I know nothing of dishes, but...
I was curious about this Pickard you mentioned John. Their logo features an American flag, so they're a very patriotic company stating on the website: "Proudly made in America since 1893"!! See link below for them. I love things made in America. All of the Hoovers that I own are models made in the U.S before the China merge. The Rainbow systems I now sell are American made. The only thing not made in the United States on the Rainbow is the belt!!!
I love entertaining but living in a townhouse currently makes that difficult. However these past two weeks I have had house guests on several nights. Friends going through relationship problems needing a getaway and also friends moving into town needing a place to stay while their current housing is a mess from all the moving, etc. I love opening up my door and helping people out. I also love contributing dishes to parties I attend. I never like appearing somewhere empty handed. Whether homemade or store bought the gesture makes me feel like I've done a good deed!! It's fun when friends come together to contribute to a meal. It adds to conversation but all of the neat dishes and you learn more about various peoples eating habits. My biggest food issues involve the avoidance of: swiss cheese, olives- on side only, not cooked into things, soda and fizzy drinks, swiss cheese, bleu cheese, figs, prunes, sauerkraut, baby corn, peas- except in Minestrone soup, chick peas- I tolerate hummus though and eggs are scrambled dry with some browning or Deviled eggs-- no runny liquid of any form I rarely touch hard boiled eggs. Sausage is tolerable, hopefully it's sweet or spicy Italian if that's the only option available. Oh yes and did I mention NO swiss cheese and no soda!?!? I love Tomato Sauces especially a spicy Arrabiata!!! A good pasta gravy I could eat bowls of just like someone eating Tomato Soup. I like pizza best with more sauce than cheese. I can't do extra cheese and could never do a stuffed cheese crust!!! Pickles or relish on just about sandwich is a must. Sauteed onions and peppers are spectacular on everything just about.
I rarely use paper plates. On occasion yes, but it's very rare!! My plate preference is the heavy duty thick deep colored plates that many restaurants use, similar to picture below. I do a lot of pasta in my house and I love being able to melt cheese on an item on a plate in the oven. I also just like something of substantial quality, being able to cut meat without slicing through the plate or having gravies absorb into the plate. If I do dinner rolls, I wrap them in a towel or cloth dinner napkin rather than a paper napkin or paper towel.
I try to be as green as possible!!! don't like increasing what's in landfills. I try to recycle whatever I can--plastic bags go to grocery store, papers, and plastics, etc. go to their recycling bins, old chargers and ink cartridges go to Best Buy collection. This is another reason one of my favorite vacuums is the Hoover PowerMax series. It's a very powerful, excellent cleaning system power team canister series that tended to primarily range from 9.3- 9.8 Amps depending on when it was produced, and was a great energy saver compared to most every other manufacturers 12 Amp canister systems. The Futura/ PowerMax series had a good run from around 1989 to 2006 respectively with a few changes here and there.
And pictures will be up soon but I just got another gem of that series a childhood vac and model that was my first of the Hoover PowerMax's to experience!!!
I've never had a personal chef or catering team in my home. It's my home and kitchen and I'll set it and have it run as I please with out the ugly chaffing dishes and other generic things they may have. I'd rather have things put back where I want them rather than how they might leave it. Growing up we had a cleaning lady every week. Our home was big and it would take me over 10 hours just to clean the house when in 6 hours Jeanette could iron about 15 garments, and have the place dusted, vacuumed, mopped, and bathrooms in a 3 floor home with dog hair!! Not everything was perfect at the end of her day but it was a blessing compared to what we could accomplish and everything looked good!
I love pitching in to help at friends gatherings too!!! The more hands the merrier!! Working in restaurants of over 12 years I have a passion for kitchen work. Not that washing dishes is a favorite but it's a definite need. At my house I try to wash a lot of the big stuff as soon as it's done being used and have a fair bit of the cooking pots done with before meal is ready to eat. Bussing the table, wiping table, prepping produce, drying dishes, etc. is no trouble and the least I could do for someone that worked very hard and was generous enough to open up their home to house a party and provide a wonderful meal!!! Vacuuming the dining room after a meal would be my pleasure too of course. Especially during the spring and summer when bugs can be a nuisance then vacuuming dining room and mopping kitchen after a gathering is a necessity!!
http://https//www.pickardchina.com/
I am in no way into the feminine side of entertaining 
keeps me up to date on the go .
