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Retro serving goods for an old-fashioned holiday meal
BY LIZA WEISSTUCH
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Why is it that no matter how many holiday dinners you host, they never seem to get any easier? There are times and temperatures to coordinate, birds to baste, and casseroles to season and garnish. Needless to say, mishaps are as inevitable as the cheers resounding from the room where the football game is blaring. Maybe the marshmallows gilding the sweet potatoes aren’t quite puffed up to perfection, or the platter of dark meat looks a little more tussled with than artfully carved. No need to throw in the dishtowel. As any expert host will confirm, the true coup lies not in the substance, but in the staging. If the platter is primo and the arrangement is attractive, guests will care less that the grub isn’t Zagat-caliber. (Or at least they’re less likely to be vocal about it!) We figure one of the best ways to show off your stovetop wizardry is to zap your guests back to an era when the dames of prime time could heat up an evening poaching eggs, when Tupperware was as hot a conversation topic as eveningwear. If you push your holiday dinner forward with a little retro flare, maybe you’ll avoid those awkward silences when the gravy pours out in clumps. Your typically mousy aunt will be chirping about her high-school sock hops as soon as you bring out the stuffing in a Jade-Ite serving dish ($17–$25) from Aunt Sadie’s General Store. It has a pleasantly tacky aqua-blue hue and a cheery tagline announcing that you can " bake ... serve ... store ... reheat all in the same dish! " , so guests and host will be equally amused, even if auntie’s story is a bore. For a stand-alone conversation starter, pick up a tin serving tray ($14–$36) at Otro Lado. As guests remove the bitty hors d’oeuvres or glasses of wine, they’ll uncover a classic ad for Corona or old-school soda and be so caught up in its vintage charm that they won’t even notice the cabernet is a 2003. Speaking of vintage ads, Posh sells large square Oneida serving platters ($30) rimmed with colorful cartoon images of old-fashioned labels from fruit and vegetable crates. They’re ideal for creative arrangements of carrots, celery sticks, and dip. In case you can’t find your horn-shaped basket for bread, you’ll need a dish for the dinner rolls. (In some dining rooms, it will bear the most harmless fare of the holiday meal.) Bliss has Joseph Joseph cutting boards ($24). Decked in moxie-cool-hued retro-checkered patterns, they easily double as serving trays. For a slightly more refined presentation, Bliss also has Nambé plates and bowls ($120–$165). Made from an alloy that goes niftily from fridge to oven and retains heat and cold, these serving pieces demonstrate the true spirit of innovation that defined the Atomic Age. Some of the slick, streamlined designs were actually created circa 1956, and carry the futuristic look of that time well into our ultramodern era. Only time will tell whether your dinner can last in your cousins’ and siblings’ memories for that long. Or maybe you’ll be more thankful if it doesn’t. Where to find it: • Aunt Sadie’s General Store, 18 Union Park, Boston, (617) 357-7117. • Bliss, 121 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 421-5544; www.blisshome.com • Otro Lado, 5 Brookline Street, Cambridge, (617) 354-1475; www.otro-lado.com • Posh, 557 Tremont Street, Boston, (617) 437-1970.
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