St(r)ained Beginnings

It has finally dawned on me the that reason I can never get a blog off the ground (not really anyway) is because I never know how to start it. In my strained and self-conscious efforts to make a good entrance, swaggering on into this blogosphere party fashionably late, chatting up the host and seeming like I belong after making a properly interesting introduction, I end up huddled in the corner like a wall-flower, sipping my drink too fast while thinking of the right thing to say, realizing I've been standing there entirely too long to introduce myself to anyone now, and making a hasty retreat. Yikes. And erm, yes, that metaphor was entirely uh, metaphorical in nature. Because wouldn't that be an awkward way to introduce yourself - as some strange and socially peculiar person who can't even go to a party without getting herself all worked about "first impressions" and .... Okay. Sigh

Hi. I'm Stephanie. I like vintage kitchen things, henceforth to be known as "kitchenry" (it's a real word, folks! Even if I have misappropriated the term. Look it up!). I like casseroles, and mixing bowls, and old recipes, magazine ads that sell bake-ware by falling back on some pretty antiquated gender roles, culinary history, and doing the dishes. Pretty vintage dishes. Not washing regular dishes. Perhaps the worst job I ever had was when I discovered, after an exhausting day pushing heavy carts up and down the elevators, that I couldn't go home until all the hospital dishes had been washed and cleaned. And that I was the dishwasher. Surprise! I feel like that ought to have been mentioned. Anyhow. Deep breath.

Having recently relocated from the metropolitan madness that is Manhattan, to the quiet and charming streets of Kentucky, I stumbled upon an estate sale that had the most beautiful cookware set I have ever seen. And I mean stumbled. Upon it.

We were driving back from a hike and saw a bunch of stuff on someone's lawn, pulled over on a whim, and lo and behold this was inside. As I scrubbed away layers of caked on, burnt on, stained and blackened history, I thought all the stories these dishes would tell if they could; all the mealtime memories and holiday gatherings and luncheons and dinner parties during which they played a role. And these pots also (finally!) gave me the opportunity to engage in what I had been, up to that point, studying and researching and writing about only from the theoretical level - the cultural materiality and consumption related activities that revolve around domesticity and food.

Which brings me back to this blog - a place to share all the discoveries, insights, fun finds and domestic adventures that have resulted from that fateful day.

Phew! Introduction = done. Now that wasn't so bad, was it? Grab a seat, maybe even a mug of cocoa or tea (is it as cold where you are as it is here? Brr) and welcome to KitchenCulinaria!

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