Showing posts with label pig collection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pig collection. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

A Year of the Pig Table to Enjoy All Year Long

After I did last week’s post on my hutch, and saw how many piggy things I actually had, I thought I owed it to myself to put together a “Year of the Pig” table. Yes, I know Chinese New Year is over, but it will be Year of the Pig all year long, and this whimsical table can work year-round as well, particularly if you’re serving Chinese food.
The base of this table is simply yardage of fabric. I love this fabric, and cannot tell you how many times that I have used it, including at my mom and dad’s anniversary party years ago. I bought enough so that I would not only be able to cover the table, but make napkins as well, and you see them here in a pig napkin holder.
The white pig bowls are a new addition this year, and can be used in a variety of ways. They are oven safe, so can hold a delicious casserole (See Meal Plan Monday #10 for casserole ideas.), can be piled full of various forms of citrus fruit, or used as I have done here, lined with a napkin and holding a loaf of freshly baked Outback Steakhouse Bread (You can find that recipe here.).

I love the centerpiece, because like so many others, I have fallen onto the pitcher bandwagon. All three pitchers were a local purchase, from a favorite shop called The White Rabbit. They are reasonably priced, so you may want to check out their website
here (I am in no way affiliated, I just love their shop.).
  Be whimsical, be fun, but most of all be yourself when you set a table. Allow your personality to shine through. Everyone will love it!
The alstroemerias (Peruvian lilies) add a soft touch to the center.
Each place setting is layered with first, a gold placemat, then a rhinestone-studded red charger, topped with lovely white plates, and then a chalkboard pig name holder.
Bamboo flatware is from Crate and Barrel, as well as the small white soup bowls, and Asian soup spoons. The tiny fish plates will hold pats of butter.
The Asian glassware I made myself and you can read about that here.
The two wooden pig bowls, stacked one on top of the other, I bought at a shop in Austin, Texas when Mr. O-P and I were working at the Harry Ransom Library at the University of Texas. The shop was going out of business so I got a great price. You can find them
here.
Chopsticks are always fun, and you can get those
inexpensively here on Amazon. I used to be able to pick up a single grain of rice with chopsticks, but these old hands don’t work as well as they used to, still, I can manage to devour a noodle bowl, the Spicy Peanut Noodles that I made last week in particular.


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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Come See the Hutch


When I first gave you a glimpse of my hutch (that you can see here), someone asked me if I was ever going to be showing the entire thing.
I had planned to do that long before this, but the light comes streaming in through the windows so brightly that it is quite difficult to photograph. I managed to capture a couple of good ones today, and thought I would share them with you.
This is the Tucker Wall Unit from Pottery Barn. It may not be for everyone, but it is just perfect for me.
All of my fun little goodies are in the hutch, and it pleases me to look at them.
I like to change it up with the seasons, and this year I am giving some thought to Chinese New Year. It really played right into my hands with 2019 being the year of the pig.
I have no idea why I have as many piggy things that I do, I never gave any thought to collecting pigs, just somehow accumulated them. (I didn’t realize until after I wrote this post that I had failed to photograph a number of my pig casserole dishes, but that will have to be for another time.) And I think I’m going to be needing these.
Because I’m showing you the hutch, I thought I would also take this opportunity to show you the chandelier that number two son gave me (and installed) for Christmas. The existing one was pretty awful, and it always bothered me. My son knew that, so he asked me last Christmas if I would like a chandelier for over the dining table. When I responded in the affirmative, he asked me what I had in mind. He knows me well, so I told him this: “You pick it out, but keep in mind, the weirder the better.” This is what he came up with and I love it. Steampunk to the max! 
 I hope you enjoyed this little tour. By the time you read this post I will have probably changed things up again! :-)


Shared with Tablescape Thursday

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Tuesday, September 6, 2016

This little piggy


When my grandson was over the other day, he stood in the kitchen, looked around and asked, “Why the piggies, grandma?”

“Piggies? ” I asked.

"They're everywhere," he observed.

They are? I thought to myself as I stood next to him, and looked around. Huh. I guess they are.
I never set out to collect pigs. I'm not even sure how this happened to tell you the truth, but it would appear that I have a bit of a pig collection, and because some of you inquired about the wooden pig bowls from my Baker's Rack Redo post, I thought a porcine post was in order.
The two wooden pig bowls that you all liked so much were the first pigs in my collection. I bought them while we were living in Austin and working at the Harry Ransom Library at the University. Because we were always cooped up in the library all week, on weekends we'd explore the area. I spotted these pigs in a local gift shop that was going out of business and closing down the next day. Few things were left except for this pair. I loved them and was happy to not only have them, but at a drastically reduced price.
The next pig I acquired was this watering can. It was a no occasion gift from my husband. He found it, interestingly enough, in a little newly opened gift and antique store in Ferguson, MO. During the rioting a couple of years ago I'm sad to say that this shop was torched and burned down.
I spotted this pig rug at Garden Ridge while we were shopping for a doormat and came home with it (but no door mat, as it turned out). 
I sneaked this sign from Decor Steals into a rather boring spot over the cabinets while my husband was visiting family in New Jersey. Men being men, he didn't notice it until about six months later.
These colorful pig bowls made me smile. They are from two sources. The large one is from the now defunct Napa Style catalog (I dearly miss that catalog.), the smaller one is from World Market. I like the cheery colors, and these are perfect for storing potatoes, onions, shallots, and garlic so it is close at hand.
This napkin holder is a real favorite. I got it last year as I recall and from either Pottery Barn or Sur la Table.

No one was more surprised than I to learn that I have a pig collection.  Now that I'm aware that I do, I'm on the hunt for more!