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Do you now own, or wish you did, one particular item from your childhood kitchen?

Replying to another thread reminded me of a pot my mother had when I was growing up. My sister has it now.

It was a 2 quart aluminum pot, with a wooden handle. The lid had three snaps (clamps) that folded down under the rim of the pot. On the side of the lid was a slider -- it could be opened fully to let out a lot of steam or closed to contain the steam. Some steam still escaped...it was not a pressure cooker.

This was the potato pot -- it was so easy, especially as a kid, to just open up the slider, and turn the pot sideways over the sink to drain the potatoes.

Once, the clamps were not secure on the pot rim and the potatoes fell into the sink when the pot was turned over to drain. Ooooops!
That's when I learned to hold the knob at the top of the lid as insurance.

I have the old clamp on meat grinder. I use it to grind up nuts for baking.
Not sure I would want to even try grinding meat in it...that would take a lot of muscle!

My mother's kitchen had one of those potato draining pots. I'll have to ask brother about it next time I'm over there...when it gets cooler because brother has the a/c turned off.

I have a big pink Pyrex mixing bowl. Mama said it was either hers or her mother's.

After Mama died the end of March, I asked brother to come into the kitchen with me and pulled out two dark cookie sheets, told him one was Mama's and one was our grandmother's. He told me Yes. I told him when I asked for anything I would tell him its history.

Edited to add:
I have my mother's cast iron chicken fryer!
My grandmother's last set of "nice" dishes.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KeepYouInStitches,

I asked for the baked potato cutter that was my Gma's. It's prongs in the shape of an X that you punch into the potato top when it comes out of the oven. Then squeeze the opening to pop it open. It was such fun to use at her house.

I have my mom's rolling pin and her meat grinder. I use them both.

At one time I had my grandmother's wood burning kitchen stove, a 1920's "kalamazoo-Direct -to -You" It had the cast iron burner hole lids, a water resivoir and warming shelf on top. Gosh I miss it. We had to sell it many years ago when we were dreadfully broke.

I have mom's jelly sieve. Just used it to make grape jelly from a treasure trove of Concord grapes DH brought me from Missouri's wine region.
Also have her Griswold cast iron skillet.

I have many things from my childhood --

Grandmother's bread board which shows the years of use of kneading bread.

Grandmother's kettle in which she made potato soup and ham and beans -- I still carry on that tradition.

Mother's canning kettle -- I sold mine and kept hers.

Grandmother's small enamel roaster in which she always made the Thanksgiving dressing.

Mother's chinoiserie -- don't use it much but remember her using it when she made jelly.

Cast iron skillets from both mother and grandmother including one small one from mother that is just perfect for one fried egg (and that's what she used it for!)

MIL's pie pans -- she always brought the pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas so even though she's not with us -- she's there in spirit because our holiday pies are always baked in those pans.

I also have but don't use my mother's stove top vacuum coffee maker. It really does make a good cup of coffee! I may have to get that out!

Oh and I have the cookie cutters of my childhood -- aluminum ones and red plastic ones. I remember cutting out cookies with my grandmother with them.


Martha

Have my Grandmother's Foley food mill and ricer. And her banged up, aluminum canning funnel.

Have a nice Watt bowl (big red flower and leaves) that I can't remember ANYTHING except spaghetti being served in.

Sister has 4 piece set of nesting Pyrex bowls (Yellow green, red & blue). Have to be well over 60 yo and NO crack/chips and you'd need a magnifying glass to find any significant wear... probably cuz didn't have dishwasher growing up? Kinda amazing that all of them have survived. largest bowl was pretty much only used for big batches of potato/macaroni salad or mixing up stuffing for holiday turkey.

She also has set of copper bottom Revere ware pots/pans... stock pot, skillet, 2 sauce pans and a soup/stock pot.

When my mother moved to assisted living, I took her flat whisk -- she made the highest meringues by using a platter tipped up and beating with that whisk. Also took an aluminum bowl that she always put the coleslaw in (my brother remembers it as the popcorn bowl). When we were married 45 years ago, my husband's aunt and uncle were moving to England and gave us some kitchen stuff. My favorite is a slanted wooden spoon that she'd probably had for at least 40 years herself. That's the first thing I would grab running from a kitchen fire! It's the best for stirring into the edges of a pot. It's black from all the use -- love to think of all the jam, pickles, spaghetti sauce, etc. that it's stirred over the years.

Although I have several things, I most treasure her cookbooks: a 1956 Betty Crocker, a Pilsbury, and a old Kentucky cookbook.

Growing up, I could never understand why my mother never replaced her 1940s cast aluminum cookwear for something newer and more up to date.

Now, as someone middle aged that appreciates old vintage kitchen items, especially all things 1940s, I am building my own set of 40s wearever. I love how they cook, and now I know why she kept hers! Who needs some new modern stuff when this works so great? It is just as costly as the new stuff to acquire however as it has become collectible in recent years.

quote:

I have the old clamp on meat grinder. I use it to grind up nuts for baking

Yes, we had one too and I also had it for many years.

My Mom had a small crock that was . . . well not sure if it was a crock, it was round with even sides to top and stoneware. She used it to whip cream in and would put it and the beater into the ice cube compartment to chill. I accidently broke it. I still have her mothers cake pans and they have a slide thing in the bottom to release the cake layer.

But even more precious to me as a child were the cooking implements (toy sized) I received as Xmas gifts. I loved my little flour sifter!

LOS- I forgot about those kind of cake pans! I have my mothers and still use them! There are 3 of them!

My mother had those yellow, green, blue and red bowls. She still used them when I got married so I bought my own set. Still have my set, which is in perfect condition.

I have mom's glass juicer. You see look-alikes in the stores these days, but none of them have the sharp point at the top and the sharp sides that really make squeezing so easy. Never used a newer one so I don't know how good they work.

I inherited mom's green glass one cup measurer. It had a left, right, and middle pouring spout. I loved that thing because I'm left-handed so it really was perfect for me. Well, I didn't realize it wasn't Pyrex when I melted butter in the M/W one night for my popcorn. It cracked and I had to throw it away. I'm still kicking myself today!