You caught me. I'm just setting up my afternoon break. Today I'm having coffee to which I'll add a ton of half and half.
I should show you this is a small bowl in the set called "Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe." It was the set my grandmother always used between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I have continued the tradition. There is a slightly larger bowl for salad, and it has a different design. 
I have two creamers and one sugar bowl with lid still intact. I understand those are more difficult to find because they often get broken. Although I remember my grandmother having a gravy boat and tray, I couldn't find it when I brought the set home after she died. So I use the extra creamer to hold gravy each year. I admit I didn't realize the shape of the handles until I saw the cup and creamer side by side. And to think I've looked at these dishes all these years.
I'm now ready to eat my afternoon snack, which is spumoni. Like eggnog, it seems to be a seasonal item. Spumoni which I can only find during the holidays, most likely because of its green and
red color combinations, puts me in the mood for winter and Christmas. The weather has already changed severely, so I don't need much of a nudge.Some may confuse this bowl of deliciousness with Neapolitan ice cream. I am NOT a fan of Neapolitan ice cream, which is chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. The only thing I like in Neapolitan is the chocolate. Not so with spumoni, which is a delicacy. Spumoni contains pistachio with crushed nuts, chocolate with tiny bits of shaved chocolate and hazelnuts, and cherry with bits of cherries, peaches, and nuts. Spumoni incorporates both fruits and nuts in addition to the cherry, chocolate, and pistachio ice creams. In my opinion, this combination makes this ice cream wonderful.
Now you know what I'm enjoying this last Tuesday before winter officially begins, so it's time to show what you are enjoying this week. It can be photos, movies, postcards, books, sketches, mixed media, drawings, paintings, scrapbooking, or other art that is digital, hybrid, or traditional, as long as it in some way relates back to a drink, any drink. Regardless, please share below and Bleubeard and I, along with the rest of the T gang will be by to visit.
That looks like a very refreshing afternoon snack! We just bought two cartons of Egg Nog Ice Cream which only comes out this time of year & DD adores! Since she will be here this weekend, we thought it would make a nice treat.
ReplyDeleteI like spumoni much better than Neapolitan also!
Happy T Day!
Oh I love Spumoni!!! I used to work in an Italian restaurant and they served it there...YUMMMM ♥♥♥♥♥ Still love your Grandmothers dishes.
ReplyDeleteI too LOVE Spumoni but haven't had it or found it in a long time. Please enjoy another for me:). Happy T day!
ReplyDeleteHummm...what is it about ice cream today? I just bought two containers of seasonal pumpkin ice cream to serve tomorrow night with gingerbread cake. I think I've seen dishes like yours.....so wonderful to use something that belonged to your grandmother. How nice!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I ever had that ice cream. but it sounds delicious. Your Grandmother's crockery is beautiful, and I am glad you are still using it. Have a wonderful T day, enjoy your spumoni, and thanks for hosting TSFT, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteThat's a new to me ice variation - sounds delicious! These dishes are beautiful - I can remember my aunt had something similar in blue and white in the 70ties. Great that you use it every year! Traditions are fab and I am sure you often think of your grandma while using it.
ReplyDeleteI miss my grandma still even though she died 1982 - I am thinking of her nearly every day.
oxo
Susi
Your grandmother´s dishes reminds me of my own grandmother´s dessert bowls, except they were blue. I think those types of patterns were really popular during the first half of the 20th Century. I hadn´t heard of spumoni before, but it sounds really delicious! Happy T-Day - although I will not join this week either. I´ll make a real effort for next week! :-)
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful treasure you have in this heritage! and i see it with delight that you use it and do not only store it in the cupboard. this way you remember your grandma much more!
ReplyDeletehappy t-day, elizabeth!
Oh my hubby loves spumoni ice cream! you are right, it does seem to only be available at Christmas time...love your dishes too! So am I hearing that it's cold there in KS? I believe our balmy Ohio weather will be coming to an end soon. We had 68 degrees on Sat....in December! but it won't last. cold is predicted for the coming weekend. Rather more like the winters we usually have! Happy T Day to our hostess with the mostest!
ReplyDeleteMorning E! I just learned a new word... Spumoni! I am presuming it is a type of icecream and it looks very nice! I love that you still use your Grandmother's lovely dishes and enjoy setting the table for yourself and doing it so nicely.
ReplyDeleteYes, please. I'll pull up a chair and join you. I take my coffee black so I won't disturb you ratio of half and half to coffee, LOL! Haven't had Spumoni in years. Now I think I'll have to go look for some.
ReplyDeleteLovely to see your pretty and special dishes again dear E!
ReplyDeleteThat is such a great tradition and sweet way to honor your grandparents ♥
Happy T Day...
I am happy to be back.
oxo
AND your Spumoni sounds delicious and like a lovely treat too!
ReplyDeleteThat looks really nice Elizabeth! What you describe as spumoni, is what neapolitan ice cream should be like really. Obviously in the US it is not! It should also be light and airy (spuma means foam in Italian).
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of things in the US that we don't know. You have baffled me with 'half and half'. I have encountered it in a recipe not long ago and skipped it as I didn't know what it was.... I have now googled it and now I know that it is what we call 'single cream'. Yummy, very nice in coffee.
I love your grandma's tea set, as I have said previously. What a treasure to have!
Have a good week,
Lisca
merry Christmas, Elizabeth!
ReplyDeleteYour snack looks yummy, although I don't thin I could eat so many flavors at once. My mother had those dishes; she collected them a piece a week from our local supermarket. We ate many a Sunday dinner on them when I was small.
We are opposites in that I like Neopolitan ice cream but cannot abide Spumoni. I've never liked pistachio. We'd make a good team at the dessert table ;)
ReplyDeleteYour china is very pretty, and so is your lacy cloth napkin. And yum, I love spumoni. It's not an easy flavor to find, but it's definitely worth the hunt. Happy T Day!
ReplyDeleteOh My!!! I LOVE spumoni ice cream!! There is one restaurant, locally, that has it on the dessert menu. I am usually too full to order it, but can talk DH into getting it so I an have a taste. I don't know what brand they buy, but it is so much better than any I have found in the grocery stores.
ReplyDeleteAntique gravy boats and the covered butter dishes are some of the hardest piece to find. I have two sets of antique dishes and have hunted these pieces for years. I did find the covered butter dish, for one set........OMG!!! They wanted a small fortune for it.....so I happily do without....LOL
Yes, that painting event was almost a waste of time, but I did get a lot of laughs doing it. They are geared to just having fun and giving painting a try. I think the location of this one, which was a country bar in a hotel.......way more beer drinkers wanting to have a good time, had more to do with my first experience not being what I totally expected. The next event is in a more refined surroundings, so hopefully it will be more my style. BUT I did have fun with the other people around me.
Happy T-day
Nice china, love the old fashioned patterns. Coffee and spumoni, oh yes, what a treat. xox
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Spumoni but I must say it looks and sounds delicious! The green of your Grandmother's china sets it off beautifully! Love your lacy napkin too! A little late I know …but friends are important! Hugs, Chrisx
ReplyDeleteI couldn't see the shape of the handles, but they are beautiful dishes.
ReplyDeleteHave never had spumoni. But I shall picture you enjoying it. ;)
Happy T-Day! :)
How wonderful to have your grandmother's dishes. They are really interesting too. I have never seen the Old Curiosity Shop ones but I think my grandmother had something similar with a farm scene on them. I remember using them at Christmas dinner. Isn't fun how things like dishes can remind us of such wonderful people in our lives?
ReplyDeleteYummy! Spumoni! One of my favorite ice cream flavors. I even pour chocolate Magic Shell on mine. Your dishes are lovely too Elizabeth! Merry Christmas!
ReplyDelete