Relish Trays

Growing up

there were two things every bride got for a wedding gift

A deviled egg plate

and 

A relish tray!

I DO have my Grandmother's deviled egg plate and I use it -- 

mostly for Easter dinner for that's when we have deviled eggs --

the colored Easter ones are always on the Easter dinner table.

But alas, I have neither my mother's nor my grandmother's 

relish tray.

Growing up, if we ate in the dining room, there was a relish tray on the table.

With celery, olives (usually green pimento stuffed ones)  and small sweet pickles.

As a child, it was one of my favorite dishes!!!

And every holiday dinner included the relish tray

But for holiday dinners it included both kinds of olives -- the big black ones and the green stuffed ones -- the celery too, was often stuffed with cream cheese

I think ahead and sometime during my first year of marriage,

at a flea market that we frequented every Sunday morning,

I found the relish tray of relish trays!

It's big -- think at least 12 inches and it has slots for all the ingredients of a relish tray -- 

with the picture of the ingredients embossed.

The pickles, the olives, the celery . . . and then there is a fish!

I'm not sure if the fish is for caviar or perhaps chunks of tuna

But it is there --

At my house it is another slot to put olives!

It's a depression era piece, I'm sure, but I don't know who made it.

It's not all that common a piece (not like the relish dish like my Mom's that I pictured above)

but I have seen it occasionally.

I knew that one day that I would be hosting and this was a perfect dish!

And it's true, I became the host and so every Christmas, every Easter, every Thanksgiving,

I would get out my dish, fill it from the jars in the fridge, cut celery into sticks, plunk the pickle fork on top and set it on the holiday table.

I was at the Methodist Church Bazaar in the little town 20 miles from us

and there was this dish!

It's small -- about six inches square

But it has the same pictures embossed in it.

So I am sure it's made by the same company in the same time period

It was way more than $2 -- $12 actually, but I knew it had to come home with me.

I thought that I would revive the relish tray for our dinners.

Husband Jim is not big on olives (unless they are in a martini) but he does love pickles and celery

So Tuesday night, I filled the tray and put it on the dining room table.

We ate everything!

And everything is placed correctly, because there is a picture to tell me so.

Those don't look like little sweet pickles, you might comment,

And indeed, they are not -- Husband Jim likes pickles that are spicy or even

a whole raw Jalapeño pepper with his meal

So the pickle slot is filled with a hot pickled pepper.

I love my new relish tray.

It's home is in a kitchen cabinet, not the china cabinet like it's bigger sister.

For it's for everyday use -- not holiday only use.

I think we should revive the tradition of a relish tray with dinners.

It adds a layer of flavor to a meat and potato meal.