What’s on My Table: New Year’s Day Brunch

My copper collection started with a gleaming copper-and-brass chafing dish my mother brought home one day. She was in a silver plating shop, having silver platters replated, when it caught her eye. Someone had brought it in to be polished and never picked it up. The storeowner sold it to her and home it came.

Up to this point, the only serving platters and chafing dishes my mother ever used were sterling silver or silver plate. I thought it was beautiful and the copper was somehow more inviting and friendly than the formal sterling silver.

My mother never used this and she gave it to me. Like so many things that start early in life. So, I began my love affair with copper.

Copper itself was inexpensive and over the years I found copper patters and serving pieces in discount import stores and at flea markets. Copper itself has become much more pricey, and solid copper cookware or serveware is expensive.

On my recent trip to Morocco, I was in a store that sold mostly tourist trinkets when a large copper teakettle caught my eye. I had never seen anything like it. I could feel it was old and unique and most likely made for a special customer years and years ago. You can guess what happened next: Home it came.

So the table theme for New Year’s Day was about celebrating the New Year while honoring the past:

The copper was collected throughout the years. The dishes were a mix of various types of patterns. The cloth, of course, was new (made by me).

Even the menu featured recipes made by my mom so many years ago and new things I dreamed up.