One of the fun things about making dinner at our house is deciding what plates to use.  We do have a few options…

I actually don’t know for sure how many different sets of dishes we have.  We have at least 4 sets of four, the ‘every-day,’ the ‘good stuff,’ quite a bit of my grandmothers and china from my great-aunt Dolores… And there are any number of special plates we have acquired or collected over the years.  Oh. And Christmas dishes for 36…

Lots of options when setting the table.

I love how food looks different on different plates.  I like the memories of the different china.  The Bayshore Diner Blue Plate Special dishes came from the Westin SFO when I opened it back in 1987.  They were a going-away gift when I transferred to Indianapolis to open the Westin there.  Almost 25 years ago.  The Bayshore Diner is gone – hotel restaurants need to continually reinvent themselves – but I can look at those plates and remember Opening Day with a hostess on roller skates and wearing a poodle skirt – and our fabulous Executive Chef who just couldn’t make a meatloaf without it looking like  a pâté or terrine.

Memories…  the plates from Linda and David, the dishes we bought in Seattle with Bonnie and Print at Pike Place Market.  The plates from Cost Plus in San Francisco… The James Beard limited edition plates from the 1992 James Beard Annual Dinner that Susan gave us for Christmas one year.  A story behind all of them…

The fun plates used above are from Teatro Zinzanni in San Francisco.  Emblazoned on the rim is Love Chaos Dinner.  And what a wild dinner that was!  Almost 4 hours of non-stop Love, Chaos, and Dinner!  It’s almost impossible to describe – it’s a literal circus where the diners are part of the entertainment.  Just unbelievably fun.

And it is all about fun. I took a page from the Victor Martorano Pasta-Cooking Book and made way too much pasta for the two of us. No problem… Lunch for Victor tomorrow.

And just because it’s a bazillion degrees outside doesn’t mean I can’t bake bread!  That humidity makes for the perfect proofing box!  Out to the back deck to rise…

The No-Knead Bread came out great.

The pasta sauce came out of the freezer.

And a good time was had by all…