After college, when I was living in my first real adult apartment (around 1990), my grandfather was experiencing a transition, too. He had Alzheimers, and couldn't live on his own anymore, so a caregiver moved in (she became part of our family, but that's another story).
He used to cook a lot, and my grandmother baked a lot (she passed away in 1981, when I was 14 and it was so hard and still is - but that's another story, too); between them they had all sorts of small appliances.
In 1990, my mother started to give me things like the old mixer and blender, a bundt pan. Later on, a meat grinder (hand crank) and my grandmother's rolling pin (this is, in my opinion, one of my true treasures). I have my grandmother's teapot; it's art deco and super cool; I think she got it by saving washing powder box tops. I have a set of primary color pyrex mixing bowls (much sought after by pyrex collectors).
I was just using my blender (grandma and grandpa's blender). I remember my grandma using it, and it's still going strong. It has that (now cool) early 70s look. Hard to believe it's about 40 years old!
I was thinking two things:
1. Isn't it cool that my grandma's blender isn't just a memory, and I don't have to wonder how it used to look. I use it all the time!
2. Isn't it super frugal to use things like this for a long, long time?
PS - I don't use the meat grinder, but I guess I should try it; it's got to be cheaper to make your own ground turkey, right?
An Ode to my Old Appliances
September 14th, 2014 at 11:34 pm
September 15th, 2014 at 12:47 am 1410738440
September 15th, 2014 at 02:11 am 1410743514
October 2nd, 2014 at 05:22 am 1412223751