I was talking to Rick's mom yesterday; she's starting to go through her kitchen stuff to see what she wants to keep and what she might want to get rid of (donate, trash, give to Rick's sister, give to me, etc). She really needs to pare down as she has an incredible amount of kitchen items. Rick is already cringing. I probably have enough kitchen items myself to outfit 3-4 kitchens. I don't know how that happened, but I do give Evelyn a lot of the.....credit (Rick says, "Blame"). She's always given me a ton of kitchen supplies because, "You need this in your kitchen" or "This will make that easier" or "I saw this and I thought of you." That kind of thing.
She asked me if I wanted her spaetzle-maker. Well....yeah. When I make spaetzle now (chicken corn soup, for example), I press the spaetzle dough through a colander into the simmering soup and then cook it that way. I've never used a spaetzle-maker, so I said I'd take it. She's already given me her old pasta maker and her old dough kneader. I make my own pasta. Not often, but I like making pasta. We have her old cookie press and frosting decorator as well as my newer one. Actually, her old one works a lot better than my newer cookie press. I don't have the patience to mess with pressed cookies, but both Rick and our son work that cookie press perfectly. I guess as long as they're around to press the cookies, I can make the dough and they can press it. The grandchildren like to decorate the cookies.
I find some of these items very interesting. The dough kneader is a container with a "stirrer". As you turn the knob, it turns the dough and the dough will knead. It kneads up to 4 pounds of dough at one time. It's an interesting gadget, but I've always liked kneading dough by hand (esp when I'm really stressed about something).
She is giving me her set of good China. Well, actually she's been working on giving me that for the last couple of years, but I keep finding excuses not to take it. Don't get me wrong; it's a gorgeous set of China. She says it has to go to me because Rick is the one who picked the pattern out and we gave her many of the pieces. Honestly? I don't have room for it. And I don't know that I would use it. We don't have anything in the way of formal dinners at this house; our idea of a formal dinner would probably be Christmas dinner with the family with the cloth napkins, good wine goblets, the candles, etc. But that's the only time....unless I specifically invite some friends in for dinner and go all out with food and decorating. And I haven't had the time to do that in a couple of years. But I hate to hurt her feelings, so we're going to take the China. I told Rick that we could use it this year at Thanksgiving...I think she would like that.
Oh, and the punch bowl. I haven't needed to use a punch bowl in years. But I guess you never know. She has all these kind of formal items. Do I need them? I don't think so. Should I take them? I guess, if for no other reason than to keep them in the family. But I know our DIL won't use them and I doubt our granddaughter will use them.
She has an old (very old) Sunbeam electric Dutch oven and has used it forever to fry her doughnuts, French fries, and the like. Well, she's not going to make doughnuts anymore, she thinks, but she knows that I will be making doughnuts for the family. So the Sunbeam will be coming to me. (I think I've mentioned the Sunbeam before.)
Cookbooks. Yeah, I want them. That goes without saying. Rick's sister will take what she wants, although she said she doesn't really want many of them. I'll take what's left.
Have you found yourself in this situation? What do you do when your parents start to downsize and they want to give you things? Do you take them? This is really the first time for me. My mother sold a lot of her stuff and she gave a lot of things to my sister, so there really wasn't much left for me to take. My sister has given me a few things of Mom's that she said she'd never use because she doesn't cook; she knows I wanted them, so she made sure I got them. When my grandmother passed, she made sure that I got her old rolling pin, her old cookie cutters, and the like. I use them even now. The rolling pin is just beautiful and it's got this shiny patina that can only comes from decades of rolling out cookies and pie dough.
What do you do with these things? Keep them? Use them? Store them away?
She asked me if I wanted her spaetzle-maker. Well....yeah. When I make spaetzle now (chicken corn soup, for example), I press the spaetzle dough through a colander into the simmering soup and then cook it that way. I've never used a spaetzle-maker, so I said I'd take it. She's already given me her old pasta maker and her old dough kneader. I make my own pasta. Not often, but I like making pasta. We have her old cookie press and frosting decorator as well as my newer one. Actually, her old one works a lot better than my newer cookie press. I don't have the patience to mess with pressed cookies, but both Rick and our son work that cookie press perfectly. I guess as long as they're around to press the cookies, I can make the dough and they can press it. The grandchildren like to decorate the cookies.
I find some of these items very interesting. The dough kneader is a container with a "stirrer". As you turn the knob, it turns the dough and the dough will knead. It kneads up to 4 pounds of dough at one time. It's an interesting gadget, but I've always liked kneading dough by hand (esp when I'm really stressed about something).
She is giving me her set of good China. Well, actually she's been working on giving me that for the last couple of years, but I keep finding excuses not to take it. Don't get me wrong; it's a gorgeous set of China. She says it has to go to me because Rick is the one who picked the pattern out and we gave her many of the pieces. Honestly? I don't have room for it. And I don't know that I would use it. We don't have anything in the way of formal dinners at this house; our idea of a formal dinner would probably be Christmas dinner with the family with the cloth napkins, good wine goblets, the candles, etc. But that's the only time....unless I specifically invite some friends in for dinner and go all out with food and decorating. And I haven't had the time to do that in a couple of years. But I hate to hurt her feelings, so we're going to take the China. I told Rick that we could use it this year at Thanksgiving...I think she would like that.
Oh, and the punch bowl. I haven't needed to use a punch bowl in years. But I guess you never know. She has all these kind of formal items. Do I need them? I don't think so. Should I take them? I guess, if for no other reason than to keep them in the family. But I know our DIL won't use them and I doubt our granddaughter will use them.
She has an old (very old) Sunbeam electric Dutch oven and has used it forever to fry her doughnuts, French fries, and the like. Well, she's not going to make doughnuts anymore, she thinks, but she knows that I will be making doughnuts for the family. So the Sunbeam will be coming to me. (I think I've mentioned the Sunbeam before.)
Cookbooks. Yeah, I want them. That goes without saying. Rick's sister will take what she wants, although she said she doesn't really want many of them. I'll take what's left.
Have you found yourself in this situation? What do you do when your parents start to downsize and they want to give you things? Do you take them? This is really the first time for me. My mother sold a lot of her stuff and she gave a lot of things to my sister, so there really wasn't much left for me to take. My sister has given me a few things of Mom's that she said she'd never use because she doesn't cook; she knows I wanted them, so she made sure I got them. When my grandmother passed, she made sure that I got her old rolling pin, her old cookie cutters, and the like. I use them even now. The rolling pin is just beautiful and it's got this shiny patina that can only comes from decades of rolling out cookies and pie dough.
What do you do with these things? Keep them? Use them? Store them away?
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