November 27th, 2007 - Small plates
Because we have a tendency to drop plates (and glasses) around here, we have less than a full set of plates and sometimes run out before the dishwasher is run. The other day Eric went up to the top cupboards to bring down my Christmas plates–we haven’t used them before because they have gold plating, which will rub off in the dishwasher and can’t be put in the microwave. We rarely use the ‘wave and I’d rather use the pretty plates than worry about the gold coming off. While he was up there, he brought down the saucers that were part of the place setting. He didn’t realize what they were until he got them lower. He was about to put them back when I said they’d make nice little plates, to supplement the usual small plates which we also run out of.
It’s true what they say about using smaller plates leading to eating less. Two examples. Thanksgiving dinner: only a small portion of turkey and stuffing (I wasn’t about to touch the cranberry jelly Eric and Maggie adore) fit on the saucer. Supplemented by a large apple, I had plenty to eat. Yesterday, I had the choice of two donuts for breakfast. I could have just taken the box to the living room to eat out of, I decided to use a plate. Taking a little plate meant only one donut fit at a time. By the time I finished the donut and the last of the eggnog, I realized I wasn’t really hungry for a second donut. I’m certain that if I’d put them both on the larger plate, I would have gone ahead and eaten both. But my making sure I had at least a couple minutes of time in between finishing one and starting the other (needing to go to the kitchen, turn on a light, open the box, etc.) gave me space to truly think about whether I needed more food. And I didn’t. Okay, three examples: I have leftover frosting from Maggie’s birthday cupcakes. It’s delicious on graham crackers (great snack from my childhood). Two frosting sandwiches fill up a little plate but would look piddling on the small plate and I would probably make 3 or 4 of them. (I know, because I’ve done so in the past.)
Oh, did I mention I made the frosting for the cupcakes (both sets)? Wow–homemade frosting tastes so much better than store-bought! I need to buy more powdered sugar so I can make more. Not that we have any need for cake, but I do like dessert….
The irony of this is that I’ve only once used the large Christmas plates, now. And only because Eric grabbed me a plate for the omelet last night. (My favorite cottage cheese omelet. One good thing to come out of Jedi being sick is we found a brand of cottage cheese I adore–the cheapest store brand!). Hmmm, I wonder if cups and saucers came with them, too?
Carrie talks about food portions being out of control back in September at The Real Food Revolution and has a list of ideas for keeping portions in control, including the small plate of course.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:32 am EDT
[…] Before we left for vacation, I made sure all the dishes were washed. So upon our return, it really hit me how few plates we have left from the set we got for our wedding. The problem is that although I thought stoneware plates were pretty and durable, they are not a good idea for clumsy people. Out of 8 place settings, we have only 3 small plates and 4 large plates left. I recently started using the saucers for breakfast, but two pieces of toast is too large to fit on them. At the winter holidays, we got down the pretty gold-plated winter set, which we never used to use because they “shouldn’t” be put in the dishwasher. We put them in the dishwasher rather than never use them. So we have enough large plates now. […]