Plate Tally, and the Benefits of Corelle

  MyGuy and i were married in the Era of EarthTones.  The Color People had declared  that Everybody Likes Earth Tones, so we had to furnish our home in harvest golds, earth brown, avocado green, harvest orange, copper, and chartreuse, even though i preferred was blues and emeralds.*
   Max breaks plates to communicate frustration.

  You notice his favorite plate retains its full complement. 
  Mind you, i never really liked the brown-rimmed Corelle.  We needed something, i didn't want china, and this was the nicest design i saw on the shelves in the bleak Spice o Life Era of Earth Tones.
 But it did provide our major place setting stash for over 30 years.

Melamine and Plastic Replacements, with Disadvantages

  You have to check labels to see if they're dishwasherable & microwavable.  The ones i've bought say they're dishwasher safe, but MyGuy doesn't trust the translucent red ones there, so they're just hand-wash.  And i didn't read closely enough on the traditional flower design right - it isn't supposed to go in the microwave.

 The Cutting Surface

  Sometimes we take a frozen pizza out of the oven and want to cut it on the plate instead of getting out a cookie sheet.  If you try that on plastic or melamine, you get scored plate.  Not good.
  Same if you serve pork chops or cube steak on it.
  Max is having difficulty with this concept too.  We need to convey it, since fetching plates for dinner is soemthing he can do.

Family Pork Chop Recipe

  This is a family effort, and enjoyed by all.
  Whoever is home when MyGuy calls at quitting time, sets the oven to 375 and scrubs & pierces potatoes.  Foil wrapping is optional; MyGuy likes his unwrapped but the rest of us prefer wrapped potatoes.
  We (i) make sure the cooking area has room.  Then our part in the dinner is done until serving time.
   When MyGuy gets home, he browns the chops in a frying pan and removes them to a covered casserole.  By this point it's been an hour since he called and the potatoes went in, but potatoes are forgiving, and if we were late the temp can be bumped up.  It's ok.
  The covered casserole goes in the oven with the potatoes.  An hour later, pork chops and baked potatoes.
  A dollop of applesauce on top is really good too.


*FYI , i never heard that 2013's color was Emerald.  It's not what  think of as Emerald, and i don't paritcularly like it.  Too slimy looking.

Update, 2/10: Plates hide, plates show up.  i can account for 2 red and a blue translucent plastic.  No idea where they were when i originally posted.