Nourishment

I sure do get "way out there" on tangents when I'm here in my little nook! At first I was going to tell you about a meal I prepared for us last night. Then, I became overly interested in one of the older kitchen tools I used to put the meal together. Then I became curious about what the meanings of vintage and retro items could be. Then I took photos. Then......then......then!!!!

So, finally here it is - my little story of a supper. Do you remember that I chopped and saved some ham a couple of days ago? Being full of creative and crazy ideas, I covered the bottom of my Lodge 12 inch cast iron fry pan with much ham. I had some already-cooked baby leaf spinach on hand, so on the top of the ham it went. After scouting for something else to use, I decided on three slices of premium American cheese, and broke it up over all. A glass lid went on and it cooked for a while. Now, I don't ever measure when I cook, just a dib and a dab is my style. I go by instinct when I think a preparation as this is ready for additional enhancements. It was steaming away. Time.

Eggs! I have plenty of those. How to use eggs? Well, Geraldine, get out the old egg beater. I've had it for about 60 years, and it is often forgotten, residing in the back of the utensil dawer and buried under other old things.

I beat six eggs with water - yes, water-not milk, to become a big bowl of frothy bubbles. (Milk makes eggs tough, water makes them tender, in my opinion.) It was poured on top of the hot ham, spinach and cheese and the lid returned for it to steam cook. It puffed up beautifully and even I was surprised. WOW! was it ever delicious!

When washing the egg beater I noticed that it was an Ekco BEST with stainless steel beaters and MADE IN U.S.A.

This prompted me to take my pictures, and hop on over to the computer to research it. I found images of over 800 old egg beaters and several were exactly like mine. The one I have was listed with descriptions on eBay as vintage and retro. Exactly WHAT time period are they? Here's what I learned:

"The word vintage comes to us from wineries and includes quality in its definition "characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal" so while an antique could be anything that was particularly old (and, one would assume, saleable) items that were vintage would be presumed to be of high quality."

A "vintage retro" item most likely is one from the years of 1920 - 1960.

Am I boring you? Well I found it interesting.