A Ladies Meeting

I remember as a child going with Mother sometimes to her ladies meetings.

Why I didn't stay at home with my brother and my father, I don't know

but I didn't . . . and I felt so grown up!

Dessert and coffee were served after the meeting

(and I must not have been bored for there was the promise of cake

and mother took me to more than one so I must have been good!)

Last night, ladies met at Linderhof . . . 

The table set up in the dining room

With teacups in Spode's blue room

(I have a lot of those)

as well as Spode Blue Italian

(the nice thing about liking blue and white china, it all works together!

so you can use it when you have a crowd!)

My common glass plates that I bought eons ago -- 50 of them for $1 each

And I have used them over and over again in place of paper goods.

I cannot tell you how much I've saved by using glass instead of paper

And it's just a bit nicer whenever you use "real" dishes!

The centerpiece is "borrowed" -- my new favorite petunia, Indian Summer, bought

for the mother's at church tomorrow but I snagged them and put them pot and all in

one of my blue and white bowls.     Their color is a good compliment to the blue and white!

Dessert was simple:

Gingerbread with a maple cream sauce to spoon over the top

(the sauce topped with some freshly grated nutmeg)

The ladies pronounced it "delicious"!

And in the middle of my meeting, I had an "aha" moment . . . 

Too many ladies, not enough tables and each lady would have a cup and saucer and a plate of cake and a fork to eat it with!

My original plan of clear glass plates for cake and a cup and sauce for tea

would not work!

In mother's day, everyone had those little "hostess sets"

The big glass plate and the little matching cup

which could hold either punch or coffee

For meetings (both social and church), for showers

Each woman had at least a dozen and if you expected more,

a friend would lend you theirs.

You can find them at flea markets and such, although not totally all there.

They're often cheap enough.

And they do make a lot of sense . . . a big plate, a cup that fits on it so that you can hold it in one hand and eat your cake with the other and then sip your beverage . . . 

Halfway through the meeting, I had an idea . . . 

I brought out my Spode Blue Room dinner plates,

took the glass plates back to the cupboard

and stacked the saucers in the kitchen . . . 

I made my own hostess set . . .

A Spode Blue Room or Blue Italian dinner plate

The cup filled with tea, dessert and a fork

Worked just as well as the hostess set

And actually there was one less dish to wash

(no saucer!)

If you're ever faced with a similar situation, look no further than your cupboard

A dinner plate and matching cup

makes a great "hostess" set when you have the ladies over for a meeting!