Cutlery

[sanguine_speed]

We need new cutlery, and I was thinking of trying to find a nice-ish stainless steel set that can be used for every day and for holiday gatherings alike. I'm really not interested in having a formal set of silverware.

Can you recommend a simple, good quality cutlery set that is a good blend of quality/price? I'm not sure where to look. I'm in Canada, but can order online from the US from most places too.

Also, how many place settings would you recommend? We're a family of 5 (soon to be 6) and we host guests regularly. I was thinking 12 should suffice, but maybe I should get a bit extra to store away for Christmas etc. when we'll have more people over (alternately, I could keep our current mish mash of cutlery for extra, but this is not ideal).

[Farmer'sWife]

I have stainless steel Oneida that I think are nice (I also do not have actual "silver" silverware). I'm not sure what stores you have in Canada, but I got it at Kohls. I think regular department stores also have it. I think I have 16 place settings (two boxes of 8). There's just 3 of us right now, but we don't run the dishwasher everyday so it's nice to have a few extra.

[Ola_]

We got a few sets of cultery for our wedding from Sears. Actually it's Oneida also, I just checked. I didn't want silver because it's too high maintenance for me and we're pretty casual anyway. This particular set is nice and heavy, it feels like higher quality than the stuff we use for everyday, you know? One day we'll just get rid of our mismatched stuff and use the nice cutlery every day.

After the wedding we got an extra set because it was on clearance, I guess they were discontinuing the pattern or something. So I'd definitely check out Sears. I think 12 + an extra box in storage is a good idea. In case you need a few more, or need to replace lost pieces or something.

[noobmom]

MY set is Oneida, too. Nice, not too pricey. Amazon often has good deals on random patterns that are being discontinued, so I would look there. I personally would get 2 full sets (enough for 16) if you entertain regularly and like things to match, although I'm sure lots of people would disagree with me. If you get a single set of 8 you'll quickly lose one or two forks and then be down to barely enough for your family. The alternative is to get one of the classic styles that are never discontinued and then you can just get replacements as needed.

[luv-my-boys]

I have had both Oneida and Reed and Barton "silver ware" they are both stainless and great for everyday use (yay dishwasher) plus some of them are available with nicer patterns or more classic simplified patterns. Reed and Barton is also available at stores such as Macys. Their sets are also available with things such as mathcing serving pieces and harder to find things like iced tea spoons and salad forks. Not sure if they ship to Canada but I go tmy Reed and Barton on QVC

http://www.qvc.com/cgen/render.aspx?...lpb=G|0|96|1|1

[hopefulfaith]

Another vote for Oneida. I like to have 12 settings, but ideally I'd have 16 if I had guests regularly. I don't, at this point in my life, so 12 suits us.