Operation Cornflower Complete - Centura Dinner Service for 4 and a Cup of Coffee with the Cornflower Giveaway

I have been on a tireless search for the last couple of months.  Ever since I succeeded in hunting down the dinner plates for my Centura Cornflower, I have been hunting high and low for the ever elusive bowls to accompany my service for 4.  It has been a quest fraught with peril and frustration.  I've braved blistering winds and scorching deserts...  Climbed to the highest room of the tallest tower... and...  um, Wait!  Sorry, wrong movie.

I have searched high and low, hither and yon, over hill, over dale, down dusty trails and back again. 
Then FINALLY!

I have completed my quest, with the added bonus of 4 tea cups and saucers as well. (cause they were just sitting right there next to the bowls)

Not into Tea?  That's all right, I got your back.  I found 5 coffee cups in Suprema (produced much later than the Centura) for those who would rather have a cup o' Joe.

I am not completely sure that they are Suprema, they may be actual "Corningware" but I know for certain that they are NOT Centura, because they have "Microwave OK" embossed on the bottom, and Centura cannot be used in the microwave.

I like the smaller bowls.  They are solid white, and initially intended for the plain white coupe set, but since the tea cups are "suppose" to be solid white, I figured I can sneak in some plain white stuff here and there to break up the Cornflower, not to mention the Blue in general.

The 6 5/8 bowls that actually go with the service are interesting in that they are blue on the outside and white on the inside.

Evidently, mine are the older ones, because they have a white bottoms.  I guess later, the entire outside finish was blue.

So, this is my completed service for 4 (with extras).  I keep telling myself that I am stopping at this point, since it's REALLY the Corningware that I am interested in for cooking purposes.  It remains to be seen as to whether I can control my obsessive compulsive self and refrain from purchasing any more Centura Pieces.

But in the interest of Retro-Coolness, I don't think it gets much better than this.

In case you missed it, I found 5 coffee mugs... and while they may, or may not, be Corningware, they have still been lovingly adorn with that "Oh, so recognizable" little blue flower.  Since I only need 4 mugs to go with my dinner service, I have decided to host yet another giveaway and bestow this "extra" coffee mug on 1 lucky winner.

What better way to enjoy your morning coffee than with the bright and cheery Cornflower staring back at you?

This "A Cup of Coffee with the Cornflower" giveaway will run from today, October 24th, thru the witching hour on Halloween (11:59pm on the 31st)  The winner will be drawn on November 1st (all Saints Day) and be promptly notified via email for shipping information.

So leave a comment, pin this, subscribe via email, Tweet or +1 this and so on.  It's up to you how you wish to enter and how many times you do.

Good luck!

Where is your Corningware?? (Centura??)
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Sidekickin' it Old School - Corning Ware Sidekick Giveaway

It is the last half of another month....   Time to give away another piece (or two) of Corningware rescued from the local thrift store.

Two Sidekick plates (P-140-B) to accompany the Grab-it line produced in the late 70's and 80's.  Not as vintage as I would like to get, but they are fairly convenient to have around.   Everyone should have a sidekick.

They are great for Mise en place, or to hold Cornbread sticks when eating Chili, my grandmother used 1 as a butter dish and her others as bread and butter plates.  They even make great spoon rests.

These two are from different periods in Corningware's history.  The one with the printed bottom is from the 70's  (4 1/2 x 6 3/4 inches)

and the one with the embossed bottom is from the 80's after the switch to metric. (22cm x 27cm)

You will probably notice that I am using Punchtab for this giveaway.  Again.  Even though it caused problems the last time.

I went and checked out Rafflecopter and, well to be honest... It sucks.  That is, unless you pay them a monthly fee.  Once you shell out some coin, they suddenly let you use the features that you really need to be able to use to run a giveaway.   Oh, it has a couple things you can do, like leave a comment.  That pretty much covers it except for the ability to "like" a page on facebook.  Honestly though, if you are reading this post, chances are you have already liked "Culinary Alchemist" on facebook, so that is really not any help whatsoever.

Speaking of facebook.   You can enter this giveaway with your facebook id instead of your email address, but that is as far as the facebook'ing goes for this giveaway.  I have been doing some reading and it is actually a violation of the facebook's guidelines for me to be making people "like" or "share" to enter any sort of giveaway, and I don't want to loose my Fan Page.

Here is a snippet from Blogging Basics 101....

"Can bloggers ask for Facebook Likes as an extra entry for contests or giveaways that they host on their blogs? The answer is no. You simply cannot ask for Likes as any means of entry. Not the main entry, nor as an additional entry."

As a result, FB is gone...  No likes, no shares... Nuthin.  It's all OK though.  You can still Comment, Pin, Follow on Twitter, and Tweet.  As a bonus, if someone clicks the link in your tweet, you get an additional entry.  You can even +1 this post on Google+ this time.   :-)

The giveaway entry period will run from 6 pm Sept. 19th thru 11:59 pm on the 30th of September.  You can only "Pin" or "Follow on Twitter" once, but you should be able to comment and tweet this post multiple times.

A winner will be chosen at random by PunchTab on the 1st of October.  I will email the lucky recipient from my own email address to request shipping information, just in case the auto-email sent from PunchTab triggers people's spam filters.

Good luck to everyone!

Where is your Corningware??
~~