Vintage Kitchen Utensil Fun

Don't know exactly what spurs this, but I have this obsession with vintage kitchen utensils and things. I like old aprons, table cloths, kitchen towels. I like the pyrex casseroles and bowls. And ... I like old kitchen utensils.


Perhaps part of the obsession is that it reminds me of home and all the kitchen doin's with Mom through the years. Perhaps it eases my homesickness for that "home" that I miss. Perhaps it's just fun and interesting. Probably all three!


I KICK MYSELF HARD that I didn't keep: Mom's potato masher, Mom's 2-cup aluminum measuring cup, Mom's biscuit cutter, and Mom's mixer. I blame my addled state of mind and pressure and desperation that I only kept what I did. Distance, no room, hurriedness and addled brains just kept me from hauling that whole kitchen full of stuff into my own home. Actually, I'd have kept the whole house full of stuff if I could've. But I couldn't. But the few kitchen things I do have, I'm thankful I kept and I do enjoy using.


Here are some measuring spoons, a mixing spoon and a spatula. Mom had a little rack inside one cabinet door that held some copper measuring spoons similar to these, there were six of them. These are some I found in the thrift store lately, and I grabbed them so fast I'm surprised my hands didn't blister. No, I didn't keep the originals of those, either. But these green-handled ones sure remind me of them, and they're handy to augment the measuring spoons I already have when I'm doing a lot of baking. Now the metal spoon in the middle, is a big, silver serving spoon from somewhere, and Mom used it from who-knows-when! It had been used so much the end of the spoon was worn off and slanted. COUNTLESS things made in Mom's kitchen with that spoon, both in her hands and mine! The spatula is one of two from home (just grabbed the one), a nice wooden-handled one. The red paint is mostly worn off the handle!




These are a few utensils from the thrift store recently - a heavy-duty fork, a "rounded" fork with a flowery handle (a "spork?" ha ha), and a heavy ice cream spade.




I have a few wooden utensils I like. I think the small spoon and the long spoon came from home. That long, sturdy spoon is AWESOME for mixing bread dough! The spatula/scraper on the far right came from the thrift store.




These all three came from the thrift store - a slotted multi-use utensil, another thin metal spatula, and a pie server. I need a good pie server! I have a plastic one that's a little flimsy. I might add in here, that most of the utensils at the thrift store sell for around 20 to 30 to 50 cents apiece. Cheap fun!




These all came from the thrift store as well. A very small aluminum pan (imagining melting a boatload of butter in it sometime for something), a metal funnel, a cheese slicer (I sure missed having one of those!) and an old-fashioned, wooden-handled mallet.




I kind of went loopy on old-fashioned graters, two box ones, and four flat ones. The flat one with the red handle, I use to grate a certain bar soap for homemade laundry soap.




These next three have come from Lehman's Hardware, a store in Kidron, Ohio.


http://www.lehmans.com/

I have never been disappointed in anything I have ordered from Lehman's! Always excellent quality. This shows a slotted multi-use utensil, an ice cream spade, and a slanted-edge spoon. Nice, sturdy stainless steel.




When I saw the slanted spoon in Lehman's catalog back when I ordered it, I immediately thought of Mom's mixing spoon! It does stir things really well on the bottom of the pan, and gets into the edges of the bottom.




I'm really mad that I don't have the biscuit cutter from home. An old-fashioned red-handled one that was just the right size. Quite awhile back, I got the set on the left, which is good, but I need a size between the medium and small. Of course, I can always use an old can or a glass, too. I found the cutter on the right at the thrift store, and it sure reminded me of the one from home ... except ...




... as you can see, it's a DOUGHNUT cutter! I think. I use it to make "egg in a hole" - only the middle toast part ends up in two pieces, but just as good.


http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/07/egg-in-a-hole-see-alternate-names-below/



I'm sure I'll have fun adding to this little collection as I go on. Of course I have a lot of other utensils in our kitchen, potato masher, whisk, pastry cutter, ladles, etc., etc. But I just wanted to share the vintage-y, fun ones for now. :)