For 40 years, I've been using my maternal grandmother's silver plated flatware, and it has been fine by me. Recently however, I am less OK with it because some of the fork tines are showing the base metal, a few knives have broken, and it doesn't shine up as well as it used to. I'm sure this is largely my fault from using that silver dip cleaner stuff for many years.
In any event, my mother has a complete set of sterling that has been sitting in a drawer tarnishing. She said I can have it and my sister is also OK with that. I've taken some of it home, polished it (with good silver polish, no dipping) and started using it. The other day, I was eating an egg with a freshly polished, beautifully gleaming fork, and watched the tines turn black before my very eyes. I googled, and apparently this is a thing for silver to react to egg yolk. I'm not sure how I never knew this, but I never did. So I'm wondering if Simple Living can really encompass having to get out the silver polish every time we eat an egg, lol. We like eggs! I am at a stage of life where I could reasonably do this, and while I don't love polishing silver, I don't particularly mind it. It's one of those mindless, contemplative activities.
I'm wondering if I should try to sell her set, buy myself a nice set of stainless, and use the rest of the $$ for Mom's ongoing care needs.
She has service for 12 with big forks, salad forks, big knives, little butter knives, seafood forks, teaspoons, tablespoons, multiple serving spoons, serving forks, ladles, cake slicers. It's certainly far beyond anything she has ever needed, and beyond anything I will ever need. I don't have a dining room, no formal china or crystal, so while I like nice things, we are definitely more of an informal dining household.
Her silver is "Theme" pattern by Gorham, if anyone is wondering. Any input?