Platebowl. It’s So 3rd Grade.

I love plates and bowls. I’ve got tons of one-off pieces that I’ve picked up here and there (mostly from Crate and Barrel clearance) that I use to take all my food photos. I got Beez a set of the Soup and Sandwich Ceramic Bowl Duo (pictured above, obviously) for her birthday. Of course, we don’t call them by their proper names. Instead, we call them plate/bowls. As in, one word. Platebowl.

There’s something very nostalgic about Platebowl. It makes me think of Ball Elementary, circa 1988. Remember, when we were kids, and they served our school lunches in the little compartmentalized trays. There was the rectangle for rectangular pizza. There was the circle for holding circular bowls of soup. There were three equally square squares for holding squares of cornbread, a nice starchy side and a box of milk.

Ms. Eaves, my giant third grade teacher, was a very nice lady. She was really tall, and had a very short hair cut. It was like boy short. I remember her wearing really extreme ’80s makeup. I guess at the time, it was sort of in style, although Ball in the ’80s probably wasn’t that different than Ball in the ’20s, or the ’00s (both 19- and 20-). She had an equally giant mural of a unicorn on her classroom wall. I also remember her sprinkling Miss’ Dash (salt-free seasoning) on her food at lunch. Maybe she was trying to lose weight. She was big, but she wasn’t fat. She was just big. Ms. Eaves, if you’re out there, you were a nice lady. Nice and big. Giant…really.

Thank you, Platebowl, for making me think of my childhood, and Ms. Eaves, and her giantism.

Here’s the couscous recipe.