How Much for That Pot of Tea?
"What do you want for Christmas?" Ceasar asked my Mom as we chitchatted around the lunch table.
"Well, let me show you." She ambled into the kitchen, grabbing a well-worn tea kettle from a cold burner on the stove. She held it high so that both Caesar and I could see it. The copper bottom had almost burned away with hard water stains creeping from the bottom and up the sides. "I want a new one of the these, a Revere with a copper bottom."
My Mom's tea kettle of choice. We had one with us on camping trips, and I remember filling it with water and setting it oftentimes on a small metal grating atop the campfire, waiting for the whistle which meant time for hot chocolate with marshmallows. Ever since those trips, we've always had one of those particular tea kettles, with the shiny copper bottom and the name "Paul Revere" pressed on the side.
On the way home after lunch, we decided to do a little shopping, check around a place or two for the tea kettle. After all, it couldn't be too difficult to find a tea kettle.
First stop, Bed, Bath & Beyond. All sorts of tea kettles: stainless steel, mutli-colored ceramic, and those new-fangled Keurig one shots. But no luck with the Revere. We moved on to South Coast Plaza. After wandering through all the potential tea-kettle stores -- Sears, Sur la Table, Crate & Barrel, Macy's Home Store -- and glancing through all the tea pots available in the one store that specialized in just teas and the methods of their brewing, we finally stopped at Williams-Sonoma. No copper-bottomed object of our treasure hunt, but they did offer one made (i.e., plated) completely in copper. That sold for a meager $115.
If the kettle costs that much, then it had better whistle the entire Hallelujah Chorus when that water's ready, steep the tea and pour me a cup.
Two hours later, we finally arrived at the apartment while the rain beat down. I turned on the computer and immediately found the tea kettle at an Ace Hardware, of all places. Within walking distance of the apartment!!!
Image from Easy Kitchen Pro.
Monday, December 06, 2010
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5 comments:
Glad you found one!!
I am guessing that it was not $115 either!
When we moved into our present home 4 years ago, I went searching for adjustable-width louvered screens to put in the attic windows to allow air flow through the attic. They used to be common as dirt. What I was finding sent me into sticker shock. Then I stopped at a little mom-and-pop hardware store in a little town in the middle of nowhere. They had exactly what I was looking for for < $10!
Ace! I didn't know they sold such things. I assume it was more reasonable than Williams-Sonoma. Revereware lasts a long time...your Mom knows her stuff.
That's what you get for thinking that you're better than Ace Hardware.
Sort of on that same note. And please, bare with me. Fred and I had set the DVR to record old Bewitched episodes. On one of them, with the mean second Darrin, Aunt Esmeralda(sp?) tried to send a Paul Revere tea pot to Samantha in Boston and instead, conjured up Paul Revere himself. I know, maybe that sounds a little boring to you but I'm just making the connection now. Yes, I'm a little slow.
Your Friend, m.
I am pleased to see your mother takes her kettle seriously; good tea preparation starts with a proper kettle/good water.
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