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Monday, March 22, 2010

Goldilocks and the Three Wooden Spoons

Kitchen utensils are extremely personal things for people who spend a lot of time in the kitchen. When J and I got married, it was absolutely apparent that I much preferred my things to his. (His plastic cutting board that makes no sense to me is still hiding in a cabinet somewhere.) As I buy new things, I tend to give or throw away the old, but there are things that just stick. Knives, spoons, graters. My small, citrus, microplane.

Never was this more apparent than yesterday, when our friend Rebekah asked me to pick up wooden spoons for her. J and I were making a trek to the outlets and she texted me, asking for new wooden spoons to use for salads. When I said yes, she texted back not to worry about it--clearly she lacked a bit of faith in my ability to pick out the right spoons. I called her bluff, and asked for the required information in order to please her with this purchase. "Not too heavy, not too big. Not fussy. Salad set is fine, but more spoon than fork."  Now, Rebekah is a kitchen designer, and she and her husband are fabulous cooks and food people. So, understandably, this was a task to be reckoned with, and one I was damn sure we were going to ace!

Armed with the information, and a fire in our bellies, J and I hit all of the kitchen outlets--three to be exact. After visiting the first two (right next door to each other) we found two spoons (really four, but they are single spoons) that we liked--very similar in size and weight, but slightly different in length. One was 10 inches, one 12...both seemed very usable. We decided we'd keep the ones she didn't like, and move on. The final stop was to the chef store, and there we (ahem, J) found a Calphalon set that he liked. It was cool, modern looking--and I was fairly certain she wouldn't like it. But the glee on J's face assured me that HE would, so we purchased that and left.
*J liked the ones on the right*
We showed up for drinks with Rebekah and Nick that evening, and unveiled our three choices. Immediately, she discarded J's favorite--yay for him! But the two similar, yet differently sized choices put a spark in her eye that is generally only apparent for a great Cotes du Rhone or talk of skiing and dogs. She and Nick decided on both (meaning I have to go back to the store and buy myself the shorter pair!)

Things like this are important in friendships, I feel. Especially food "intense" friendships. The knowledge that you UNDERSTAND and GET the importance of such things as wooden salad spoons, or a great grater. It's why I love that my husband doesn't mind that every single time we're in a kitchen store I find 1,000,000 things to buy, and always whine about not having the perfect cutting board.

In S.A.T terms, kitchen stores are to Jill as Guitar Center/Woodwind Brasswind is to J.

3 comments:

  1. That's is a hilarious and adorable post. I love that I found a friend who's willing to call my bluff on my being a little fussy about things. I just didn't want you to get something and then me not like them but have to fake that I did every time you came over! You did fabulous! I LOVE my spoons and I'm sorry you have to go back to get another set. One caveat - I didn't say nevermind immediately, I said it after you asked if I wanted regular spoons or salad ones and realized I hadn't really thought it through...I LOVE that you bought 3 sets. I would have spent 2 hours trying to pick the perfect one for you if the roles had been reversed. Love my new food friend.Thanks for the spoons! -R

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  2. Yes R, you are correct. But I'm thrilled that we did so well! And I can't wait for a salad to be served to me, with those spoons, in the acacia salad bowl!

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  3. Heh, great grater. Jayme and I have both been drawn more and more to kitchen supplies. We bought a mortar and pestle recently. No specific reason other than we might need it sometime. But at the same time, we have bamboo cutting boards. Mostly because they were given to us and we’re in college. We take what we can get. Cut us some slack.

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