Several weeks ago, my mother-in-law Grace sent me a box of beautiful dishes that she purchased in 1998 in Virginia. She brought them home and unpacked them and never used them. They've been sitting in her cupboard all these years.
They are the loveliest dishes I've ever seen. They are made by Villeroy and Boch, and the name of the pattern is Manoir, which translates from the French as "large country manor house". They are white stoneware, and look at home in my French Country kitchen.
Also included with the white set of dishes were 8 small dessert dishes, also made by Villeroy and Boch, called Jardin D' Alsace Auberge, which means "a garden at the inn in Alsace". They are the same shape as Manoir, but have delicate green sage centers and rose-colored rims. As you can imagine, these dishes conjure up wonderful images of sun-soaked flower and lavender fields, and burnt umber-colored brick hotels and inns opening onto narrow cobbled streets in the French countryside. I think of these things each time I take down a dish to use for a meal or dessert.
Of all the things that Grace could have given me, this set of dishes was more meaningful than anything else I could have imagined. I appreciate the aesthetic sense she possesses, and her generosity in sharing this gift with me.
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