Warmth & Beauty

When i first met my husband, i knew that there was much to discover about him. 

After talking over dinner, i knew we were headed on the same path, in the same direction.

One of our many common loves, and one that i have learned about myself,

is our love for antiques

our love for the history of life a hundred years ago.

It was soon after we met, that i knew this man would be the one i spend my life with.

Before we knew what kind of home we would live in,

before we knew where we would live,

we knew our home would have a wood fired cook stove.

That was for certain.

On one beautiful winter's day this past January, we woke before sunrise, and headed up to Maine to see what we could find.

Passing through Portland, watching the sunrise over the water's edge, we headed north toward Bangor.

We browsed for hours.  There was so much to see, so much history to take in.  So much beauty to behold.  After much deliberation, we loaded up a 1907 Sunny Glenwood. 

Two nights later, (and two fires later), we baked chocolate chip cookies in it. 

There is a bit of a learning curve, when cooking in these old beauts.  For instance, how to make a fire and keep it at a consistent 350 degrees.  Or the fact that when baking within it, you need to remember to rotate your cookie sheet every so many minutes, as the oven is warmer near the fire, of course.

Yes, this stove is more work.  The time it takes to start the fire, to get it hot enough, to keep it going.....but for me its the art of preparing dishes & cooking that i love so much, so for me, i would hardly classify this as work.  This is pure pleasure.

 I'm not sure if it is the labor that goes into meals coming from the cast iron doors, or the time & patience it takes to learn how to cook with it.  Or maybe its the simple warmth of the wood heat that it produces, but friends, every meal we have prepared and cooked on this stove have been so much more delicious.  Its true. 

Here are some pictures of our stove, our day trip, and other stoves we scoped out before making our final purchase:

I often wonder about the woman who first cooked on this antique stove.  The woman who canned her harvest over the hot fire heat in the midst of summer.  The woman who was surely so grateful to have this modern stove in her home.  

I like to think that i am just as lucky.....