The Mystery Birthday Gift

My very dear friend, Sharon, hails from a long line of practical jokers.  

In spite of that, she always manages to find that perfect gift for me every year.  

For my most recent birthday, she gave me a beautiful, and very unique gift.  

But...this years' gift remained quite a mystery for a little over a week---

I actually didn't know what it was!!!!!!   

Well, I knew what it was because it had a tag attached, 

but I wasn't sure how to use it--haha!!  

I found it amusing right from the get-go.  

It wasn't until the day after New Year's Day, 

when Sharon and Dave came for an overnight visit,

 that I found out exactly what the gift is for.  

The gift itself is fine piece of pottery by a local potter, Juanita Short, 

who is located in Glovertown, NL.  

The tag attached simply said "meat & cheese server".  

It even came with a lovely stainless cheese knife..........

I was thinking it was a lovely serving dish, with little great little indentations all 

around it to rest the knife!!???!! 

I did, however, ponder what that slot was for,but 

I couldn't wait to use the new meat/cheese server when the Sharon and Dave visited.   

Oh, how we laughed when I was about to use the dish -------upside down!!!!!!

I had even Googled "pottery meat & cheese server", 

a day or so after my birthday (Boxing Day).

All results showed images of dishes positioned like I was planning to use it!!!

What an awesome surprise (and I'm sure the subject of lots of jokes for many years to come), when Sharon turned it right side up and positioned the knife in the slot!!!!!!  

We laughed about it all night long.

Anyway, in my own defense, had I seen it on display in its upright position, with knife in slot---I'm sure this whole debacle would have been avoided.....but then it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun!!

Now, it's not over yet---Oh No!!

Me, being me, I just had to take this one step further.  

I tenderly wrapped my precious new prize in my softest dish towel and carefully

folded in the knife.  I took it to work!!!  

Throughout the day, and separately, I randomly polled 17 of my sweet, unsuspecting
co-workers. The results were hilarious!!!! 

I must confess that I presented the dish to each person with knife resting in it, 

wrong side up,  as in the first two photos above.  

The puzzled looks, as they each scrutinized this strange dish were priceless....but not as priceless as some of their conclusions after close examination and consideration. 

There were several who immediately blurted out that it must be an ashtray, 

with no consideration whatsoever for the cheese knife.  

A couple thought it might be a brie baker, but were very puzzled over the fact that 

the melted brie could run out of the slot, causing quite a mess.  

One suggested it could be a pasta strainer, while a couple thought the slot was put there 

on purpose to allow for drainage from juicy meats.  

Only three people, after much pondering, turned it right side up and inserted the 

knife in its slot.    We all had so much fun with it and when I told the whole story, there 

was lots of laughing  out loud -- which, by the way, feels so good.  

This is truly a gift that keeps on giving.  

Now, of course, every time I use this server, I will have a great story to tell.

Cheers

:)