Friday, June 28, 2013

Just an old box



I hesitated to throw out this box. These trays were all the rage in the seventies and eighties. Daughter was at a disposal of household contents event last year and was given this, unused, in its original box. I remember giving a few of them away as gifts in my time but lawdy knows what happened to my one, it could have worn out or got lost in one of the moves. I was delighted when she gifted me with this wee treasure.

It speaks to me of simpler times, fondues, stuffed tomatoes and green peppers, basic salads, corning ware. These hot trays would keep everything warm on the sideboard or counter. I was one who used corning ware for everything, stove top, oven, serving, baking, frying, broiling, roasting, coffee making, - even my tea-pot had the traditional cornflower emblem.

Back then, as young twenty-somethings, our crowd would entertain each other every Saturday night. It was cheap and fun and everyone brought something or other. We were all broke, living from paycheque to paycheque and our little ones ran around and guitars came out and we sang and told stories and passed the odd spliff and shared big jugs of cheap wine.

In my move to a zen existence, this box has to go, but I thought to capture it, its essence so to speak, before it winds up as a fire starter in my wood stove.

Nostalgia swirls like a fog sometimes around the most unexpected artifacts.

14 comments:

  1. I inherited a stainless steel hostess tray when I moved in here thirty six years ago. I used it many times. I have two round corning dishes, but they are without patterns or flowers. They are used quite often in my oven.

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  2. Yes the "cornflower" was the original insignia of the Corning company, I believe, GM.

    the stuff never wore out!

    I truly love the hot tray for entertaining!

    XO
    WWW

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  3. The former owners of my house left behind a small corning ware casserole. I use it, although I am mor of a pyrex sort.

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  4. My cousin, who never throws things away, still has those corning ware dishes.
    We had a Corningware coffee pot, which we thought was very classy.
    And casseroles. Remember casseroles?

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  5. Ah, yes, I remember them well. I guess we all end up as old boxes - though hopefully not to serve as fire starters on the Great Satanic Wood Stove down below!

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  6. SAW:
    What I love about corning ware is that it is effortless to clean. For really bad burns, just bleach it off. :)
    XO
    WWW

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  7. Hattie:
    yes loved the casseroles and also had a dutch oven which was amazing for stews and chili!!
    XO
    WWW
    And the coffee pot coffee (perc) would leave hairs on one's chest... :)
    XO
    WWW

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  8. You know, I think about all of the "old boxes" cluttering my life at the moment and sometimes wish I had a wood stove. I keep promising myself that I'm going to start with the paper clean-up and get it done as well as get rid of some of the old boxes. When you've been as much a transient as we have, sometimes it's puzzling how you hang onto stuff as if that provides some sort of link to home. Happy zenning! Happy Canada Day too! vp

    (Your captcha thingy tells me to prove I'm not a robot. Based on the "Truman Show" movie, I'm not sure I can do that!!!!!) :-)

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  9. I wrote out the frittata recipe for you in my response to your comment on my post. L-)

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  10. Veep:

    do you know what I find helps and I've passed it on to others who agree with me?

    I set the timer for whatever - 10 mins, 15 mins, and do a clean-up, pitch burn donate photograph discard. I find it really helps. Just some little inroad and it makes it a bit easier.

    Maybe we're all robots... I really loved that movie.

    XO
    WWW

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  11. Oh you angel, SAW, I'm on my way over right now.
    XO
    WWW

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  12. I understand.

    There was a time when we entertained a lot and we had an electric food warmer like the ones we see on buffet tables in restaurants. When our life style changed post my retirement, I stores it away in a loft but was using the glass trays to microwave things. Recently, in a burst of cleaning up, out it went, but not before a lot of memories were dredged up.

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  13. I read out the phrase Corning Ware to my husband; he's worked in the glass industry for years and Corning Ware was a real headache when it came to recycling glass. It has such a high melting point that when recycled with ordinary glass it won't melt! So it causes breakage in the new glass with its small unmelted particles.

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