corelle for shabbos: yay or nay?

ruchelbuckle

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 6:27 pm

Over shabbos, a few bowls from my china-- Mikasa parchment-- broke. One large plate is chipped, and we currently only have 5 small plates. The bowls breaking was "it"-- we need to either add to or totally replace the set.

We have a difference of opinions in this house:

. One parent thinks we should just forget about getting nice China and get corelle instead. We really need service for 12-16 to get us through a shabbos between our family and guests. Corelle is nice,inexpensive,and takes up less room in our limited cabinet space.

The other family member is a bit more into aesthetics, and prefers a more elegant shabbos table,with chargers, cloth napkins, napkin rings. Etc.... Even though corelle can be nice, this family member feels its a bit " gauche" or blue-collarish to use corelle for shabbos.

If it makes a difference, this family doesn't live in a place where paper goods are sold cheaply like an amazing savings or anythinganything

Any thoughts?

MaBelleVie

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 6:31 pm

It's definitely not my first choice, but if you find that you're constantly breaking your china, it is a more practical choice. There are also some china dishes that are less fragile and therefore less prone to breakage, so you may want to look into that.

Dolly Welsh

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 6:45 pm

You could get a very hard, high-fire, restaurant china that is a standard item and is easy to re-order. It might be heavy, thick and plain white, but it would be china. That might be a good compromise. People accept this kind of china when they eat out.

Look around the restaurant supply websites.

ALWAYS buy way too much china and store the extra. But not in the original packing, mice find it. In a sealed plastic box.

Note the prices are for a whole CASE, not for just one piece:

http://www.restaurant-dinnerwa.....FYAEg

http://www.sterlingrestaurants.....DgAtg

centurion

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 6:49 pm

It's certainly not as nice as china but it's nicer than plastics, even the heavy, expensive ones. Target has a solid white set corelle: the Winter Frost set this black friday for $20 for a 4 person setting, which comes out to not much more than 2 shabbosim worth of those fancy plastics you referred to. The bowls are cereal bowls, which wouldn't bother me but is something to consider. I think that's the case for all corelle sets, not just this one. I think if you get a cheap corelle set now, you might be able to spring for nice dishes once your kids are old enough to care for real dishes properly. You can still dress your table nicely with chargers, place mats, table runners, cloth napkins, etc.

mille

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 6:57 pm

I don't use china for shabbos. I picked a regular plate pattern that I really like, and I think it looks fancy enough! Some of the corelle patterns are really nice. Or, you can go with plain white, which is always classy. Like Dolly pointed out, most fancy restaurants use plain white plates, because it lets the food shine!

Barbara

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 7:07 pm

Mikasa is having a sale on Parchment right now -- 20 piece set for $100.

http://www.mikasa.com/dinnerwa.....=20PC

As for what I would do ....

Both. Corelle for just family. China when you host. Except the littluns get plain white dishes (perhaps Corelle) until they're old enough to reduce the breakage risk.

ETA that once I typed that, I got a pop-up coupon. $30 off orders over $100. Code 14NOV30.

Hope this helps.

zaq

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 7:25 pm

I. love. Corelle. Period.
If Corelle is blue-collar, then I shall be unapologetically blue collar. It's not a moral failing.
I gave away my wedding china that I hadn't used in years and bought myself all new Corelle. Never been happier.
Some Corelle patterns are more everyday-ish and some are more elegant. Big deal. Choose a fancier pattern if you're going to use it for Shabbos.
I don't own "Shabbos" dishes any more. Corelle for fleishik is quite good enough for me, esp. as we don't have fleishik midweek anyway. So by default the Corelle is our Shabbos dishes and we "borrow" them on Sunday to finish what's left from Shabbos.
Besides being less likely to break, cheaper to replace, and lighter to hold, Corelle takes up half the space of anything else--a big plus in my stingy kitchen cabinets.
I would never go back to china.

yamz

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 7:31 pm

How likely is it that you will have more broken/chipped dishes in the near future?If it's not very likely, or if you don't mind constantly replacing, then go ahead and buy china. If it's going to be a constant stress, than in my opinion it's not worth it. What's the point of a "fancy" table if you can't even enjoy it, because every time someone gets up to serve or clear, you worry about the dishes breaking? You can still set a beautiful table without china dishes. You can still use a runner and cloth napkins and all the rest. Your new set will be perfectly "shabbosdik" because the set you purchase will be set aside for Shabbos, Yom Tov and special occasions. The most important thing is that you enjoy whatever you choose.

As a side note, and I don't know if this resonates with you or your husband, but I can assure that some of the most beautiful and holiest Shabbos seudos were held in some very humble surroundings. Many of the tzaddikim and truly great Rabbis throughout history were (and still are) very poor. They certainly did not eat their meals on china; nevertheless, their Shabbos tables were resplendent, as they were adorned with an aura of majesty. If you choose the simpler dishes, purchase with confidence; you will be in very good company.

Rubber Ducky

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 7:52 pm

Corelle is lightweight, inexpensive, durable, has many good-looking patterns, and is made in the USA. What's not to like? My Shabbos dishes are Corelle Enchanted. I love them! Much nicer than the scratched and chipped Pfaltzgraff they replaced.

rachel6543

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 8:03 pm

If you decide to get China, consider buying at Bed Bath and Beyond. I bought a box there with our wedding $ and was able to use the 20% coupon. I got the dishwasher safe noritake China. 5-6 yrs later 2 of the dishes chipped. I brought it back to BB&b and they replaced those two dishes for free!

rachel6543

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 8:08 pm

I forgot to add, I also like Corelle and don't see any issue with using it for Shabbos. if I had to replace my China, I personally would get Corelle myself because it's so much cheaper and harder to break. I do really enjoy my China, but I only have it because of wedding gift $ we used and even then I got a really good deal. But there's nothing wrong with Corelle, find a lovely pattern you will enjoy.

Butterfly

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 8:44 pm

Rubber Ducky wrote:

Like this pattern allot. Haven't seen it yet. I would definetely use it for Shabbas. But if the soup bowl looks like the typical cereal shaped bowl, it would be a no no for me.

Petra

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 8:48 pm

I love our Corelle. I absolutely hate chips in my dinnerware and much prefer Corelle. I only have the china out for seders. Corelle can come in nice patterns and I like the weight of it actually compared to china.

zaq

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 9:00 pm

wiki wrote:

I would get some inexpensive, hardy stoneware (like what stores call "casual china"), in a fancier looking pattern. It'll probably maximize your balance of frugality, fanciness, and durability.

I disagree entirely. Stoneware is heavy and thick, so it takes up a lot of space, and is hard to handle because of the weight. It is not chip-resistant. Corelle is thin and light and thus far more elegant, space-saving and easy to handle. The cost is comparable to "casual china" esp. if you get it on sale, and if a piece breaks under normal use during the first year, the company will replace it.

smss

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 9:07 pm

Butterfly wrote:

Like this pattern allot. Haven't seen it yet. I would definetely use it for Shabbas. But if the soup bowl looks like the typical cereal shaped bowl, it would be a no no for me.

ya, that's my only issue with corelle for shabbos too. I actually found a lot of gorgeous patterns that I think are very shabbosdik, but for me the cereal bowl just ruins it...

eschaya

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 9:07 pm

This from a paper-on-Shabbos person, so feel free to disregard my opinion...
We got nice China when we were first married; it's still in its original boxes. We don't plan on using it till the kids are somewhat older. We first used cheap Israeli china on shabbos... well the pieces chipped so often that we ended up transitioning to the white corelle we had intended for weekday fleishig, and I never felt there was any lack of class or oneg Shabbos. Now of course with more kids and lots of weekly guests it's just paper (the nice kind, though) but the corelle comes out for more chashuv meals! A lot will depend on where you live and your upbringing of course.
I agree with those who recommend the plain white corelle. All restaurants use plain white; it's classy and allows your food to be the centerpiece.

spring13

Mon, Nov 24 2014, 9:09 pm

Ah Mikasa Parchment. Every other person I know who got married in 2008-2009 has it because it was the nicest stuff you could register for at BedBath for a reasonable price. It shouldn't be too hard to replace broken pieces, no?

I bought Corelle for Pesach, but wouldn't have gotten it for Shabbos. Luckily we haven't broken too much of the Mikasa in the last 5.5 years, so I haven't had to deal with this, but I'm pretty sure I'd have just replaced the china. Actually, I'd love to replace my cheap "everyday" fleishig stoneware with Corelle.

FWIW, I went to so many families in Israel that had just Corelle, it's probably not that crazy a thing to do, especially if your family happens to be a little klutzy or otherwise prone to dish breakage.