another collection

Twenty years ago my mom started a collection of Christmas dishes for me and every year she added to the collection.  

Some years there were place settings,

 some years there were serving pieces,

Platter

nesting storage bowls with covers

salt and peppers

and some years there were fun accent pieces. 

cookie jars

candles

cookies and milk for Santa

pitcher and candy dishes

The pattern is Happy Holidays by Nikko.

I like the swirled edges on the plates.  I like that each of the pieces has the same Christmas tree on it with the teddy bear and the star on top.

But what I like most are the collector plates.

Beginning in 1993 the Happy Holidays pattern produced a dated collector plate. They all had the same tree.  The first year the tree was the same as the place setting tree.

First Edition

Sometimes the scene was an indoor one 

Rockin Around the Christmas Tree

and sometimes the scene was an outdoor one. 

Frosty the Snowman

White Christmas

Always the plates were named for a favorite Christmas carol. 

And then something happened in 2009.  

There was a shortage of plates and we were unable to get one that year.

And so the decision needed to be made.  Do we skip that year and have a hole in the 'complete set' hoping to be able to find one later on?  Or do we stop where we are?  When 2010 rolled around I decided to stop with the plates that I have.  Sixteen is quite a few.  Added to the 12 place settings that I have I could serve 28 people which is much more than I have room for in my little house.  I used to display them on the wall and 16 is even a lot to find room to display.  

I still look every once in a while to see if there is one out there for sale online knowing that if I found 2009 those that came after would be easier to find and I could fill out my set.  Nikko also has another set of Christmas dishes called Christmastime which is an octagonal shaped stoneware with the exact same design on the collector plate and I have thought occasionally about getting the 2009 plate in that pattern but it wouldn't be the same. 

And it is fine.  There are still pieces that I need to fill out my set.  More salad plates, more bread plates and more glasses.  And oh the cute serving pieces and accent pieces--new ones every year.  I will be okay.

Here are the dishes waiting to be put away.  I gather them all together and then using a ladder tuck them away in the uppermost cupboards above my sink.  Until next year.

Thanks Mom for the not so small fortune that you have invested in these favorite dishes over the years, usually it was my favorite present under your tree.

i collect...

rolling pins.  

I collect rolling pins.

These are my antique rolling pins.  I keep them corralled in a crock in my kitchen.  Along side of the crock is the rolling pin that i most often use--a French pin. 

  

 Missing from this picture is my lefse pin.   It is actually with the rest of the lefse making equipment at my Mom's.  I usually use the lefse pin for rolling sugar cookies.  My sister, Lisa, does the rolling of the lefse for my generation as she can get them nice and round and thin and I cannot. 

I am pleased to say that my daughter Nikole has taken up the mantle of lefse making for the next generation.  She does a nice job and I am very proud of her.

This is a rolling pin carved from Italian olive wood.

It was brought from Italy by my daughter, Caitlin, who spent a semester in Orvieto. There was a wonderful group of shops selling the wares of local artists. 

Here are a couple pictures of the shop where this treasure came from.

A few years ago I found these cute rolling pin ornaments

and ever since at Christmastime they have graced a tree in my kitchen

This year i found some that were slightly bigger 

so i added garland on the chrome rack surrounding my stove in order to display these as well.