Question of the Day, Friday, February 7

[Winchester]

Good morning!

What is the oldest item in your kitchen?

I think right now, the oldest item in my kitchen is a Griswold cast iron frying pan that belonged to my great-grandmother. Beautifully seasoned and I use it for everything under the sun. I know you're not supposed to use cast iron on a glass-top stove. because if you move the skillet white you're cooking, it will scratch the glass and because it's very heavy. Supposedly, there are cases when the cast iron pan, full of food, was so heavy that it cracked the glass top. Makes the best corn bread ever, And after years of buying nonstick frying pans, only to eventually have their lose their surfaces, I went back to my skillet for eggs, fritters, etc. As long as I take care of it, it simply does not stick. I actually have two Griswold skillets, one was my great-grandmother's and the other belonged to Rick's grandmother. I use mine more often, but I should probably give the other one good scouring and a good seasoning and use that one, too. Those things are heavy! I'm not sure exactly how old it is, but it's well over 150 years old at this point.

As is my hutch. My great-grandmother was 96 when she passed back in the early 1970s. The hutch was made for her as a wedding present by my great-grandfather (who I never knew). It spent years in Mom's kitchen and now it's here. It is terribly scratched and the finish is really worn. I still love it.

Rick and I will be married 49 years in April. We still have many of our casseroles and such that we got as wedding shower presents and wedding gifts. And I still use them. I think at this point, if I broke any of them, I'd probably cry.

What's the oldest thing in your kitchen?

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

A cast iron pot copyrighted March 14, 1922. When my father was alive he always pointed that out to us when I was drying the dishes because that was the day my Dad was born.

 

[NY cat man]

Since Michele doesn't keep anything too long- and I have to watch it myself- the oldest thing is a KitchenAid mixer that I bought her about 40 years ago. I had to replace the speed control module several years ago, but other than that, it works just fine. As an aside, she bought a newer one a month ago, and pronounced it a piece of junk compared to the old one.

 

[verna davies]

Me.

 

[susanm9006]

Probably my 50’s set of dish ware. It’s place settings have four different colors - orange, maroon, dark green and lime green with matching serving pieces. I don’t use it often but it makes a colorful table when it is all out.

 

[mani]

The table (about 1890) and my Grandmother's teaset.

 

[AbbysMom]

I have some of my grandmother's depression glass, but that's not in the kitchen right now. I'd have to go with a blue glass electrical insulator I have in a window.

 

[posiepurrs]

I have a small set of sterling silver flatware that my grandmother left me when she passed away in the 60s.I don't really know how old it is (don't really care since I am not 'fancy'). We have never used it.

 

[maggiedemi]

cast iron frying pan

I never use cast iron because I can't understand the concept of not washing it. That seems so icky to me. Dad got mad when I washed his.

The oldest thing in our kitchen is probably the plates and casserole dishes. I don't like using them now that I learned they might contain lead, but it can't be helped right now.

 

[sivyaleah]

Probably something or another from my grandmother or mom. I have few things from both of them; cookware, dishes, flatware, etc. Certainly there's one or two pieces that are around 60 years old give or take and most likely some way older but I'd be hard pressed off hand to remember what is what.

 

[DreamerRose]

The oldest thing I have now is an olive picker. It's made to get olives out of a long, narrow jar. You push down on a ball on the top and two pincers move out of the bottom. Then you grab the olive, release the ball, and pull it out. I don't actually use it for that, but it's very handy when something small gets stuck in a crack. The olive picker is the only way to get it out.

That I got from my husband's grandmother. She also gave us a colander that must have dated to the 1920s. I saw one just like it in an antique store and threw it away a couple of years ago.

I have plenty of items that date from the 1960s when I was married. The mixer is still the best.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Hmm.. I have a tin spaghetti canister that I use for decoration. We used it growing up. I also have a nut grinder with a hand crank that Mom used when I was a kid. I also have a vintage corelle dish that someone gave DH when he was first in his own place. I'm not sure what is the oldest. My Gram hand intended to give me her rolling pin one day but that didn't happen. Otherwise that would be my oldest item.

 

[aliceneko]

My great-grandmother's old teaspoon from the late 1800s.

 

[Willow's Mom]

Probably my grandmother's china. It was old when she got it.

 

[Jem]

I don't know what's the oldest...I have dishes and china, a hutch, silverware, vases and other stuff, all handed down from grandmothers and great grandmothers. My actual kitchen is pretty old too the house was built in 74 and still has the original cabinets....someday I'll have a new kitchen....just need more.

 

[neely]

My husband bought an antique coffee grinder for me from the early 1900's. Always thinking about coffee.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

My toaster? Well, actually probably the toaster cover. The toaster and the cover were my grandparents' but when my grandpa died in July, I took it because I didn't have one. The cover was made by my grandma probably a long time ago.

 

[LTS3]

A spork that my great aunt had long before I was born. There was a whole set of them but they disappeared over the years and I only got the one she had left.

 

[Norachan]

I don't have anything very old. I guess the gas stove is the oldest thing, but it's only about 15 years old.

 

[Mia6]

Me.

Well, you did it again, Mush, I had tea in my mouth and started laughing while it went down the wrong pipe!