An artist and their tools....
Oct. 9th, 2014 02:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oceansedgeDigging out a couple old entries that somehow got saved in 'Drafts' but never actually published.
This one on 'stoves' got saved for wanting to add what some of these much desired items are...
Every artist has a thing about their tools ... it took me a while for it to 'click' and for me to understand my own madness for the odd things I collect....
I have things about paper, pens, file folders, stationary, coloured post it notes, markers, flags, ... this makes sense I'm a writer, and I'm an organizer ... the tools of that lend the promise of art to come, so I fondle them, moon over them a little .... sniffle a bit as I put stuff back on the shelf and wander away. It's a bit weird, but it makes sense.
My similar love affair for kitchen wares made less sense to me. However, I think, perhaps, it's still about the 'art', art is always, just a little bit obsessive. The culinary arts, appealing to our sense of taste and smell and touch, and appealing to our lizard survival brain, is no different from the other arts in that sense, perhaps even more so. All hold the promise of food, and art, to come, and the comfort of lack of starvation shouldn't be discluded. Little shiny enamel Le Cruset pots, endless cases of glassware, and dinner plates and tea pots sighing wistfully at the Portmeiron Botanic Garden catalogue and...
Stoves.
I have such a hard time with this one.
I don't know how many of you might know artists intimately well, but they can do really silly things. I knew a keyboard player once who couldn't resist buying a the best new keyboard whenever his will power broke down and he wandered into a music shop. Including spending the mortgage payment. It cost him his marriage. I've watched guitar players moon over vintage instruments. Luckily for my husband, I can pretty much resist going quite that far. If only because my sickness is THAT expensive and we don't have THAT kind of money. And really how many stoves does any ONE cook need? But like any artist beautiful tools, well crafted tools, that promise of art to come; the lure is strong.
Most cooks, even professional ones, have ONE stove, one cooking medium they love. Alas for me I flirt like an unfaithful lover from one "be still my beating heart" to another and back again. For the moment, its an affair like a teenaged girl with a movie magazine, as I post picture after picture of my various changing heart throbs on the office wall. Harmless enough.
Alas the day will come when I have more cash in my hands than good sense and we'll redo this kitchen - not for resale, but for ME. This is a proposition that scares my husband.
This is proposition scares me because I will have to make a choice ... or choices.
My Lunenburg Foundry Wood Burning Peacock Cookstove - honestly I've always had a love affair with wood burning cookstoves. One of the joys of wood fired is what it does for baked goods. While not quite a wood burning bake oven (as in brick in the fireplace), it's still a damp heat that is amazing for breads! I got a *hella* good deal on this when I bought it. While the nickle trims need replating and the enamel could use some touch ups the interior workings - the oven and firebox have all be factory refurbished. (the foundry only quit making them in the 80's, and will still do repairs and refurbishment - the owner himself had a love affair with these stoves and collected them for a while)
Magic Chef 6300. These gas burning behemoths were the stove of the pre-war era. Big and Beautiful as a 6 burner model, they are just *sick* in the 8 burner version. But oh my love! 8 burners, 2 ovens, 2 thermostatically controlled broilers, and a warming cabinet? Gas is the preferred cooking medium of the pros. Yes, I tend to babble about this one.
Aga - 4 Oven
Aga stoves have long been popular in the U.K., but less common on this side of the pond. Beautiful cast iron heavy weights, in beautiful enamel finishes, they combine all the things I love about wood cookstoves, with the convenience of gas fired. Like wood stoves, these are 'always' on, and you control the temperature by where you cook. Available in 2 oven, 4 oven, and companion models, they can also be had with electric cooktops - but why? Also it's nice that there's available matching companion kitchen pieces. I do love these - for the jewel colours, the warmth and solidity they bring to a farm house kitchen. Added advantage, you're not futzing about with antique workings and whether or not your insurance agent will still talk to you. Me? I love it in the deep cobalt blue, but I'll post the ivory picture so you can see the details.
And then there's this.
There are no words for this. An unbelievable giant of a stove, wood and coal fired, out of some classic hotel somewhere in Europe, this was wood/coal burning stove of the professional chefs and Grand Homes of Europe. Exceptionally rare (the last one found made the national news in Britain). I will never in a million years have the room, or use, or be able to find and afford such a treasure, but oh my word, it's lovely to look at and imagine.
Last but not least, as a serious cook I can't really talk about Kitchen Appliance P0rn, without lusting over 48" and 60" pro, and prosumer ranges and cooktops and wall ovens like Wolfs and Garlands and GE Monograms. Although, I've been surprised the prosumers have not been well rated. I suspect it has something to do with the average home not having the 3 phase electrical systems that professional kitchens do.
Fortunately my tastes in Antique refrigerators is a lot less complex:
McCray and Fridgidair Oak Commercial Units - 6 ft tall, 7 feet long, I want 3 of them - one to be refurbished as a fridge unit, one to be refurbished as a freezer unit, and one to be refurbished as a pantry. And maybe a small one to be refitted as a wine cabinet. Fortunately these (and similar animals like the Banta) can be had for a not ungodly amount of money and while not common, aren't too hard to find.
Next up - vintage enamel, pyrex and ceramic dishware..........
Naw... we'd be here till a week from next Christmas if I tried to write that one up!
Originally posted to: The Plan® comment there or here
This one on 'stoves' got saved for wanting to add what some of these much desired items are...
Every artist has a thing about their tools ... it took me a while for it to 'click' and for me to understand my own madness for the odd things I collect....
I have things about paper, pens, file folders, stationary, coloured post it notes, markers, flags, ... this makes sense I'm a writer, and I'm an organizer ... the tools of that lend the promise of art to come, so I fondle them, moon over them a little .... sniffle a bit as I put stuff back on the shelf and wander away. It's a bit weird, but it makes sense.
My similar love affair for kitchen wares made less sense to me. However, I think, perhaps, it's still about the 'art', art is always, just a little bit obsessive. The culinary arts, appealing to our sense of taste and smell and touch, and appealing to our lizard survival brain, is no different from the other arts in that sense, perhaps even more so. All hold the promise of food, and art, to come, and the comfort of lack of starvation shouldn't be discluded. Little shiny enamel Le Cruset pots, endless cases of glassware, and dinner plates and tea pots sighing wistfully at the Portmeiron Botanic Garden catalogue and...
Stoves.
I have such a hard time with this one.
I don't know how many of you might know artists intimately well, but they can do really silly things. I knew a keyboard player once who couldn't resist buying a the best new keyboard whenever his will power broke down and he wandered into a music shop. Including spending the mortgage payment. It cost him his marriage. I've watched guitar players moon over vintage instruments. Luckily for my husband, I can pretty much resist going quite that far. If only because my sickness is THAT expensive and we don't have THAT kind of money. And really how many stoves does any ONE cook need? But like any artist beautiful tools, well crafted tools, that promise of art to come; the lure is strong.
Most cooks, even professional ones, have ONE stove, one cooking medium they love. Alas for me I flirt like an unfaithful lover from one "be still my beating heart" to another and back again. For the moment, its an affair like a teenaged girl with a movie magazine, as I post picture after picture of my various changing heart throbs on the office wall. Harmless enough.
Alas the day will come when I have more cash in my hands than good sense and we'll redo this kitchen - not for resale, but for ME. This is a proposition that scares my husband.
This is proposition scares me because I will have to make a choice ... or choices.
My Lunenburg Foundry Wood Burning Peacock Cookstove - honestly I've always had a love affair with wood burning cookstoves. One of the joys of wood fired is what it does for baked goods. While not quite a wood burning bake oven (as in brick in the fireplace), it's still a damp heat that is amazing for breads! I got a *hella* good deal on this when I bought it. While the nickle trims need replating and the enamel could use some touch ups the interior workings - the oven and firebox have all be factory refurbished. (the foundry only quit making them in the 80's, and will still do repairs and refurbishment - the owner himself had a love affair with these stoves and collected them for a while)
Magic Chef 6300. These gas burning behemoths were the stove of the pre-war era. Big and Beautiful as a 6 burner model, they are just *sick* in the 8 burner version. But oh my love! 8 burners, 2 ovens, 2 thermostatically controlled broilers, and a warming cabinet? Gas is the preferred cooking medium of the pros. Yes, I tend to babble about this one.
Aga - 4 Oven
Aga stoves have long been popular in the U.K., but less common on this side of the pond. Beautiful cast iron heavy weights, in beautiful enamel finishes, they combine all the things I love about wood cookstoves, with the convenience of gas fired. Like wood stoves, these are 'always' on, and you control the temperature by where you cook. Available in 2 oven, 4 oven, and companion models, they can also be had with electric cooktops - but why? Also it's nice that there's available matching companion kitchen pieces. I do love these - for the jewel colours, the warmth and solidity they bring to a farm house kitchen. Added advantage, you're not futzing about with antique workings and whether or not your insurance agent will still talk to you. Me? I love it in the deep cobalt blue, but I'll post the ivory picture so you can see the details.
And then there's this.
There are no words for this. An unbelievable giant of a stove, wood and coal fired, out of some classic hotel somewhere in Europe, this was wood/coal burning stove of the professional chefs and Grand Homes of Europe. Exceptionally rare (the last one found made the national news in Britain). I will never in a million years have the room, or use, or be able to find and afford such a treasure, but oh my word, it's lovely to look at and imagine.
Last but not least, as a serious cook I can't really talk about Kitchen Appliance P0rn, without lusting over 48" and 60" pro, and prosumer ranges and cooktops and wall ovens like Wolfs and Garlands and GE Monograms. Although, I've been surprised the prosumers have not been well rated. I suspect it has something to do with the average home not having the 3 phase electrical systems that professional kitchens do.
Fortunately my tastes in Antique refrigerators is a lot less complex:
McCray and Fridgidair Oak Commercial Units - 6 ft tall, 7 feet long, I want 3 of them - one to be refurbished as a fridge unit, one to be refurbished as a freezer unit, and one to be refurbished as a pantry. And maybe a small one to be refitted as a wine cabinet. Fortunately these (and similar animals like the Banta) can be had for a not ungodly amount of money and while not common, aren't too hard to find.
Next up - vintage enamel, pyrex and ceramic dishware..........
Naw... we'd be here till a week from next Christmas if I tried to write that one up!
Originally posted to: The Plan® comment there or here
