I have certain items which, when lost or broken, I have difficulty replacing.
I’m specifically thinking now of items in my kitchen drawer, aka The Drawer. For example, I’ve needed a new set of measuring cups for literally YEARS now and only recently got them.
I limped along with a one cup measure with a partially chewed handle (dog–don’t be grossed out– I put it through the dishwasher) for a long time. Then the handle broke completely off. At that point I started thinking maybe it was time for a new one.
Years go by, presidents are ushered in and out of the White House. I leave the handle-less measuring cup too close to the burner one day and a crack forms in the bottom. Do you know, if you hold a finger just so along the crack, it will still hold a liquid long enough to get it over a mixing bowl?
Now, I don’t mean to brag, but I can afford a new set of measuring cups. I would see them, in the stores, hanging there, within my reach, financially and geographically. What strange pathology caused me year after year to pass them by I may never know.
I finally bought a new set. They’re so convenient.
Not throwing away the old one, though.
Do you have a cup?
One is a vintage beaded but completely moth-eaten sweater. I’ve tried to figure out ways to recycle the beaded parts into…something…but I don’t know what.
In the kitchen, it’s my measuring spoons — those simple metal kind you can pick up in any grocery store. They’re all dinged and bent. Nothing sentimental, though: they still work just fine, so why bother buying new (as shiny and tempting as some of them new models might be)?
You could use the old cup to plant a tomato seedling in 🙂
Ah yes, TL! My cup is a grater. A not terribly efficient, long ago made handle-less but much-loved grater that was my long-deceased mother’s. I’m now 50 and my mother has been gone since 1975 and frankly, though I’ve toyed with the idea at times, I can’t forsee that My Drawer will ever hold another! So yeah, I get it! lol
Yes, of course, all frugal country gals have “a cup” . . . mine, a can opener. After 8 years of suffering through the hand-cranked “garage sale” version that plagued my kitchen, a friend talked me into a Pampered Chef can opener . . . the guilt ensues!!! LOL!
Lots of old southern ladies have their mythical measuring cup that’s been handed down to all the family’s cooks through the years. They make the perfect biscuits.
My “cup” is a cup as well. Broken handle, still my favorite. Had some great metal cups as well, so after many years of dealing with the sharp broken handle… it has new life! I ground off the handle on hubby’s grinder and drilled some holes in the bottom and now it is a one cup berry strainer! I use it almost every day and the love is still there.
HI TL, I can relate to this post. I have a set of the Avon animal measuring spoons complete with the barn to hang them on from the mid 80’s. They are still looking good. My rose pattern cup and saucers didn’t fare so well. I hot glied the saucer to the cup filled it with some of my hair saved from my hair brush, as hair is supposed to keep them oiled and easy to glide into the fabric. I then glued a coordinating fabric over the hair at the rim to seal it in. Then I embelished it with little pink roses and trims and glurd a small clothespin to one side of the cup upside down so as to hold a thimble. . I still use it for my pin cushion today. I also have one of the old orange coffee cups from the 70’s that holds exactly 8 ounces. Used it many times when my glass measuring cups break. Trip down memory lane. Thanks TL. Have a wonderful Mothers Day.
I also have one ”keeper cup” type item. It is a 1950’s aluminum collander with a star hole pattern that was my mother’s when she was a newly wed. I won’t ever discard it. It is still in use now even in a battered and worn state. It brings back many memories that make my heart warm.
LOL! This made me laugh so much. We didn’t have cups in England for many years. All the recipes friends sent me from the States were in cups. We wondered about them using this tea cup and that tea cup to try to get things right. LOL! My mum, before she died, eventually visited US and brought back a cup and I have that, its aluminium. The kids then brought me a set of cups and the another came free with something. Now I smile each time I see them and use them all in turn.
My kitchen is full of ‘cups’ thats why it is sooooo full. I keep saying I’m going to have a turn out but…….I love all my stuff!!!!
I have 3 sets of measures. Every set is misssing the 1/2 cup. The set that I got for graduation (a long time ago) is down to 1/3 & 1/4 cup. I have a batch of mismatched aluminum measures. The 1/4 cup has been forever moved to the laundry room for white out. It can never be used again for food stuffs. Somewhere along the way I adopted a 2 cup aluminum measure. This one is wonderful it probably came in one of the $1 boxes that I bring home from auctions chock full of “good” stuff (although my family doesn’t think so). Then there is the white set, it is missing the 1/2 cup, the 1 cup has been chewed by the dog (eeuuuwww) but it does come in handy. I love having 3 set of measures when I get into a true baking frenzy, but there is no 1/2 cup to be found. Maybe I should go to an auction and remedy the situation. I’m not ready for a new set yet.
I have two “cups”. One is a copper collander I bought at a garage sale 18 years ago. One handle is broken off and the copper is nearly gone, leaving quite unattractive streaks. Coupla dents top it off. I love it.
My other cup is my 12 year old car. The stereo hasn’t worked in 3 years. The A/C is broken in a real bad place meaning I’ll never fix it. The back of it is scratched in exactly the way that other kayak owners will recognize immediately. The leather seats are cracked. And the steering wheel looks like someone took a blow torch to it. One particularly hot day, it just sorta melted. I could buy a new car. I just don’t want to! This sedan will fit a 10 foot long pole from stem to stern. You never know when you’ll need a 10 foot pole.
Oh my thanks for telling this. I am so bad. I use the battered cup that I’ve used for 50 years to measure in. Of course I bought the kids brand new fancy measuring cups, but I still use my old one and I have a handleless 1/4 cup that I still use. Maybe I will actually get a new set—-someday.
My orange teflon pans bought when we got married in 1980. I walked into the kitchen this morning (mother’s day) to find a giant box containing a set of T Fall pans. All I could think was…How are all these pans going to fit in the cupboard with all MY pans.
My “cup” is a cup that my sister made for me when we were little. It’s made of clay, has what I think was meant to be a rose on the side, and is too small to hold much of anything, but I LOVE it. It lives in the medicine cabinet and holds a single disposable razor. Just in case.
And now for what I really stopped by to say:
Happy Mother’s Day!
That is hysterical. I do the same thing with all sorts of stuff around the house that I could easily replace but don’t quite feel the need to!
Around the house, there are actually sorts of stuff that are not so good looking and eventually needs to be thrown away yet it is still being kept. If for sentimental value, then I guess that’s just it. Or in any way, they can still be reused for some other means.
My “cup” was a can opener that I think was older than me. I got it from my mom when I moved out (and she “upgraded” to a new hand crank one). It broke beyond repair about a month ago when I was trying to open a can, and yes, I called my mom crying 🙂
Multiples. Even my metal 1 cup lost it’s handle. But I continue to limp along. One of these days….