The White Hutch - A Home for Orphans

I have been collecting white dishes for decades - a few saucers here, a couple of plates there, a little pitcher when I see one. Most of it cost less than a dollar. The simple styles - plain, unadorned utilitarian pieces are what attract me most. I don't have a full set of 8 of many things. 

I'm not picky by most folks' standards - I'll buy old or new. I've made purchases at restaurant supply houses, thrift stores and dollar stores. Any brand is fine, and I use them daily. Over the years I've found charming little pitchers: 

I purchased my first set of white plates in 1984 - at a church garage sale. They are made by Tepco China. I bought 8 of them, and have often wished I'd bought every one they had. They're super tough and after years of daily use by one clumsy woman and three children, only one was ever broken. Two others carried a meal to someone, and were never returned. 

When that happens, it's really not a big deal. Though I've never found more Tepco plates in the simple style I have, there's always another white plate out there. 


I actually LIKE having mismatched white dishes! Mixing pieces with variety in detail and slight variation in color is almost like mixing textiles. I really prefer to have matching dinner plates, though. Note to self: Look for more Tepco, or buy another big set of white plates. 

I enjoy using mixed white serving pieces as well. I like bowls with textured patterns that nest inside each other. It pleases me when the stripes run different directions. Sometimes I'll purchase a new set of matching white nesting bowls, but eventually they get broken one by one. 


That's ok, though. They still fit in quite nicely with the other mismatched pieces in my collection. 

I have a mismatched silver tea set, given to me by my new friend Celeste. She apologized that it was tarnished when she gave it to me. I couldn't have been more pleased! I love tarnish. 

It rests a shelf below a pyrex baking dish inside a silver plated serving trivet. I bought it at my friend Rose Lee's garage sale. A vintage wire chicken - egg basket is nesting there at the moment.

Above the chicken is a new trifle dish - a gift from my sweet Hannah for Christmas last year. (It is a dangerous dish to own!)It makes layered desserts and salads look lovely. At first, I was worried that it wouldn't hold enough for our Christmas dinner crowd, but it holds more than you think it will. I guess it's because the sides don't slope in like a bowl does.


To the left of the silver tea set is a nice large pasta bowl from Ikea. A white basket inside it is holding dried gourds and mini ears of corn to remind me fall is almost here! 

On the top of my hutch, I keep a collection of wicker-clad bottles and a wine basket from France. I began collecting them years ago, and now they've become so pricey I haven't added a new one in years. I'm not sure where I'd put it if I did find one! On second thought, I'd have to find a place for it. After all, this is a home for orphans! 

Word for the Day:


James 1:27


Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.


May our Lord bless your Wednesday!


-Revi