There must be some genetic coding passing down through the ages that creates a Bowl Collector...of course, that means there was a Very First Bowl Collector...wonder who she was?
But, in reality, I figger (love typing "figger"...such a grammatical no-no...but I do say "figger" so why not write "figger"?) the Whole Bowl Thing probably ties into memories of our older women kinfolk working in the kitchen with their Workaday bowls to fix up somethin' good to eat...and maybe special Holiday Bowls that came out for Holidays and Company...and maybe even the Old-Wooden-Dough-Bowl-Cum-the-Kitchen-Table's-Fruit-Bowl creates some buried (or not so buried) memories we attempt to revive through our own collecting of bowls...
I expect there are volumes writ about The Bowl and all of the Meaning tied to it as a symbol...fortunately, I haven't given it all that much thought...so ya'll lucked out this time...or maybe not...
When I stop to think about Significant Bowls of My Past I only come up with a few examples to share...There was Pink Granma's set of 4 different coloured Pyrex Bowls...the ubiquitous Yellow, Green, Red and Blue Set...Yellow was always used for Potato Salad (and at Christmas, ambrosia)...that's it...just Potato Salad...and my Granma made a Killer Potato Salad...her potatoes were never ever mushy, a problem I still struggle with...I get bored and wander off, leaving the potatoes to their own devices and wind up with Potato Sludge...that means, of course, Mashed Potatoes instead of Potato Salad (I have recently solved this little problem by roasting red potatoes for salad...always...instead of even trying to boil potatoes)...the Green Bowl was primarily for Mixing Up Ingredients...the Blue Bowl always held Early Little Green Peas or Yellow Corn...the only 2 vegetables Brother One would eat...peas & corn...to this day, I dislike peas and corn...and Veg-All Vegetables...but that is another story...
Took me a while to recall what went into the Red Bowl...it was Granma's Gumbo...after there wasn't enough to have in the Big Pot or even the Green Bowl...Granma's Gumbo was out of this world...I wish I knew how to make it...well, technically I do...but I don't even waste time tryin' because I believe the secret probably laid with that Huge Old Pressure Cooker...with the wooden handles...there was a Layer of Black on the bottom of that thing that would not come out...and when Granma's pressure cooker started whistlin' and shaking on the stove, I could find somewhere else to be...
To this day, when I think about that pressure cooker I am still amazed the thing didn't just blow up one day and kill somebody...or a lot of somebodys...that didn't have the sense God gave a rock to get outta the kitchen when that cooker got to movin' about on the burner...
My mom cannot really cook so not a lot of FFM (Fond Food Memories) or Bowls filled to the brim with Um Um Good Things there...she can bake, but I have only 5 words for ya'll...Hamburger Helper & Fish Sticks...the 2 main food sources of my childhood...until we got a Sam's and a microwave...then microwaveable corn dogs became the favourite item of the household...
Well, there was a Really Huge McCoy pottery bowl that for the dogs' water...that bowl was the very devil to lift, clean, rinse and fill...but at least there wasn't a problem with the Dogs' Water getting knocked over...slopped over maybe...when I would try to fill it so full that I didn't have to go through all that routine to refill it again any time soon...
Okay...in all fairness, I guess maybe if the Kitchen Aid Mixer Bowl counts, I'd say that would be the Significant Bowl Memory tied to my mom's kitchen...because since she did bake a lot that thing was constantly in use...and I was constantly pressed into service to help her clean up...Kitchen Aid mixer bowl and all...but that should have logically driven me screamin' in the other direction from Bowl Collecting since 1) our kitchen was a tiny tacked-on affair at the rear of our old shambling Victorian and 2) cleaning up behind a messy baker is not one of Life's Big Fun Moments...more often that not, I ended up with a couple of weeks' worth of restriction for runnin' my smart mouth...I believe I largely spent the years 14, 15 and 16 on restriction just for mouthin' off...
My Granny had poor health, bless her heart, so there wasn't a lot of cookin' going on...but 1 day a couple of years before she passed on, I was cleaning up around the place and moved onto the utility shed (hey...when I get bored, I clean)...where I found 2 old wooden dough bowls...one of her mama's and one was hers from days gone by...I asked if I might have 1 and it now sits on the dining room table...
And then there is Aunt Cat's dough bowl...when my Aunt Cat's estate was being divided, I asked for a few things...a few old kitchen utensils and her dough bowl...one of the old hand-chipped shallow wide bowls...I believe my relatives thought I'd lost my mind...I have that bowl sitting in a stand on the drop-leaf in the dining room...Aunt Cat was a Hoot...quick to speak her mind and living in a neat & tidy little Mill House in Experiment, Georgia long after her husband passed on...with a mean little Chihuahua named Chiquita...Chiquita had a Bite First, Ask Questions Later thing going on...mean little dog...but the apple of Aunt Cat's eye so I'm glad they had one another...
Well...long story short...Darla over at Bay Side to Mountain Side showed off her newest Bowl and I took that as a sign that I should share my favourite bowls...
love yellow ware bowls with blue striping...there are more but, say it with me, I take such rotten photos that I gave up getting a good shot of the stack o' bowls sitting at the bottom of the cabinet bookshelf...that shot involves kneeling on hard tile and holding the camera out in front of me where I can't see the viewer and clicking...not good...
Granny and Aunt Cat's dough bowls...and Mungo, of course...because Mungo wants to be...and tries to be...in every photo taken in the house...and I love him so much that I can't shoo him too often...and because after you shoo him too often, Mungo takes offense, drops to the ground and rolls over so he can attach hands and feet to my shooing hand...and then he hangs on...
Little Cheapie Bowl from HomeGoods...but I love it...the colour is much richer (see above mention about crappy photo skills) and it is the perfect size for grabbin' for lots of use in the kitchen...and I'm a Bowl Hog so I bought two...
(oooh, and those are two little Buffalo China dishes sittin' to the left of the Everyday Bowl...you can't see the 2 little BC custard dishes because those are in the drain basket...I have a problem, don't I?)
18 comments:
Love this Post Mrs. G. It got me thinking, I dont have Many Bowls. Ughh, I am always looking for a Pretty bowl for Serving in and I really have not many to choose from. I am keeping my eye open Now for some Fun Bowls.... Have a Wonderful Weekend. Jamie
Everyone should collect something. However, I never thought to collect bowls (my cooking skills take place in the microwave). I do however, collect waaaay tooo many other things. I might be looking at bowls in a different way now.
MaryB
I reckon I like bowls myself, but I figger I have more platters than bowls. :)
Love the dough bowls! I've thrown some hints to dh that I would love to have some of the new dough bowls that Mast General sales.
Cathy, Platter Collectin' is a whole nuther sickness, LOL!
Hi Mrs G :)
My favorite is your cheapy bowl too. Love the pattern and colour.
Don`t those doggies look comfy all settled in LOL
Thanks for coming to visit. I like your blog :)
tea
xo
P.S.
Angus loves to be squeezed and petted to the point of being a nuicance ! Even trying to read a book, he`s there rubbing and bumping against it LOL
I love bowls too, have too many probably!...I've always loved your signature photo of the bowl of pears!
Well Mrs. G., you told the tale of the bowl(s) really well.
Me? If I get a few words stuck up there along with a picture I think I've accomplished something, LOL!
Love the wooden dough bowls. Guess I have something else to hunt for now.
Darla
I just managed to make myself leave a set of bowls at Hobby Lobby, ya cheapy bowls as you said but they were in such pretty fall colors they had three sizes to form the set... I fingered them for a good 10 minutes before I sternly told myself I didnt NEED these bowls! I am with you what is it about bowls!
Loved your reference to the pressure cooker. No ffm at our house growing up; my mom cooked everything in the pressure cooker and yes they still scare me to death. Them and the gray beans that started out green. Yuck!
Darla, don't sell yourself short :) you have not just great photos, but lovely posts too :)
MaryB...welcome to the world of Bowl Collecting :), LOL...I bought a new to me bowl yesterday at the antique mall (I hardly ever pay AM prices...goes against the grain) but it was a decent price...I went lookin' for an old garden gate & came away with a bowl!
Jamie, you have an eye for beauty...I can't believe you don't have a ton of beautiful bowls! but now that you realize the deficiency I expect you'll have a great collection in no time flat :)
Tea...I have a few who can ignore me all day...until I decide it is time to visit the computer or read a book, LOL...like a child who is fine until you get an important phone call....
Suzanne, I knew I liked you for some reason besides your beautiful art :) , you Bowl Addict you :)
RC...you walked away from a set of Fall Coloured Bowls?! (and at HL...so they were a great price, right?)You are a stronger woman than I am :) I'm so desperate for Fall I have to stay away from the stores or else I'd be draggin' simply everything home that even vaguely hinted at cooler weather...
Janice...okay, first...grey beans? LOL, your mom cooked like my mom, bless their hearts! One time my mom brought uncooked beans to the table...she forgot to even turn on the stovetop...and it was Thanksgiving...and second, I read your profile and had to smile...your habit of touring the neighborhood to look at homes is one a very dear friend of mine has...I rib her about it from time to time :) ...
Love your bowls! I have vintage dough bowls that I have collected over the years. I love filling them with apples and nuts during the holidays.
Penny
Love those vintage dough bowls - those are hard to come by these days. I'm more of a plate/platter person. I guess cause it's hard to hang a bowl on a wall!
Manuela
I have some of the bowls you describe. I bought a stack of the pyrex bowls in "avocado" green and white. The catalyst for that purchase was a bowl I inherited from J's mother. I use those bowls a lot. I love using the big one for potato salad. I guess I could put the salad in tupperware, but for some reason, it seems to taste better in pyrex...could that be a "trace memory" from childhood days?
I bought a big dough bowl not long ago. I have it leaning against a cabinet in the breakfast room.
You have some great bowls. One day, I might get around to posting about some of mine!
Neat post!
Pat
I liked looking at your bowls! I don't have many myself! Just to answer your question-Notting Hill is an area in LOndon,with lots of antique shops and stalls, it's lovely!
Hi - Thanks for the heads up about the Bassett hound rescue. My daughter would love to have one but sadly her living situation would not be condusive for a dog. She lives in an apartment, works a full time job and is going to return to night school to get her Masters degree. It would be cruel for her to get a dog - especially a puppy.
Julie, LOL, I thought your daughter was young & still at home with you! no...def. sounds like right now is not the time for a new furry one in your daughter's life...and good luck to her in grad. school :)
Wonderful blog! Wonderful bowl collection~` I love bowls too...so much you can do with them, I have bowls I purchased because I knew it would be perfect to float flowers in, or put balls in, or fruit...but plates~ especially blue and white..or floral~gotta have em' my husband keeps asking me how many plates does a person really need.? I haven't got to that number yet..:) enjoyed your site!!
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