As I have stated before, I have the ability to become excited over things that others might consider small or even silly. The latest installment in my “silly little things” saga is actually due to a quality that I inherited from my mother. My mother’s family was quite poor when she was growing up, so poor in fact that for much of her childhood they did not have a set of dishes that matched. Her mother’s dinnerware was a hodgepodge of various dishes, and they used Mason jars as drinking glasses (although I purposefully have used Mason jars as drinking glasses – I think stuff tastes great from them!). My mother swears that these early childhood experiences are what have fueled her incredible obsession and LOVE of dishes. And when I say that she loves dishes, I mean that we would have 75 different sets if our kitchen was just large enough to hold them all.
I’ve heard that as a woman gets older she often turns into her mother. Yep. That would be right. I, too, love dishes; they don’t even have to cost very much. Through the years a dish or set of dishes from Wal-Mart or Dollar General have thrilled me to my toes. And so, I proudly present my latest treasure:
Most of the items in this display are from a line of ceramic bake ware called “Temp-tations” that is designed by a woman named Tara and is offered exclusively on QVC. I love them because you can bake in them (up to 500°), and they are dishwasher and microwave safe. Most of the pieces come with wire baskets and glass trivets making them so cute that you can serve right from the baking dish (although some sets come with extra serving bowls). They also come with snap-on plastic lids, and even though they don’t give the perfect seal that you get with some plastic storage stuff, it has done an adequate job for me when it comes to stacking and storing left-overs in the refrigerator.
My original set was in a pattern called “Old World” in the color choice called “Confetti”. Here is a serving bowl to give you an idea of what that looks like:
I like the “confetti” color because it incorporates most of the colors available in the Temp-tations line, including lilac. I have never seen a kitchen done in lilac before, but the more I think about it, I bet that would be really pretty!
Well, it just so happened that I was watching a presentation on QVC one day when Tara showed a set in a pattern called “Floral Embroidery”:
Apparently, it was one of the very first patterns in the line and had been discontinued for quite some time. Due to customer request, she was bringing this pattern back in this one set for a one-time offer. “That’s really cute,” I thought. Mom agreed and so I ordered it.
When it arrived and we first saw it, Mom and I squealed like pigs. It is so cute! It's even cuter than the picture because there are flowers on the inside that are raised/embossed.
Somewhere along the way I remembered that Tara had shown just how great this set looks with her polka-dot dinner ware. Curses! Now I was going to need that dinner ware!
The dinner ware is sold in sets of service for 4, and since I needed enough dishes for 12, I ordered one set in yellow, one in red, and one in green, all with white polka-dots. I still smile every time I open the cabinet and see them all stacked there:
I especially liked the yellow set, so much so that I just KNEW that I needed to order the square bake ware in the yellow with white dots. When I got that set, it was SO bright and SO cheerful that I needed something else. I was over the moon when the little canister set arrived:
Adorable! Still, there was something missing. Oh, I know:
The tail feathers in this little chicken are no ordinary feathers – those are measuring spoons. How stinking cute is that?!
So now you know my dark, awful secret: The sight of floral and polka-dot bake ware can turn me into a giggling school girl, as I continue to find joy in silly little things! Like a moth to the flame I return to QVC for more stuff for the kitchen! (Dear Tara: I haven't decided if I really love you or hate your guts for sucking me in to your Temp-tations web!)
If you would like to see this cute bake ware, I feel that it is my responsibility to warn you that one set is not enough. It is very easy to go from being someone who simply bakes with ceramic bake ware to someone who collects ceramic bake ware (the path to the dark side is short, indeed!). However, if your restraint is greater than mine, you may examine it at your own risk: If you wish to enter into "Temp-tation", click here.
