My treasured blue star plates
My best-ever bargain was a pile of white china plates with blue stars on. They cost £1 each in the Whittard sale and I snapped up 12 in a trice. The following week they’d been reduced even further and I promptly bought six more. My whole family laughed at the vast quantity of plates in the kitchen cupboard but they were used day in, day out for ten years. We had so many plates that we could entertain a whole rugby team and never run out.
But now the plates have had their day. Some are chipped and cracked, while most of the others have lost their shine.
So I bit the bullet and ordered a brand new set of plates from Cox & Cox, the ultra chic mail-order company. The replacements are a vision in white – handmade and Italian, just like a posh pair of shoes. Except most importantly of all, they didn’t cost an arm and a leg and can be stuffed in the dishwasher.
The only trouble was that I thought everyone would be thrilled, and they aren’t. My son and daughter said that they loved the old ones and didn’t want me to get rid of them.
And then I had a brilliant idea. My kitchen standards aren’t the highest and nothing matches but the star plates are too scruffy – even for me. So I’ve divided them into two piles and given my children half each. They’re perfect for student kitchens… and it doesn’t matter a jot if they get broken. High fives all round.