Dr. Joyce Scott of Celina, Tennessee has written a book dealing with nutrition and overall health. Dr. Scott's book has an interesting companion - a Make-A-Plate! The book is titled "The Fork Lift" and the purpose of the book is to create a useful and common sense method to incorporate a well balanced food intake with proper nutrition. "The Fork Lift" Companion Plate is designed with standard portion sizes imprinted on its surface and one plate is included in the purchase price of each book.

Dr. Scott designed the creative artwork showing standard portion sizes for fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry and all other food groups. Makit Products then molded her artwork into a Make-A-Plate and created a colorful Companion Plate to "The Fork Lift"! Dr. Scott points out that "The Fork Lift" is not a diet book but a holistic approach to an individual's nutrition and overall health. The Companion Plate would be used at mealtime to illustrate what proper portion sizes look like and also illustrating the six classes of nutrients found in foods. We hope Dr. Scott's book and plate is a huge success!

In about 1987, I met an artist from Cedar Rapids, Iowa named Sharon Burns-Knutson. She would drawn on plates and sell them in a gallery. We became friends and she made me a plate with an image of the two of us talking on the phone. Sharon was the person who told me about Nasco and the plate picture kits. That summer, we vacationed in northern Michigan and on the trip we were reading Bill Bryson's latest book The Lost Continent. In the book, he describes a diner in Traverse City, Michigan that sounded too good to pass up. We found the diner and I discovered that all of the plates being used in the restaurant were plates that had been made by his children. I was so taken with the idea that when we got home I put my three year old and one year old twin boys to work, and they have been making me plates ever since. After I had about three dozen plates, I sold all of my everyday dishes in a garage sale and now this is what we use everyday. About a year ago, I discovered bowls so now they have made about two dozen bowls and probably 200 plates. They continue to make them for special occasions such as my birthday, even though they are all in college. We have given away several in the past, to all kinds of teachers and friends. But why do I need so many? Because soon they’ll have their own apartments, houses, and families, and I have dishes for all of them; special dishes.