In Praise of the Ceramic Colander

Ceramic colanders might seem like a funny blog topic.

Are you wondering if I’ve run out of things to write about? Is this my ‘jump the shark’ moment?

No, I have not and I certainly hope not.

I just really, really like my ceramic colander.

And I almost threw it away.

The ceramic colander was in a box of jumbled junk in our garage.

(In case you are new, we bought a house and the seller left a ton of belongings behind.) 

I remember picking through the box and finding a bunch of planters for houseplants and then the ceramic colander. I didn’t know what the “bowl with the holes” was, but I thought, “that’s a funny way to grow plants.” For some naive reason, I was still thinking there was an organization system to the boxes of junk the seller had left behind.

Hahahahaha! Ha.

If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry.

I set the bowl aside because clearly one part of my brain knew it wasn’t a planter. The rest of my brain was too tired to think about it. Moving can take an otherwise smart brain and turn it into mush.

I came back to the ‘bowl with the holes’ a few days later and it dawned on me that it was probably a colander. What else could it be?

I now use the ceramic colander for rinsing and storing grapes. It seems to elevate the grapes to a fancier status now that they aren’t shoved in the refrigerator drawer in their original, sad plastic packaging.

If we don’t have grapes in the refrigerator then I have been seriously disappointed by the mushy grapes in the grocery store. If ever there was a time to shed a tear while shopping, mushy, squishy grapes would be it.

I have since learned (now that my brain isn’t mush) that many ceramic colanders, depending on their size, are technically berry bowls. They are intended as a bowl to wash and store berries and often come with a drip plate. My poor berries just get stored in – you guessed it – their original sad, plastic packaging in the refrigerator drawer.

My ceramic colander seems to be larger than many. However, it doesn’t have handles, so I haven’t been tempted to try draining hot water through it. That seems like a recipe for burnt fingers. Been there, done that. Happy to never do it again.

Besides, where would I put all my grapes?

P.S. It is almost funny that I have a ceramic colander, but I only own one cooking spatula.

Priorities, am I right?

For the record, I didn’t find any spatulas in the boxes of junk left in my garage.

The process of making a ceramic colander and even how they get the holes in the bowl is so interesting. I highly recommend spending five minutes to check out The Ceramic School website and watch their short videos.

A ceramic colander would make a neat gift for the person who loves grapes has everything. These are two of my favorites:

I like this one on Amazon because of the one-handle design and how it is designed to drain without the drip plate.

I also like this one on Etsy because of the integrated handles and how it seems shallow so your berries don’t get squished.

Etsy was the only site I found with a reliable selection of ceramic colanders and berry bowls if you are interested!

Thanks for being here. It keeps me on my toes! If you want to see if I’ve already jumped the shark, here are some other posts to help you with your research. 

Living in Ireland: Our Kitchen

Removing Furniture Scratches Without Sanding  

Silverware Tray Display Shelf

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