A few weeks back I wrote about the importance of comfort food as I was dealing with the death of my father. The meals prepare for me comforted and nourished me in my time of loss, but also provided me with a bit of sentimental support.
These days, I’m dealing with the cleaning out process – decades of belongings which are still found at Dad’s house.
In the process, I’ve dug up old cookbooks, including the Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook and Elsie the Cow’s Cookbook (complete with instructions on how to skin a squirrel), and old Dormeyer Electric Stand Mixer, Grandma’s china set, hobnail and Red Depression glassware, juice glasses, , favorite mugs of Dad’s, Tupperware kitchen utensils from the 70s . . . the list goes on . . .
They bring back lots of memories – the candy dish Grandma Gorman often set out with mints; the coffee percolator that bubbled up coffee on our stove every evening, the china salt dishes Dad used for dipping his radishes in; and assorted cookware and baking dishes which served our favorite comfort foods.
These are the Comfort Kitchen items that provide me with many memories. “Remember how Mom used to put cookies on that strawberry-shaped dish?” “Oh, that powdered sugar container, which was always out when she’s baking.” “That ‘Just Call me Mort’ mug Dad got that one Christmas. They make me smile, and remind me of my childhood – many happy memories associated with these items from the kitchen.
There are a lot of memories in the cupboards of Dad’s home, and many I’ve contemplated adding to my own kitchen, but I decline on most, because while I may like the style – or the memories – they just don’t function like I need them to.
Which takes me to my home.
My own kitchen is filled with heirloom worthy items including my Emile Henry pie dishes, the Le Creuset Cast Iron Pot, a terra cotta cazuela purchased in Portugal, the bowl I handmade in England during a visit to Denby Pottery, a copper roasting pot gifted to us for our wedding, or my Rosle garlic press, to name a few. These are the items that are used frequently in our home, frequently find their way on our table, and will certainly be around years from now when my kids clean out my kitchen.
For those of you who don’t have a house filled with 40 years’ worth of stuff to clean out, you can still enjoy the Comfort Kitchen styling of today – new introductions that have contemporary features, but the old styling.
Last week I attended the annual International Home + Housewares Show (soon to be renamed The Inspired Home Show). In the quest to find the next best greatest kitchen essential, I did find some great items, that offered a mix of new technology, but nostalgic styling – or that Comfort Kitchen feel, I speak of.
Here are a few items that can surely bring back a bit of Comfort Kitchen nostalgia, while giving you a few heirloom pieces to hand down in the decades ahead.
