From a reader.

I LOVE it when I hear from a reader. My friend, John Forsman, an amazingly talented photographer - one with whom I have happily shot many projects, is nice enough to check in on my blog and he had a very personal response to my piece on the espresso cups. So I asked if I could share it and he said I could. Just fyi - John owns a home in Italy, which explains his fascination (like mine) with subjects Italiano. Enjoy! (And thanks, John!)

His website...fyi...is www.forsmanphoto.com

I've been using French Apilco for day to day use (durable enough for children) for decades.  It began when they made Cordon Blue porcelain.  When Cordon Blue switched to a Brasilian manufacturer I got a few pieces (my ex is Brasilian), however the switch to Chinese manufacture was the end.  I began buying buying Pillivuyt then.  Also I have a lot of white English ironstone for normal use that is from 1850-1920s.  I've had to tell my kids that perhaps all this old stuff that I use (I bake in antique ironstone) isn't garage sale material.  I suspect husbands might not see the difference between a fluted but stained Sydenham bowl and an unstained mixing bowl.

     I read Under the Tuscan Sun while I was in Italy years ago.  I got a great tip in it about care of cotto floor tiles, and I coat them with linseed now after cleaning.  Another gem I read in that book was about drinking espresso.  Ed would go down to the bar in the morning for espresso and began mixing a cube of sugar into his espresso as the Cortona natives did.  Then, the espresso is drunk as a shot.  It isn't sipped.  That probably accounts for why French espresso cups seem to be more capacious than Italian cups.

I would rather have less, but better,

John