This week I experimented with the placemat, napkin, and tablecloth combination. Not really liking the outcome but we did use our fine china (Noritake pattern Shenandoah) and sterling silver flatware (International Silver pattern Prelude). I think I need to look for some new placemats or tablecloths.

I am so surprised at how much it would cost to replace the china and flatware – each place setting of the dinnerware is about $75 and we have service for 12 with added bowls (for 12) and 2 extra plates and a bunch of serving pieces (about $1500 to replace). The flatware runs about $170 for each 4 piece place setting with added serving pieces (about $2000 to replace).

So why the rundown on the cost of replacements?

While we were eating this extra yummy flank steak with ginger, onions, and green beans, the spoons just aren’t big enough. When we use our stainless flatware, we use the soup spoons for this dinner. These teaspoons just don’t cut it!

I started looking into purchasing soup spoons in our sterling pattern. They are running about $55 each on ebay and Replacements.com. Buying 12 is out of the question at this time but I might be able to swing 6. I’ll need to ponder this a little more.