my favorite treasure hunts!

     A place setting is just that, the flatware that serves the "place" you have at the dinner table. Traditionally there are five pieces in a place setting. The knife, dinner fork, salad fork, teaspoon and dessert spoon. In more modern and less expensive sets the place setting is four pieces. The knife, dinner fork, salad fork and teaspoon make up the four piece place setting.

     There are a number of ways to acquire your flatware. You can simply go out and buy it yourself. You can buy whatever your budget allows. Sterling silver is going to cost you over one thousand dollars and the upper limit is endless. You can buy plated silver which can also cost in the thousands. The amount of sterling, quality and pattern will determine the cost. There is Stainless Steel which ranges from a couple of hundred dollars for a really nice set to under ten dollars for a simple utility set.

     Many brides select a flatware pattern which they register at a store and family and friends give pieces as wedding gifts. This is a very traditional practice and dates back many years contrary to today's practice of "registering" for children's birthday parties, divorce set up for the party that got nothing, new house registering or "I hate everything I have and want all new stuff" registering. I am very opposed to this type of greed. I recently heard of a bride, might I add a very old bride, who registered at a number of stores and had appeared to have "registered" just about everything these stores sold. Your friends like to send a gift let us not go overboard!

    One last way to acquire flatware is inheritance. This is an especially nice way to have sterling flatware. Once it is in the family how wonderful to pass it alone from generation to generation. As I have mentioned previously, I have my mother's sterling and it is one of my most treasured possessions. As for my own sterling, the pattern was selected when I was born and I received it as gifts over the years. The set was completed when I got married.

     However  you come to get a nice set of flatware, use it often. There is no reason not to use sterling daily if you so choose. Just remember not to put knives in the dishwasher because the handles will eventually come unglued. Otherwise, putting sterling in the dishwasher will do it no harm. If I have both sterling and stainless in the basket at the same time, I separate the two and see that they are not touching. Also, promptly remove any food from sterling especially salad dressing or any food that contains vinegar. The acid in fruits needs to be rinsed away quickly also.

     A guide to flatware pieces follows. I will start with the basic place setting pieces and add to the guide from time to time. I have some pieces in my collection that don't see a lot of use but they are such conversation pieces. Of course, remember there is a not flatware law that says you cannot come up with an inventive use for any piece you own. If a Lemon Fork works for kumquat slices, go for it and if the Sardine Fork rakes the gravel in the fish tank well, no one other than you will ever know!





    

Flatware for Every Use

 These beautiful antique dinner forks most likely date back to the early 20th century. Dinner forks can have three or four tines and are usually seven to eight inches long. They are part of a place setting which can either have four or five pieces. Flatware is often engraved with the single letter monogram of the owners last name, a three letter monogram or in this case a first name.

Teaspoons are perhaps the most versatile piece of flatware. They are also part of a four or five piece place setting. They are usually five to six inches in length. In a set of flatware you should have double the number of teaspoons. In fact, you may even run short on special occassions with twice as many. Fill in your set with beautiful mismatched teaspoons. You will need them for soups, desserts, coffee, tea, ice cream and cereal. Until you collect specialized serving pieces, teaspoons are also good for sauces.

These salad forks range from very elaborate to rather simple. The fork at the bottom is one of the most ornate I have ever seen and quite beautiful. The top fork has a simple handle but has that beautiful fan design on the base of the bowl. Salad forks are also part of the place setting. They are not only used for salads but desserts and appetizers.  My mother always set my place at the table with a "little fork" for me. Like a teaspoon, salad forks are six to seven inches long.

Gates and doors and iron works

 There are beautiful gates all over Church Hill. Most are iron gates dating back to the early
19th century but occasionally you see a beautiful wooden gate painted white. Guess which ones I like the best?

 Not only is the white lattice work gate a beauty, look at the wonderful brick walk way. Outside our building the city is relaying the old brick sidewalks. The tree roots cause the bricks to pop up from the ground making for a treacherous walk. Workmen remove the bricks and lay a new sand base. Then the bricks are carefully fitted, sometimes chiseled for a perfect fit and replaced. No
mortar is  used between the bricks. It is heartening to see that these skilled workers
still exists.



Doors



The front door is one of your first impressions when you enter a home. Is is a welcoming color? It the brass polished and shining? Is there a door knocker or bell? Are there flowers beside it? Our home in California has a double door entrance. I have always thought this looked extremely welcoming. The truth is we rarely open both doors. Other than a few parties when our daughter was having teenage parties, the doors have only been opened for huge Christmas trees and new pieces of furniture. I always have wreaths decorated for the season on the doors. Right now there are white wooden heart pockets with little roses inside. Not very fall-like. Oh, but there is a spider web hanging on the unused door. I guess that is my Halloween decoration....or a sign I need to clean the front porch!



I love the flying angel on this door. This is half of a duplex and the other door was painted red.