Death to pointy-toed spoons

Heirlooms.. when you think of heirlooms you think of brooches from Grandma or a priceless tea set from pre-war Japan or antique Spanish mantillas and combs. Different things for different people.

I don't quite fit the pattern (Gee, what a surprise!) Todays heirloom was the shortening spoon. I got a wild hair and decided to bake a loaf of banana nut bread which requires some shortening. (Can't you just smell the bread?) (It was warm for dinner tonight) From the time I started cooking... early 70's some time... when you needed to measure out some shortening, you got the big round soup spoon from the silverware drawer. it has the perfect curve for packing shortening (and brown sugar and peanut butter) into a measuring cup. (Yes, I measure. If I don't , you don't recognize the end product or it catches fire and the oven goes up in flames or there is spontaneous combustion on the stove or some other catastrophic disaster... so, I measure.) When I moved out of Mom's house, baking was never quite the same because I didn't have the shortening spoon. I made do with the pointy-toed soup spoons that came into fashion, but, like pointy-toed shoes, they just aren't right for me. (I actually tried on a pair of pointy-toed shoes a couple of weeks ago (can you say POINTY OIL TANKER FEET???) ... when I was on the quest for the perfect shoes to go with the chocolate-brown suede outfit I now own... speaking of which, which we weren't, but we will... I need to return the other leather coat I bought... I found them at Wally-World... I know, high end shopper am I!!... I've been thinking (for the last several years) that it would be nice to have a leather coat for fall to wear for work when I have to go to meetings and such... last few years I've been wearing my green bay wanker colored coat (which I absolutely adore except for the color... it doesn't go with my Vikings persona). It was that or my totally dressy purple wool coat, which usually only comes out for special occasions. (which is stupid when you think of it... what if I die tomorrow and I haven't worn my favorite coat right into rags????) And besides, they are all winter-weight coats; I need something lighter. But, I digress. I found some not-bad-looking waist length leather jackets at Wally-World one day. So, I tried one on. And I liked the way it looked and hung and stuff. So, I put it in the cart. And then I saw the other side of the rack! Well... There were some just-above-the-knee length coats.... fitted on top with a flared skirt. Button up and totally cool!! And... the sleeves were long enough.... even when I wrapped my armies around my boobies! (Is there an echo in here?) And I looked in the mirror. And I looked GOOD! So, I put it in the cart. And I wandered the store picking up the other things I needed (wanted) and debated the long vs. short coat. And as I approached the checkout lane, I realized I hadn't made up my mind on long vs. short. So I bought both. (oops... bad girl,.... I'm supposed to be paying OFF the credit cards, not buying clothes!) So, I took it to the weekend at Starved Rock and modeled the coats for BB and sister and sisters best friend (almost-sister). Sister liked the short one, I can't remember which one almost-sister liked and BB, wonder buns that he is... asked me where, specifically, I was intending to wear the coat, and when I said to meetings for work, he suggested the longer one because it looked dressier. So, I thanked everyone for their input and took the coats home and put them in the closet. And they are still there. But, after careful contemplation, I have decided that the long one will stay with me. I took a look at all the coats in my closet (and it is a CONSIDERABLE number) and thought about the ones I like to wear the most and they are ALL longer coats (cover-the-butt-in-winter type). So the longer one stays. And it will look TOTALLY FAB over the chocolate-brown suede outfit. (Which, just for clarifications sake, I bought AFTER the coats.) So, I gotta return the coat. But, I digress. So, all these years out of Mom's house, I've been using pointy-toed spoons to play in shortening. A less-than-satisfactory experience. Oh, well. Life sucks. So, today, AT MOM'S HOUSE, when it came time to measure out the shortening, I automatically turned to the silverware drawer and pulled out the shortening spoon. As I lifted it from it's place, I got to thinking that after Mom was gone, my sister and I were going to have a fight on our hands about who got the shortening spoon. It would turn into another heirloom for us. A little while later, Mom joined me in the kitchen and I told her about the *heirloom* status of the shortening spoon and she laughed and asked me if I wanted one to take home as she has 6 or 7 of them. I am absolutely beside myself with glee!!! She had two styles of handles... one I associate with her (on the right) and one from her mothers everyday silverware. I now have 2 spoons going home with me!!! YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!! I will never have to use pointy-toed spoons again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BB and I went to a number of estate sales last weekend and I asked if his children would be selling off our stuff like that when we were gone... we just laughed... but, when mom and Dad are gone, it's going to be a knock-down drag-out fight between my sister and I. At the top of the list of family **heirlooms**... the old blue ice cream scoop. We've had it forever. Probably longer than forever. It's so old it was probably painted with lead paint... which has mostly chipped off into the ice cream we have eaten... which would explain a lot!! And we both want it. Why? I have no clue... memories, if I had to name a reason. The other biggie is the old Tupperware shaker that opened up while Dad was shaking it and coated the dining room with not-quite-whipped whipped cream. We were all hysterical with laughter. I am amazed we didn't hurt ourselves or pee our pants. (Or maybe we did and just didn't tell anyone. If the same thing happened today, there would be leakage.) Heaven only knows how long we laughed.

Memories.

Priceless.