The Julienne Tool slices raw vegetables into very thin strips. Mine is a gift from my sister, who purchased hers on one of those "But wait! You can buy two..." T.V. ads. You can buy one online by clicking here. I like wooden spoons because they are sturdy.

I am old enough to have gone through more than one complete set of dishes. Do young women still have hope chests? I suspect not. When I was a high school senior, I purchased my first set of tableware with money earned from my co-op job. Those plates were special. A couple years later, I asked my first husband if he would help me with the dishes. He lifted one of the plates from the drying rack, opened his fingers, and dropped it to the floor. As I stared, he shattered two more before quietly saying, "I don't do dishes." From that experience, I learned two things. First, that for whatever reason, a complete set of dishes does not stay complete forever. Second, well, it took me another eight years to learn the second.

Many years and a new marriage later, I came home from our local Goodwill store with three beautiful dinner plates - creamy white, rimmed in violets. They cost me eighty-nine cents each. I knew they would match the few remaining saucers from my most current but now incomplete set - also creamy white, rimmed in green plaid. When my husband said, "But, there are only three," I replied, "Well, there are only two of us!"

And, so it started - my obsession with cruising the tableware aisle every time I am in a second hand store - which is often. The violets are my spring plates. I have four summer flower plates with matching bowls, and five fall fruit plates and bowls. When I have dinner guests they sometimes play musical chairs to sit with their favorite plates. Having a variety of tableware also puts an end to the, "Oh, I just can't pick a favorite!" At eighty-nine cents, I can own as many as I want. And, no matter how busy I am, when I set these plates on my table, my dinner becomes more relaxed and inviting; and my meals more pleasant.