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Can you tell I love bright colors and vintage items? Red, aqua and yellow are perhaps my favorite colors together . On my first girlfriend outing to Canvas & Cocktails, I departed from the "designated picture" and under the influence of cocktails, let Inner Italian Artist loose and painted the wild colorful floral design. It is not going to win any art awards, but it is mine and I love it. Most of the items on this pantry shelf are estate sale finds that I could not bring myself to sell, they just seemed to say "Belongs in Becky's Kitchen" to me:) The big crystal bowl was a wedding present from my Nonnie, whose name I've adopted for my own grandchildren. (She looked like every charming picture you've ever seen of Mrs. Santa or Sweet Grandmother in any children's book. With the personality to match.)
The dessert plate and espresso cups in the upper right hand corner? These came from Holland. At a DOLLAR store in Holland. On a trip to Europe, my husband took off with the men in our tour for yet another war museum. I took off on the hotel's bicycle to explore the small town, and to my delight landed in the dollar store of ALL dollar stores....
The iron skillet with the wonderful domed tiered lid is my favorite vintage kitchen item scooped up at an estate sale for $4.00. I cannot believe I was in my 50's before I discovered the joys of iron skillets. I am only recently learning how to season them, how they cook food so evenly, what a good sear they will put on everything from meat to mushrooms, and that when you care for them correctly they are the best non-stick pan in the universe. That you'll never want cornbread cooked and served any other way once you've made it in a hot sizzling skillet. I leave two iron skillets on my stove top at all times now, for both the decor and the usefulness, since I use them almost every day.
And the red teapot is a gift from daughter. I love teapots. I love red. I love my daughter. I love tea. What more can I say? Always on permanent display.
Our kitchens are the heart and hearth of a home. What are some of things that make you smile in your kitchen?
Cast iron is the Cadillac of cooking mediums. We've got a lovely 12" that I keep seasoned and at the ready. I love the fact that it never gets the soap and water treatment; just a nice rub down with a little canola oil after each use.
ReplyDeleteMy mom bought us a couple of enameled cast iron dutch ovens. They are dreamy, and you never have to worry about rust, which, depending on what you cook in them, can be an issue, as chili residue often won't come out easily with an oil wipe down.
I have a Bialetti moka pot that I bought at Kitchen Kaboodle when I worked for a law firm in downtown Portland. I remember feeling so "grown up" when I bought it and started using it. I was 23 and beginning my love affair with coffee meticulously brewed by all methods.
We have a cheap $5 Goodwill teapot. It doesn't look like anything special, but rarely a day goes by that it doesn't get used 3 or more times. We drink lots of teas and tisanes.
Finally, there's the beer fridge where I keep my 5 gallon kegs. One's always loaded with a soda pop I made from scratch, and the other has the current batch of brew. I don't know how I ever got along without kegging my homebrew, before. It is a thousand times easier than bottling, and being able to force carbonate allows me to make my hand-crafted sodas, which can be "adult"-erated with the addition of a shot of rum, brandy or triple sec (which goes well in my orange-ginger soda).
Jared, this is so much fun to read. I display this moka pot for decor and have NO CLUE how to use it.... I'm thinking perhaps I should dust it off and try it. Ditto with enamel pots.. I have many of them, including some cast iron coated ones, and haven't used them. If they are as great as the iron skillet, I'd better read up and start cooking with them. One day, I'll have to try one of your home brews. We had a little unplanned flight into POrtland last week, our plane diverted there on our way to Seattle. And we drove from there (about 1/2 the time on ice) into Seattle... Blessings to you and yours, Becky
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