WEBVTT
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Welcome to Salt Pig, where two cookbook writers chat about the ups and downs of actual home kitchen life.
00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:12.000
What are we talking about this week, Ellie?
00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:26.640
Well, recently when I went to help you with your photo shoot, um you were doing all the props for your own shoot, all the plates and bowls and everything, and it got me thinking about um my obsession with China.
00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:35.039
And um so we talked today about what we use at home, for what reason, why we like it or don't like it.
00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:37.679
We come at it from pretty different perspectives.
00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:38.159
Yeah.
00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:39.119
But uh yeah.
00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:50.560
Well we learned in that photo shoot situation that we have kind of different styles when it comes to We have very different styles, so we break down sort of where it all comes from and what it all means.
00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:52.000
So it's a yeah.
00:00:52.960 --> 00:01:02.000
You can find new and old episodes wherever you listen to podcasts, and check us out on Stubstack2 at saltpig.com.
00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:05.519
And you can sign up there for our fun weekly newsletter.
00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:07.439
All right, let's get started.
00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:12.239
Hey Ellie, what are you drinking?
00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:16.799
I am having a little afternoon mint tea, which I like to do.
00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:22.159
I have this theory that caffeine doesn't affect me, but despite having that theory, I still just a safeguard.
00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:23.840
I don't drink caffeine afternoon.
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So mint tea seems to be the best options.
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What are you drinking?
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This is a lemon balm iced tea.
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I'm in the process of kind of clearing up the garden upstairs, all the planters.
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And um, I put a little plant of lemon balm up there, which I think in my mind.
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Yeah, it grows like a big shrub.
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It smells like lemongrass.
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It's beautiful.
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Um, it smells a lot like lemon verbena, and I think when I planted it, I was confusing it with lemon verbena.
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I also confuse it.
00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:57.280
I think I never really realized that they were two separate things.
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What's the difference?
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Well, lemon verbena.
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Are they both edible?
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They're both edible.
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Um lemon verbena has these long pointy leaves and it grows kind of like up.
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It almost looks a little bit like tropical in the way that it grows, or at least the way that mine has grown.
00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:18.319
Lemon balm is bushy and has big sort of they almost look like um geranium leaves or something.
00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:09.919
Welcome to Salt Pig, where two cookbook writers chat about the ups and downs of actual home kitchen life.
00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:12.000
What are we talking about this week, Ellie?
00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:26.640
Well, recently when I went to help you with your photo shoot, um you were doing all the props for your own shoot, all the plates and bowls and everything, and it got me thinking about um my obsession with China.
00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:35.039
And um so we talked today about what we use at home, for what reason, why we like it or don't like it.
00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:37.679
We come at it from pretty different perspectives.
00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:38.159
Yeah.
00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:39.119
But uh yeah.
00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:50.560
Well we learned in that photo shoot situation that we have kind of different styles when it comes to We have very different styles, so we break down sort of where it all comes from and what it all means.
00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:52.000
So it's a yeah.
00:00:52.960 --> 00:01:02.000
You can find new and old episodes wherever you listen to podcasts, and check us out on Stubstack2 at saltpig.com.
00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:05.519
And you can sign up there for our fun weekly newsletter.
00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:07.439
All right, let's get started.
00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:12.239
Hey Ellie, what are you drinking?
00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:16.799
I am having a little afternoon mint tea, which I like to do.
00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:22.159
I have this theory that caffeine doesn't affect me, but despite having that theory, I still just a safeguard.
00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:23.840
I don't drink caffeine afternoon.
00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.879
So mint tea seems to be the best options.
00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:28.239
What are you drinking?
00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.959
This is a lemon balm iced tea.
00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:35.200
I'm in the process of kind of clearing up the garden upstairs, all the planters.
00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:40.319
And um, I put a little plant of lemon balm up there, which I think in my mind.
00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:43.120
Yeah, it grows like a big shrub.
00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:45.040
It smells like lemongrass.
00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:46.319
It's beautiful.
00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:53.040
Um, it smells a lot like lemon verbena, and I think when I planted it, I was confusing it with lemon verbena.
00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:54.799
I also confuse it.
00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:57.280
I think I never really realized that they were two separate things.
00:01:57.840 --> 00:01:58.319
What's the difference?
00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:00.560
Well, lemon verbena.
00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:01.680
Are they both edible?
00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:02.879
They're both edible.
00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:07.439
Um lemon verbena has these long pointy leaves and it grows kind of like up.
00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:12.400
It almost looks a little bit like tropical in the way that it grows, or at least the way that mine has grown.
00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:18.319
Lemon balm is bushy and has big sort of they almost look like um geranium leaves or something.
00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:20.800
They're not that thick, but they're that kind of like round.
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And uh there's like an ever so slight furriness to them.
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Uh yeah.
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Um that's but they smell so good.
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Wait, that's furry is a balm.
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That's the one that I'm drinking.
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Got it.
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The balm, yes.
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Um verbena.
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There's actually a recipe in Martin Sorge's book that I just he's a friend and he's a friend of the pot.
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Yeah, and he grows lemon verban and then dries it and mixes it into shortbread.
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Oh, that's a good use for it.
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I would love to try, yeah.
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Yeah.
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Oh, you should with the you should chop down some more.
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Well, this is balm.
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Oh, this is balm.
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Maybe you could do that.
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It wouldn't have been uh the only thing that I've thought to do with it is to make this iced tea.
00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:23.360
And I just use this like Heidi Swanson method where you take all the leaves, and sometimes I'll I've done this with like fresh mint where y'all throw some like loose green tea in there so it's iced mint tea with just an ever so slight like undercurrent of green tea.
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Um and that's always really nice.
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And you pour just a little bit of hot water over it and let it steep for a couple minutes and then top it up with cold water.
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And I think the idea is that you're getting the hot extraction and the cold extraction or something like that.
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Oh sounds great.
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And then you can kind of drink it right away, maybe.
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Oh yeah.
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Uh well I guess you want to let it be.
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I guess you could.
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I mean, do you make iced tea very often?
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Are you an iced tea person?
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I don't.
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I I feel like the tannins in regular iced tea are a little strong for me usually.
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Like a black tea.
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Like a black tea, yeah.
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But I guess, yeah, I n I never think to make cold herbal tea.
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And I should.
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That would that would be very refreshing.
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I could do it with a mint tea, I'm sure.
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Yeah.
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The mint tea is my favorite.
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I that when I had a bunch of mint, I was doing that a lot.
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Yeah.
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Oh, that's a good idea.
00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:15.280
So what vessel do you make this in?
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I make it in well, this is reminding me of my mom used to make iced tea from like the Liptons black iced tea, and she had this big round glass jug, and it came with this like ring top lid with the bulbous plastic thing.
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You know what I'm talking about?
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Yes, and then we'd like to bins around.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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And you take the tea bags and then you sort of like attach them underneath the ring and then they float around.
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And then we would like set it out in the sun.
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It was sun tea.
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That's cool.
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And just let it steep.
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But this is I mean, this is just at home.
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So I have like a big like two-quart Pyrex measuring glass, which was actually hers.
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She gave to me when I moved to New York, so I've had it now for 20-something years.
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And it's the real kind of Pyrex.
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I believe.
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I think it's the real I know, right?
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It's gotta be.
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I mean, if this is something that she was using, I think the new fangled Pyrex is like from the last ten years or something, isn't it?
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Okay, I think so.
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I think it's kind of recent.
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And I this isn't this Pyrex was not like a family heirloom.
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She just had it from I mean, probably got it from Bed Bath and Beyond back in the day, but you're back in the day enough.
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Back in the day enough, yeah.
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And she was like, this is gonna be a kitchen essential.
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We went to Target and bought a big old chest.
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Like a she's like, you're gonna have to use this chest as your luggage because like then it's gonna function as the coffee table in your apartment.
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Brilliant.
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It was, but how much of a pain is it to drag around a chest through the airport?
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And like you land in New York and you're like, I'm here.
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I just got in a taxi.
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It was like, here's my address.
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And he's like, Okay, how do I get there?
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It's like, I have no clue.
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You're the taxi driver.
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The I anyway, you're like, but can you take one side of this chest for me so you can get in the trunk?
00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:01.839
I know.
00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:08.560
And also, it's like the idea that I wouldn't be able to find a coffee table once I arrived in New York, you know.
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Gotta get my coffee table.
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Boise, Idaho.
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I mean, I have a chest as my coffee table still, and I'm still trying to replace it with a regular coffee table.
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Does your chest have like an origin story like this?
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Is it It does, actually.
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It's a ridiculous origin story, but so way back in the day, there was a place that like my father's gosh, he's gonna be mad that I don't know exactly who this is.
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Um, one of my relatives of the past, a Hutton, which is my last name, was the founder of a very small town in West Virginia called Huttonsville.
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Oh wow.
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They're literally, I think there's right now I think there's the ancestral Hutton home of Huttonsville, and then there's a jail, and those are the only things in town currently.
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That's all you need.
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Yeah, that's all you need.
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Um, and I don't I think the ancestral home is like a bed and breakfast now or something, maybe for people visiting people in the jail.
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I don't know.
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I don't know, it's out of the family.
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But um, but the one thing, one thing I do have from Huttonsville is this chest that's functioning as my coffee table that says on the outside of it, Huttonsville, West Virginia, like it was literally a chest that that ancestor used to travel, I guess, from West Virginia to New York City to when you hoist it up on the back of a wagon.
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Yeah, yeah, literally.
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I mean, it's huge, it's so heavy, and it is kind of cool looking because it's really old-fashioned, and it has all these cool compartments inside.
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It would it would have been a great thing for you to move from Idaho with because it's like, you know, there's a whole shelf that you take out that has like little compartments, and then below that there's a bigger shelf, and then there's a big zone in the bottom.
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It's cool.
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That's so cool.
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Yeah.
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So I I sort of regret I mean, that's why I haven't replaced it with a coffee table.
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I do feel sort of a sentimental attachment to it.
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The problem is it has all those like some kind of iron bars or something that hold it all together.
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Okay.
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Is it a wood chest?
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It's wood and it's covered with canvas, I think.
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Okay.
00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:16.639
And then it has some sort of metal, it's not iron probably, but some sort of metal sort of holding it all together.
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And the metal things are spaced, and there's some wooden pieces.
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It's spaced in this way that it's very difficult to like put a drink down on there because the spaces are sort of not spaced very easily.
00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:29.360
Okay.
00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:37.679
So as a coffee table, it's very impractical because you can't put a cup of coffee, say, on it without it like really threatening to spill over.
00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:38.799
Okay.
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But yeah.
00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:43.360
But so what did you do with your what did you do with your chest?
00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:44.720
I finally got rid of it.
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This was a chest literally from Target.
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Yeah.
00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:49.360
It was nothing it was nothing special.
00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:54.320
But I did hold on to it for the longest time because it was so fixed in my mind how practical this thing was.
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I'm like, what am I yeah.
00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:04.559
That I got rid of it and I was like, oh yeah, it's actually nicer to have a proper coffee table and to have this chest that's like storing all these things that you can.
00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:06.240
I need to get rid of anyway.
00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:18.000
But the Pyrex thing, I I don't see that people have these that often if you're like blending a soup or blending something that's not in a pot because it's got the straight sides and so it's really easy to taller rather than.
00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:18.639
And it's taller.
00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:21.840
Yeah, it's like a sort of jumbo-sized Pyrex measuring glass.
00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:22.720
Sounds amazing.
00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:23.440
Sounds amazing.
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It's really nice.
00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:25.440
I'm gonna try to look one up.
00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:34.960
Because especially the vintage stuff, because I think the newer stuff is the kind that doesn't hold up during heat or from like extreme heat to cold or cold to hot.
00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:35.840
It'll shatter.
00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:37.039
And it will shatter, yeah.
00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:38.639
Yeah, that happened to me one time.
00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:46.639
I don't know what I was thinking, but I took a 9x13 Pyrex dish out of the oven, and I was like, it's it's too hot.
00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:53.600
So I don't know what I was thinking, but I threw a handful of ice cubes into it, and the thing shattered with such a boom.
00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:54.720
It was terrifying.
00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:57.039
And like glass actually kind of went flying too.
00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:03.600
It doesn't it didn't just like crack and it was actually there were pieces that I found days later.
00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:06.240
Yeah, it was scary.
00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:18.559
But that's I guess that's with like when whoever bought, I think um the company that owns like Instant Pot and some a bunch of different food main or food appliance brands, like they own Pyrex now and they've cheapened the product.
00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:27.200
You'd think that would be the whole the whole point of a Pyrex, like the whole identifying principle of what a Pyrex is, is that they do all this stuff.
00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:28.080
I know.
00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:40.080
Well, I'm gonna look for one of those because I my immersion blender, I'm constantly using the little plastic thing that it came with, which is a very handy size and it does its job very well.
00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:44.879
But it's a plastic thing that's all dinged up and it seems kind of gross.
00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:53.440
But um this is a good segue into our conversation today, which is plateware, dishware, serving wear, what China?
00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:54.879
Yeah, dinner china.
00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:55.919
Yeah, yeah.
00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:57.840
What would you call this if you had China?
00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:05.440
I mean, I call it China, but that feels very old fashioned, which kind of makes sense because I feel like my views on China are quite old fashioned.
00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:08.960
Um Well you're a collector of of I'm a collector.
00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:09.840
I'm a collector.
00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:10.159
Yeah.
00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:10.399
Yeah.
00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:17.279
I would be a collector too if I had a better understanding of w the significance of this stuff for like knowing how to identify these things.
00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:22.799
Well, it's funny, I don't really have an understanding of the significance of it either, to be honest.
00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:29.039
I like many things in my life, I feel like I'm very opinionate about it.
00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:43.039
I'm very drawn to certain aesthetic properties of it, and even practical properties of it, but I don't know I'm not I'm not an expert, but I do I do really know what I like and I really know what I don't like.
00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:53.679
So also in my case, similar to the family trunk, I'm often the person who will take a lot of family stuff that maybe no one else is that interested in.
00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:56.399
But yeah, so I have a lot of china from my mom.
00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:00.159
My stepfather gave me a lot of china as like gifts.
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My dad has given me China.
00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:03.919
And do they collect this as well?
00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:12.480
My mom definitely has yeah, she probably has I don't know, at least like six sets of china.
00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:13.519
Wow.
00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:21.759
And some are like full sets of china where you could like have a dinner party for, you know, twelve people or more with all the sort of accoutrements.
00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:23.919
And then some of them are just like, you know, plates.
00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:35.759
But yeah, she has so much that in her basement she has this weird room that she and my stepfather jokingly call the China Museum, where it's all of the China that like can't fit in the kitchen upstairs.
00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:41.679
They sort of put it in the in the China Museum, and then she can go downstairs and peruse it when she's having a dinner party.
00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:42.320
It's pretty cool.
00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:44.080
Oh wow, that is really cool.
00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:44.639
Yeah.
00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:52.399
And actually, Henry now, very un I I this I was not pushing this, but Henry's now really into China.
00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:55.919
So he, whenever we go visit school, it is cool.
00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.639
He's always like, Grandma, can I go to the China Museum?
00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:01.840
And she's very thrilled to take him around the China Museum.
00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:10.399
Um but his his China collection is as mine is also based a lot on what we find on people's stoops that they're giving away.
00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:14.080
So um his pieces are really pretty, pretty random.
00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:19.440
But he'll find stuff and he'll be like, Oh mom, check out this awesome picture that I found.
00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:23.519
And I'm like, cool, not for me, but you know, but I'm like great.
00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:25.600
Yeah, yeah.
00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:27.600
What are your what are your views on it?
00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:37.840
Because the reason why why we were thinking maybe this would be sort of a juicy topic, or at least why I was, is because I think we have pretty different styles in dishware.
00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:47.919
And the only reason why I was thinking about that at all is because when I came to help that day before your photo shoot started, I was like, oh, should I bring any props?
00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:54.159
Because I knew you were doing it yourself, and I knew you I mean, in a photo shoot, you need to have like so many plates.
00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:08.000
Yes in in abundance.
00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:16.320
And I knew you have yes, and for me, and what I write about, but you have a basement full of plates and shallow bowls and all kinds of other things.
00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:18.240
My mother's daughter, I guess.
00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:19.279
Yeah, I know.
00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:22.080
So I was like, oh Lucas, do you want me to bring any stuff?
00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:23.200
Like, or do you have enough props?
00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:24.080
And you were like, Yeah, sure.
00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:31.759
So very dutifully, the morning I was like coming over to your place, went into all these cupboards and was opening up all these boxes in the basement and pulling out all the stuff.
00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:36.320
I was so excited, I found a ton of these shallow bowls and other bowls that maybe we could use.
00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:37.679
I was like, this is gonna be so great.
00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:38.799
It's gonna be so helpful.
00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:39.840
I was so proud of myself.
00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:46.480
And then as I like gathered them up and I was stacking them up to pack them to put them in a tote bag, it dawned on me.
00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:54.240
I was looking at it, they're all like extremely ornate, old-fashioned, you know, bone china, I guess, or porcelain china.
00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:56.080
I don't I don't even know enough about it.
00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:56.879
I know, I know.
00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:58.080
And it just dawned on me.
00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.639
I was like, this is not gonna work for the first.
00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:02.399
Not at all.
00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:06.399
This is not the style of this particular beautiful plates, yeah.
00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:07.120
Oh, thank you.
00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:25.519
Yeah, but not at all, like you do have to really match the aesthetic of the book, and the book is a contemporary take on things with all these like bright, fresh vegetables and bright colors, and I was like, all of this, you know, plates with birds on it and stuff.
00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:27.600
I was like, this is not gonna work.
00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:33.679
So I my book is very much of what's sort of trending right now, and that's always what I've done.
00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:44.879
And in I do find though, in food photography, things that are beautiful on their own or fun to eat off of, or like look great on display in your kitchen, they just don't translate in the photos for whatever reason.
00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:46.799
Like you need kind of a matte finish.
00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.559
There's too much detail on the plate, it competes with the food.
00:15:50.879 --> 00:16:02.559
So everything, all these plates, everything that I'm rounding up is so simple, or or it's just kind of an earthy texture, or it's of the color palette from the mood board, and yeah, so it is actually.
00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:09.440
I think I told you, I was like, I need as many plates as I can get, but the fact is they're quite specific, all the plates and shelves.
00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:14.080
You were very, I was I sent you these photos, and I was like, these aren't gonna work for you at all.
00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:18.559
And you were very nice, and you were like, Yeah, they're they're not gonna work at all.
00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:25.039
Well, you did include those two bowls that you made by hand, and those made it into the book.
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:27.519
I'm very excited that those made it into the book.
00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:28.480
They're so cool.
00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:29.679
Very cool, thank you.
00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:32.320
Um, yeah, those were definitely the plainest things I brought.
00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:38.399
I was like, Well, I can bring these two things I made in college, but um, the rest of it's gotta stay at home.
00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.200
What have you done with all the the stuff that you bought?
00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:43.519
Because you bought all the a lot of the props, right?
00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.240
Like you just like went to all these tag sales and stuff.
00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:47.120
Pretty much.
00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:54.720
I bought a bunch of stuff on like Facebook Marketplace and just go into like the clearance racks at TJ Maxx.
00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:55.360
And yeah.
00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:56.320
I mean, it's funny.
00:16:56.399 --> 00:16:59.360
I've worked with prop stylists before where where you rent all this stuff.
00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:06.000
So often the things that look great in these photos are like rinky dink cheapo clearance rack plates.
00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:09.599
So um I've found that that can be a pretty good resource for it.
00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:12.559
But yeah, anyway, it's like a lot of the stuff is like not that spec.
00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:14.559
I have a few handmade things that I threw in there that are my own.
00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:17.680
You had when I was there, you had some pretty nice stuff that you were using.
00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:27.359
Because you were also using the stuff, like your everyday stuff is relatively plain, but very lovely and probably perfect for the shoot.
00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:28.079
Yeah.
00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:32.720
I mean for my everyday stuff, I kind of like the matchy matchy.
00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:36.640
Are you uh matchy matchy person when it comes to Well, what do you mean by matchy matchy?
00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:37.680
Like a set?
00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:38.559
Yeah.
00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:39.839
Oh yeah, definitely.
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:41.759
Everything should match, definitely.
00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.440
The cup should match, the fork should match, the plate should match.
00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:50.960
Well, maybe it was just a time in my life when the money that we had and stuff where it's like it was kind of cool.
00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:54.480
It was that old 90s coffee shop sort of feel of second hand.
00:17:54.640 --> 00:18:01.200
You've got like they're fun little like sourced things from thrift stores and stuff, and they don't all match.
00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.400
A vintage collection of stuff that I totally get, yes.
00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:11.680
Yeah, or what I was doing too is I would buy things from um like second sales from potters around the area.
00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:12.559
Oh, cool.
00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:17.680
And you wouldn't get like a complete set, but um they were all kind of like by the same potter.
00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:18.160
I don't know.
00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.680
I didn't feel strongly about it then, but right now I really like when all the plates match.
00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:22.160
Oh, yeah.
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:32.960
And I like when they all stack evenly in the cupboard, and I like when they are have I I really like a plate that has a slim profile so that stacks compactly.
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:48.319
I was just out staying with my brother and um and my dad and stuff, and their plates like it's the bowls more than the plates, but they are really bulky and take up a bunch of space, and they don't stack up in the dishwasher very well, and I'm like, I could never do this on my day-to-day.
00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:52.960
I need the I wanted to just bring order to my life.
00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:54.640
Yeah, I totally get that.
00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:56.000
I also wanted to bring order.
00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:05.599
I think, yeah, I think when I was younger and I didn't have the China collection that I had now, you eat by yourself more often, or you're eating with like one other person more often.
00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:07.039
So it doesn't really matter.
00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:13.839
But yeah, the idea of when I'm making dinner for me and the kids and Tom, I think it's more like an OCD thing.
00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:16.400
It would make me crazy if we were using different plates.
00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:20.079
We just had some people over last weekend, so there were ten of us.
00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:24.319
And even with all of my China, I do not have a set of ten of anything.
00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:32.640
So I had to split it up where like the kids were eating off one thing and the adults were eating off the other, and then there were a couple people who were sort of right in between who were I was like, are they kids?
00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:33.440
Are they adults?
00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:34.559
Which china do they get?
00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:37.359
I had to have a whole internal discussion about it.
00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:39.599
There's a logic.
00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:41.039
Yeah, there's a logic.
00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.319
I like that logic.
00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:46.400
Um, what are your most used of the of the sets?
00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:48.640
Which plates or which pieces?
00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:50.319
I'll I guess I'll back up.
00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:53.759
Do you remember how I was telling you about how I just got this new dish cabinet?
00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:54.480
Yes.
00:19:54.720 --> 00:20:00.319
It's like the world's most boring story that I think went on like 12 minutes of our last episode.
00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:05.039
Um which hopefully we'll be able to um cut down a little.
00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:10.960
Um, so I got this new dish cabinet to put all these dishes in, and I was very excited.
00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:18.960
We finally got it in place with the help of these two incredibly lovely neighbors, and I finally got it unlocked where it was locked.
00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:20.880
We had lost the key and the movie.
00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:22.079
Yeah, you sent me a video.
00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:25.920
Yeah, I sent you a video um of kids jumping up and down.
00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:29.039
Yeah, the kids were really got really involved in this.
00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:34.559
Anyway, so I put all the china, I put a lot of the china in this thing, and it was very fun to put it all in there and arrange it.
00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:48.559
But in this sort of reconciliation of China, and I was like going through stuff in the basement, the china that we use every day was this china called Calix, and it's not a fancy china necessarily, it is old.
00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:55.359
I think we had some really old stuff that I got in at like a consignment shop with my sister before Tom and I got married.
00:20:55.440 --> 00:21:00.240
And then when we got married, I was like, wouldn't it be fun to fill in some of the pieces?
00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:02.240
So we didn't have a normal registry.
00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:05.759
We had this weird registry where people could buy stuff on replacements.com.
00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:08.000
So I got sort of all this really cool.
00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:09.119
It was so fun.
00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:18.240
I got all these cool platters and bowls, like a platter and a bowl and you know, extra plates and stuff, and sort of filled it in so we could actually use it.
00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:23.039
So that's what we've been using for the last how long we've been married, 10 years, more than that, 12 years.
00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:26.880
Um and it's gotten really worn out, which is fine.
00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:28.160
That's what happens in life.
00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:29.440
Yeah, I agree.
00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:34.160
I'm like, I'm glad I'm using it, and if it got a little faded and that's life.
00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:36.400
Um and that's a sign of enjoyment.
00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:37.599
Exactly.
00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:42.240
But we had also broken a lot of plates, um, which again happens.
00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:44.079
So we didn't really have enough plates, basically.
00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:51.599
So I was like, I'm gonna switch all that stuff out and then bring up this stuff that my dad had given me, which is um called Arabia.
00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:56.160
And it's actually, I think you'd actually really like as sort of a mid century modern vibe.
00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:59.759
It's very plain, like this sort of cold.
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:03.920
White and this dark blue stripe around the edge.
00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:05.680
It's very low-key.
00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:16.079
And then the yeah, and then the platters and bowls and stuff have this graphic bold flow blue flower on it, but it's like very abstract.
00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:19.680
So it looks more graphic than it like really ornate.
00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:20.880
Oh, that's so fun.
00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:24.480
It's been so fun to just have a new set of china to use.
00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:28.240
And we just have like the plates and the bowls and some little plates.
00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:29.359
So I went on eBay.
00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:31.519
I was like, the last thing I need is more china.
00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.960
The absolute last thing I need in the world is more china.
00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:43.119
But when I put all this in there and I was like, oh, wouldn't it be cool to have, you know, a platter or a bowl to go with this now that we're going to be using it every day?
00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:45.759
And it's like taken off in popularity.
00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:52.240
And now it's so wildly expensive to um to replace any of these things.
00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:58.240
So I mean that's where it everything has changed so much.
00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:06.319
I feel like there's all these marketplaces now where they realize anybody who wants this is gonna want specifically this, and therefore we can charge whatever we want.
00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:13.440
And also there's all this context that at your fingertips to you know get this a sense of what it could be worth.
00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:14.480
Totally.
00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:18.480
And it's and in a way that's good, I guess.
00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:19.680
I guess I don't know.
00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:21.680
There's great for the people selling it.
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:24.079
Yeah, it's great for the people selling it.
00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:24.960
I don't know.
00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:26.640
It does seem sort of like a downer.
00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:31.599
The chances of tripping across some of this at an estate sale feel very, very small.
00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:36.559
There's not really any way to fill it in other than to go on these like secondhand sites at this point.
00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:37.440
But I don't know.
00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:38.960
Maybe I need to have some faith.
00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:39.759
I don't know.
00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:40.720
That's funny.
00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:44.640
When you were saying that, it reminded me of how we would, I think I brought this up before.
00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:48.240
My mom collected the Spode Christmas plates, you know.
00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:53.920
And so every December we would swap out all the plates for all the Christmas plates, and so funny.
00:23:54.160 --> 00:24:00.079
That was always so much fun to I don't know, this new sort of electric excitement at dinner time.
00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:00.799
Yeah.
00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:03.680
Or like breakfast cereal or a grilled cheese sandwich.
00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.960
I don't know, just fun to change it out and you know a new page.
00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:08.640
I totally agree.
00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:14.079
And especially for this the stuff that you're using every day, I'm surprised how much joy it gives me.
00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:16.799
In the morning having breakfast, I'm like, oh, we get to use this.
00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:17.920
I forgot overnight.
00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:20.640
I forgot that I had switched all this stuff out.
00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:21.759
And it's been so fun.
00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:28.400
Because normally I'm mostly thinking about China if I'm like having people over, I'm like, oh, would it be fun to use something kind of special?
00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:32.720
Um but but to change out the everyday stuff has been really cool.
00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:38.240
It's such a thing for my parents and their like milia or whatever to have like the wedding china.
00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:38.880
Yeah.
00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:41.920
And then the day-to-day like dinner wear.
00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:42.319
Right.
00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:45.119
Is that something that your your family experienced at all?
00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:46.559
That's a good question.
00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:51.680
I think because my mom's mom was also very into China.
00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:56.240
My mom maybe was coming into the marriage already with some China.
00:24:56.480 --> 00:25:07.119
I'd have to ask her because this Arabia that I'm talking about, this more simple stuff that we're using every day, maybe was China that they got when they first got married.
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:09.519
I'll I'll have to ask my mom or dad.
00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:18.480
Um interesting custom to now that I don't know anybody who has like none of my friends got wedding China.
00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:26.319
Um even and when you go eat at their house, you're just kind of eating off the everyday, no matter what the occasion is.
00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:26.960
Right.
00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:32.640
Um it's kind of funny to imagine like where that custom came from and then like where it died off.
00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:33.519
I know.
00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:43.279
What's gonna happen to all this China that all these people have who are not necessarily collectors and also like their kids don't really see it as being that valuable.
00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:44.799
I know, I know.
00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:52.400
In my Great Reconciliation, China Reconciliation, there was one set of China that my mom gave me where I was like, okay, this doesn't fit anywhere.
00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:55.200
I don't love it, I don't need it.
00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:59.759
And it happens like the plates are really huge, so they don't like fit in the dishwasher that great.
00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:06.160
It just didn't if there's if there's a set of china to remove, if I'm constantly acquiring China, I was like, this would be the set.
00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:08.240
And then I was like, what do I do with it?
00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:24.240
Because you can't like you can I don't know, there's replacements.com, which is the site where you can get, you know, individual pieces of things, but I think it I'd probably be best just like bringing these two boxes to like a consignment shop or something.
00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:31.920
But I don't know what people do with it, and it is kind of sad because it's like for me, it does have this sentimental value.
00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:34.799
If you were getting rid of it, I don't know what you'd do with that stuff.
00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:35.680
I don't know who's buying it.
00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:37.119
Give it away, put it on the stew.
00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:40.559
I feel like that's what that's how people are finding these little gold mines.
00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:41.680
Yeah, I guess.
00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:50.640
Because they're just they don't they don't think it's valuable and maybe the work of trying to sell it to uh replacements.com or to a kind of consignment shop.
00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:52.079
Yeah.
00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:53.599
I know, I know.
00:26:53.759 --> 00:27:01.599
It's really odd because then yeah, it seems like two extremes where either people just don't want it at all or the you know collector mindset.
00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:03.200
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:18.480
I always love with those sets, all the little like the sugar bowls and the teacups and the saucers, and it's just something so fun that it has gotten lost in my adulthood about like the ceremony of eating.
00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:21.680
And um, I think that would be kind of fun to bring that back.
00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:25.119
Vincent got from uh one of his great aunts who passed away.
00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:26.240
The tea set.
00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:33.200
This yeah, beautiful tea set, the all these little teacups and saucers, and like a a tea uh kettle.
00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:34.480
No, what do you call it a kettle?
00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:34.960
Or teapot.
00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:36.240
Yeah, a teapot, I guess.
00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:36.799
A teapot.
00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:41.440
And it's one of the blue and white chinas that I don't know.
00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:43.920
I should well, I can pull it out.
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:48.079
Maybe actually I'm gonna look at it here because I bet you might know something about it.
00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:48.400
Yeah.
00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:49.200
This is it.
00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:51.359
Oh, isn't that so adorable?
00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:51.920
I love it.
00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.039
Molami from Sweden.
00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:56.480
It's uh Swedish China.
00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:03.200
Oh, I bet I bet it would be more I bet it would be popular on the um sort of mid-century modern.
00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:08.720
It looks kind of like of the same family as the one I was just talking about.
00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:09.519
Oh, really?
00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:10.319
Oh, cool.
00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:26.720
In that like, it's it's not too, it's not like little tiny flowers and yeah, it's more abstract and a little bolder and sort of more um, I think much more universally appealing.
00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:27.200
Yeah.
00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:28.400
Oh, it's so pretty.
00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:29.119
I love it.
00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:33.519
Well, it's been so fun too, because we've kind of gotten into having people over for brunch.
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:38.880
And then whenever we do it, we're having tea and we're gonna get out the teacups and put it in the pot.
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:48.880
And it's just like I don't know, it just m turns the brunch hangout into something that that's a little bit like special and you're not doing every day.
00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:49.920
Oh yeah.
00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:51.599
I mean, it's like anything else.
00:28:51.759 --> 00:29:01.039
I mean, I feel like there's been so much, especially in cookbook worlds, actually, so much talk about sort of making ceremonies and making traditions and all the stuff.
00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:10.880
And I think the yeah, like using Christmas china or anything like that, the that ceremony hasn't really translated to like the way people eat today.
00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:11.359
Yeah.
00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:12.160
And it's fun.
00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:14.000
It's fun to like pull out the nice china.
00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:15.039
Yeah.
00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:15.599
Yeah.
00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:18.480
I wonder if there's gonna be a pendulum swing on that.
00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:18.880
Yeah.
00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:22.160
Because I also yeah, we're kind of primed for it.
00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:24.079
Totally, totally primed for it.
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:25.759
Especially like eating at home.
00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:32.559
It's it's a really intimate thing to think about the stuff that your relatives ate off of and drink, drank out of.
00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:34.880
It's very um it's it's intimate.
00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:41.599
And stuff that was designed to last for generations and be passed down as a family heirloom.
00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:43.359
Oh yeah, definitely.
00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:50.160
I'm really glad to like actually use that stuff because it does it does make me sort of sad when people have this stuff and then they just never use it.
00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:55.200
It's one thing if they don't really like it, which I think is sometimes the case, but it's something that you actually think is pretty.
00:29:55.279 --> 00:29:57.359
It seems like kind of a coup.
00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:09.119
My dad has wedding china, and he the funny thing about him and my stepmom is that they both, when they got married, turns out they both got the same wedding china from their uh first marriages.
00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:09.920
Really?
00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:14.079
So then they have like 36 people come on over.
00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:14.480
Yeah.
00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:19.519
But I always feel like with stuff like that, you kind of have to go all in with it.
00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:24.720
Like you need the tablecloth, you need the nice uh crystal wine glasses, you need to.
00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:30.400
I know that's what I think, or maybe it's just the fact that it's always been in my mind fancy.
00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:30.720
Right.
00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:37.759
That especially requires sort of like gloved hands and all this delicacy, and you have to get the nice like silverware and stuff.
00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:38.640
I don't know.
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:41.200
That's something that that that might be a hurdle.
00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:42.480
That might be a hurdle.
00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:44.559
Mentally for for me at least.
00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:45.200
Yeah.
00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:56.559
My stepfather for like years was giving me this particular type of china that's called Royal Copenhagen, and it's this like white china that has this blue pattern on it.
00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:01.519
It's very beautiful and like very understated, and it's just fancy.
00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:04.640
And it's one of these things that like But what makes it fancy?
00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:07.920
It just doesn't feel casual.
00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:19.119
Like there's something about it, even though it doesn't like it doesn't have any gold on it, like the actual shape of the of the plates and the bowls just feels really fine.
00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:26.319
Some of it has this like little sort of fluted edge around it that just feels like really high quality.
00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:27.359
Like delicate.
00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:28.559
Very delicate.
00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:41.519
And he's gotten me all these fun, you know, a adorable little sugar bowl and a little special plate that you're supposed to put like the sugar bowl and the creamer thing on that's this very unusual shape.
00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:44.079
It's just very considered and yeah.
00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:50.640
Um but yeah, when I use that, I do feel like, oh, okay, I should probably use some nice napkins.
00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:52.799
I shouldn't use the napkins that have holes in them.
00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:55.920
Um which most of ours do.
00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:58.880
So yeah, I I get I get that for some of it.
00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:06.960
Well, I do feel like sometimes that is just a hurdle to get over where you're like, oh, I could just use this every day if you just get used to it.
00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:10.960
Yeah, well, it's I mean, go back to an earlier episode.
00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:26.559
There's the hoarder versus user mindset of like we we discussed that you're of the camp that if somebody gives you a nice tube of moisturizer, you're gonna save it and save it, save it until it goes bad because there's never gonna be a moment that is worthy of this nice moisturizer.
00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:30.000
You have the opposite when it comes to your nice china.
00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:30.880
It's true.
00:32:31.119 --> 00:32:31.680
It's true.
00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:35.920
I think partially because there's something about it that like won't get used up.
00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:41.839
It's kind of like if you if you use it, yeah, there's no scarcity of it.
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:44.079
It's just additive, it feels like to me.
00:32:44.400 --> 00:32:45.680
Uh that's a good way to think about it.
00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:47.839
There's no risk about using it.
00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:52.160
I guess you could like break it, but I for some reason that doesn't traumatize me that much.
00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:54.640
If I break it, I'm like, well, I used it.
00:32:55.119 --> 00:32:57.359
That's gonna happen on occasion.
00:32:57.759 --> 00:32:58.079
Yeah.
00:32:58.240 --> 00:32:58.720
Yeah.
00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:03.359
Do you have any interest in the China in your parents' wedding china?
00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:05.839
I mean, to be honest, no.
00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:10.559
I hadn't um I haven't even really thought about it until we started having this conversation.
00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:17.039
Um and I just don't know where I would put it or we live so differently from now.
00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:24.319
Even when my parents got married in like the early eighties that it's it just doesn't seem practical for me.
00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:25.200
Yeah.
00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:26.160
Yeah.
00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:35.279
I feel like if I could take like a couple pieces and then, you know, have, you know, maybe six or something so that I could have a dinner party with it, then I would do that.
00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:40.880
But I feel like with the China sets, it's an all or nothing type of mindset.
00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:44.400
Although actually I did that when my dad was moving recently.
00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:46.559
He was like, Don't you want this China?
00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:50.640
I like it, but I don't love it, but I felt really guilty.
00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:54.880
And I was like, well I don't know.
00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:56.720
And they were just gonna get rid of it.
00:33:57.200 --> 00:34:08.480
So I was like, okay, well, if it's not being a total jerk, I was like, Yeah, I guess I'll take like the shallow bowls and I'll take like a really nice platter and a nice serving bowl.
00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:16.400
This is sort of a concept that maybe, you know, like if we're having some pasta one night, I guess we could eat it up, eat them off those bowls.
00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:23.199
But it didn't feel like this big commitment of, you know, salad plates and yeah, the whole the whole thing.
00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:24.239
Yeah.
00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:24.719
Yeah.
00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:26.079
It didn't make enough sense.
00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:27.360
It didn't resonate with me enough.
00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:29.760
Because it really is just super personal.
00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:30.800
Yeah.
00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:33.039
And what you like and what you don't like.
00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:38.880
Um I do love you mentioning that I got my plates off of like an internet brand.
00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:39.199
Yeah.
00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:40.880
And I'm kind of embarrassed about it now.
00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:44.639
But we've got the set of eight and we're living with it, and it's very practical.
00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:51.119
But um, and this must be a thing specific to like my age, but there's pasta bowls.
00:34:51.280 --> 00:34:51.760
Yeah.
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:53.199
Which I just love.
00:34:53.360 --> 00:34:56.320
They're so it's just I eat bowls all the time.
00:34:56.480 --> 00:34:59.119
I love the the size of these, I love the depth.
00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:01.199
It's like oftentimes I'll reach for that.
00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:07.519
Because that is hard to find in old China, and it's um and it's rough.
00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:11.039
I wonder if these actually speak to how we eat now.
00:35:11.199 --> 00:35:12.400
That's like the sizing of it.
00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:18.719
But maybe it's like 10 inches in diameter and the depth maybe two inches, two to three.
00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:26.559
So it's it's almost uh it's like a soup bowl, like a like a wide soup bowl or deeper than that.
00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:27.280
Yeah.
00:35:27.519 --> 00:35:30.480
Well, the thing is this set has soup bowls as well.
00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:42.719
So there's like the smaller, which we use for like yogurt and soup and cereal and stuff, but then the pasta bowl is great when you're eating a bunch of pasta, because I don't know, I don't even know why it's great necessarily.
00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:45.199
It just contains things better than a plate does.
00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:47.599
Yeah, and then I do all these pot, maybe.
00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:48.559
And yeah.
00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:52.559
And I would do all these like bowls where I'm like assembling these things.
00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:53.119
Yeah.
00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:55.760
And so it just, I don't know, it just holds it more beautifully.
00:35:55.840 --> 00:35:59.519
It makes it kind of like nestles in your lap if you're ever like sitting on the sofa eating.
00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:00.159
And yeah.
00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:01.119
I don't know.
00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:04.800
I reach for those a lot, even though they don't fit into the dishwasher that well.
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:06.320
Brutal.
00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:09.119
Yeah, mine don't fit into the dishwasher.
00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:13.920
Yeah, we have some bowls like that, some set of pasta bowls that I literally got off of someone's stoop.
00:36:14.079 --> 00:36:30.880
I don't especially like them, but the shape is so handy that we use them every time we're on the dishwasher, they are all crammed in there, and they are too big for the regular slots, and I have to put them in these special spots that no one does but me, and it's silly.
00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:31.599
Yeah.
00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:49.840
I'm so interested in what these things like the popularity of pasta bowls right now just say about how we eat and how the you know, like and how the wedding china and these sets and like everything that we've been discussing is a reflection of just the changes of how we eat and how we shop.
00:36:50.880 --> 00:36:54.639
I mean, I think a lot of it is the informality of it.
00:36:54.800 --> 00:36:58.239
I do think bowl is easier to hold in your hand.
00:36:58.480 --> 00:37:01.840
Like you're not necessarily eating it at the table is how much easier is.
00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:02.800
That must be a big thing.
00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:04.480
I think that's a big thing.
00:37:04.719 --> 00:37:12.480
And I think it's also like, again, like in your book, these sort of all-encompassing meals, you don't want a small bowl because this is your whole dinner.
00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:23.280
So that you know, a tall, you know, equally tall and wide bowl wouldn't really work like a cereal bowl because you want to have more room for food in there.
00:37:23.679 --> 00:37:23.840
Yeah.
00:37:24.239 --> 00:37:26.400
Yeah, I think it says a lot about what we eat.
00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:27.360
Yeah.
00:37:27.599 --> 00:37:37.039
But I'm sure that's a phenomenon contemporary China sets that everyone's making possibles as part of them.
00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:37.760
Yeah.
00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:42.719
And they're not having like bread and butter plates anymore or you know.
00:37:43.039 --> 00:37:59.039
One of the things I do enjoy collecting are platters from potters and stuff, or one-off bowls that like I'll maybe keep on display, pieces of pottery, yeah, more so than functional dinnerware and stuff, and I'll keep them on display, and then if people are coming over, I'll like throw a bag of chips in them.
00:37:59.119 --> 00:37:59.280
Yeah.
00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:02.079
Or use it to like serve stuff from yeah.
00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:05.519
And that speaks to the sensibility of how I eat now.
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:06.000
Yeah.
00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:08.400
And I I feel like that's kind of a bon appetit type of thing.
00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:15.360
It's like the way this food that has been presented to us and the way we're consuming it is these pieces as objects rather than collections.
00:38:15.679 --> 00:38:17.039
And it's just more reasonable.
00:38:17.199 --> 00:38:28.719
I mean, I happen to have been gifted all this china, so I'm sort of a collector in in the fact that I have a collection, but I'm not a collector in the fact that I'm like putting any money towards this collection.
00:38:28.960 --> 00:38:34.400
I mean, I think buying a set of china is like a huge financial commitment, even now.
00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:43.119
I mean, I mean, I guess if you go to a consignment shop or a you know, antique store, maybe you could get a set of china for a hundred bucks.
00:38:43.199 --> 00:38:43.599
I don't know.
00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:50.320
But I think if you're buying something new, if you're going to Macy's and registering it for it, I think it's a huge commitment.
00:38:50.719 --> 00:38:54.079
But that again, like people are people even getting married anymore.
00:38:54.159 --> 00:39:01.519
And if they're getting married, are they having registries and people are older and people have stuff when they're going into their marriage already?
00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:04.159
And it just doesn't make sense anymore.
00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:16.320
I mean, if we're going back to the days, in fact, when people have a trunk and you're like filling it with the family china and the family linens that they can spare, and then you're going off to your new household, then it all makes sense.
00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:20.400
But yeah, yeah, it's not really how we live anymore this way.
00:39:20.719 --> 00:39:31.920
Yeah, which makes it more fun when it's a curiosity and just a hobby more than uh like a fact of your home or a practicality of your home.
00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:33.360
Definitely, definitely.
00:39:33.519 --> 00:39:37.039
It isn't very practical, but it is, yeah, it is a fun thing to have.
00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:43.199
I'm glad, um, I'm glad Henry's into it because I'm like, someone can have all this China when I die.
00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:45.840
Well, I predict an upswing in this stuff.
00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:51.599
I mean, everybody's buying stuff on Facebook Marketplace and thrifting is becoming huge.
00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:52.000
Yes.
00:39:52.239 --> 00:39:54.960
Vintage stuff has, I mean, been huge for a long time.
00:39:55.039 --> 00:39:55.440
I bet.
00:39:55.519 --> 00:40:03.360
And then we've been in such a moment of the style for plateware has been like the stuff I was bringing out for my cookbook shoot.
00:40:03.519 --> 00:40:03.760
Right.
00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:05.280
But it's gonna switch back.
00:40:05.360 --> 00:40:06.159
It's gonna go back.
00:40:06.320 --> 00:40:06.800
Yeah, yeah.
00:40:06.880 --> 00:40:07.440
That would be that.
00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:10.079
And then you're gonna be you're gonna be the trendiest spot in all of Brooklyn.
00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:11.519
Total that will be a first.
00:40:11.840 --> 00:40:13.119
Lions out the door.
00:40:15.679 --> 00:40:21.119
The only way in which I feel like I could ever be trendy is is it's like, oh, that style has come back around.
00:40:21.360 --> 00:40:21.599
Yeah.
00:40:21.760 --> 00:40:22.159
I'm good.
00:40:22.239 --> 00:40:23.920
I'm glad I waited this one out.
00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:25.119
Exactly.
00:40:25.760 --> 00:40:31.119
A friend of mine was saying the other day, she was like, Have you been to Madewell recently, like the clothing store?
00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:32.400
And I was like, I have not.
00:40:32.480 --> 00:40:34.320
Um, I haven't bought new clothes in so long.
00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:42.719
She's like, Oh, I always think of you, they have all this sort of 90s stuff that you know seems really cool now, and like we should go and check it out.
00:40:42.880 --> 00:40:44.239
And I was like, Yeah, that sounds fun.
00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:47.679
I should probably just go through my closet and like throw away everything.
00:40:47.840 --> 00:40:49.519
And she's like, Yeah, maybe that's what it is.
00:40:49.679 --> 00:40:53.119
Maybe it's just that you've been wearing all this stuff from the 90s until today.
00:40:53.280 --> 00:40:55.360
And I was like, I think that's it.
00:40:55.599 --> 00:40:57.039
That's exactly it.
00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:01.280
Like, um, it's come back around in my favor.
00:41:01.920 --> 00:41:02.559
That's great.
00:41:02.719 --> 00:41:03.039
Yeah.
00:41:03.760 --> 00:41:04.320
You know who you are.
00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:05.360
Yeah, what you like.
00:41:06.159 --> 00:41:07.679
What are you making for dinner tonight?
00:41:07.760 --> 00:41:08.719
Is the real question.
00:41:09.039 --> 00:41:09.440
I know.
00:41:09.599 --> 00:41:14.000
Tonight I am I've been trying out this um like a squash curry.
00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:16.320
I got the from the farmer's market last weekend.
00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:19.280
It was called like um buttercup squash.
00:41:19.519 --> 00:41:22.159
Oh, yeah, those little tiny butternut squash.
00:41:23.039 --> 00:41:24.719
It was actually like a big one.
00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:28.559
Um it kind of looked like a kabocha butter, butter something.
00:41:28.639 --> 00:41:30.400
Maybe it wasn't buttercup, maybe it was something else.
00:41:30.480 --> 00:41:33.199
But it was like I I could be I don't I don't know.
00:41:33.599 --> 00:41:34.320
It was a big one.
00:41:34.400 --> 00:41:35.920
It lasted me several meals.
00:41:36.159 --> 00:41:36.400
Really?
00:41:36.559 --> 00:41:44.320
And it was sort of like a starchy one, and I was making this stuff with it where I was noticing how it lent all its starch to the dish, and I was like, oh, I'm gonna try something.
00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:48.960
It's kind of like melting in a way, and that I don't think of a squash as doing that.
00:41:49.039 --> 00:42:08.719
So I've been trying to come up with a recipe for a curry type thing where the squash is cooked down, and so I have uh it's sitting on the stove now, but it's like with um Thai like red curry paste and the squash, and uh I threw an apple in there to kind of like explore the flavors and a little bit of cream because I didn't have coconut milk.
00:42:08.800 --> 00:42:10.639
But I'm gonna try that for dinner.
00:42:11.039 --> 00:42:12.480
And you're like blending it all up.
00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:13.840
I'm not even going to.
00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:18.719
The way the squash kind of like melts, it's kind of like chunky and in a good way.
00:42:18.880 --> 00:42:19.119
I think.
00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:20.000
I mean, we'll see.
00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:29.119
Sometimes I make this stuff and I'm like, do I is this good, or is it just like the fact that I've accomplished the thing that I had in my mind and then I can move on?
00:42:29.199 --> 00:42:30.639
But that's always the question.
00:42:30.880 --> 00:42:33.920
I know it sounds delicious to me.
00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:34.559
It sounds great.
00:42:34.800 --> 00:42:35.119
Yeah.
00:42:35.360 --> 00:42:36.480
Um, what are you having?
00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:40.079
I think um we're having some.
00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:42.719
I the kids think it's really fun.
00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:49.679
I made some chicken broth recently, like from a whole chicken, and I um was gonna make some alphabet soup.
00:42:49.840 --> 00:42:54.880
I found some little alphabet noodles at the store, which are surprisingly hard to find.
00:42:55.280 --> 00:42:57.920
Yeah, and the kids think it's like a total kick.
00:42:58.000 --> 00:43:01.280
So I'm gonna make some chicken alphabet soup.
00:43:01.599 --> 00:43:02.480
Oh, that sounds great.
00:43:02.800 --> 00:43:04.159
Yeah, um, yeah, yeah.
00:43:04.320 --> 00:43:06.079
I think I think it will please everybody.
00:43:06.400 --> 00:43:08.079
Well, um, until next time.
00:43:08.320 --> 00:43:10.000
Yes, enjoy your soup.
00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:10.719
Thank you.
00:43:10.880 --> 00:43:11.280
You too.
00:43:12.320 --> 00:43:12.800
Bye bye.
00:43:13.039 --> 00:43:14.079
Okay, bye.