Iittala Essence Coupes

I have wanted a set of coupe glasses for years, but it has been hard finding the perfect ones. I saw that Iittala came out with a coupe a while back and, combined with our new cocktail book, it was finally time to get them.

Happy New Year!

My partner and I spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home with duck a l'orange and farro, and dessert in front of the fireplace from a pastry shop nearby.  We're sort of home-bodies, but one of my New Year's resolutions is: more dinner parties!  ...at least one a month seems reasonable - and then we'll get to use our dinnerware more often. :)

About the pictures:  It was sort of a Danish/Finnish night.  We used our Nissen Rune dishes and Dansk Fjord silverware, both designed by Jens Quistgaard.  The glassware is Iittala - Ultima Thule for the water, Aarne champagne flutes, and Essence cordial glasses for a dessert wine (I found out recently that we can no longer get the cordial size in the Essence pattern, although they are still on the Iittala website (where they are called "Sweet Wine")).  Dessert is on a Dansk teak tray (also Quistgaard).

The little red espresso cups were a Christmas present from my parents by Heath Ceramics.  I love how Heath fits in so nicely with Scandinavian design.

Fall into Winter

The end of the year certainly has a lot going on!  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's, the mundane parts of life seem to have taken over.  I'm also starting to wonder if my focus here on ceramics is too limiting, and if that's why my updates here have been so sparse of late.  As I look around my house, I realize there are Scandinavian influences everywhere - so, I think in the new year I'm going to start sharing a little bit more than just ceramics (well, I'm going to make it official...I've already had a few non-pottery posts).  

About these pictures:  We used a few different Dansk candleholders for the first time - the brass candlesticks in early December, and the taper crown for Christmas dinner.  

We also completed our collection of Lisa Larson Advent candleholders.  The marks on the bases are not all the same:  the boys have the original Gustavsberg marks, but the girls are marked Rörstrand.  

Christmas Eve dinner was at my parents' house on their lovely Porsgrund Hearts and Pines.

Dinner

One of my cousins from Norway has been visiting for the last 3 weeks, and we had her and my parents over for dinner on Sunday.  She brought my three fun plates (Stavangerflint and Figgjo) that I'll post soon.

We used our Heath Ceramics dishes the Dansk Fjord silverware and Iittala wine glasses - three different countries, but they all go really well together.  For dessert we bought some little tarts from Patisserie 46 and served them on our Millesgården plates by Rörstrand.

More from Mother's Day

More from our Mother's Day dinner with my parents - we broke out a bunch of the Scando dishes...our new Rune dishes by Nissen (designed by Jens Harald Quistgaard), the Fjord silverware by Dansk (JHQ), and Iittala glassware (Ultima Thule (Taipo Wirkkala) and Essence (Alfredo Häberli)). The centerpiece has Relief candleholders by Kronjyden and Dansk glass vases (both JHQ).

We served roasted cauliflower with capers golden raisins (a Lucinda Scala Quinn recipe) in the fun mod Upsala Ekeby dish.

Just a few snacks before dinner.  The cheeseboard is Dansk (JHQ), the glass-handled knife is by Lindshammar, and the little dish with the crackers is the Mons og Mille pattern by Figgjo Flint (Turi Gramstad Oliver).