Update From The Spoon Shop

Just a quick post to let you all know what's going on here in the spoon shop: the new batch of spoons is coming along nicely; lots of snow up here in New Hampshire the last couple of weeks, some thirty or so inches since the 5th of the month, so I've been hunkered down close to the woodstove going at it with hatchet and knives. This batch is a bunch of cherry, a few apple, and some butternut. As per usual, a mix of servers, eaters and a couple of big long cookers in there. This time I made a nice matching salad set. It's the first time I've made a set; I found a log that split nicely down the middle and I realized I could use both sides of the log, like a mirror image of each other...book matched if you will. As I split up the last of my stash of spoon wood I'm going to try and get some pieces that will make good spatulas. I've had a bunch of requests for them after one showed up in an earlier post. Below I've got some close ups of one I use quite a bit along with another really cool spoon with a hole in the middle for scooping stuff out of water, when you don't want the water to come with it. It was pretty cool how the hole came about; it was a quirky piece of a pear tree that just seemed to keep twisting as I worked it and it dried out. It sat in the spoon basket for about a year I wasn't sure if it would ever make it. Then one day a couple of weeks ago I picked it up again gave it a look...this way...that way...up...down. I held it lefty, then righty, then I raised it to my mouth...to long to be an eating spoon, but the bowl wasn't wide enough to really serve with. It came from a bent branch so it was cranked to much to stir with. What to do...what to do...hmmm. I don't like to give up on any spoon I feel an obligation to the tree, the branch, or log it came from to get something usable from it. That being said this one seemed destined for the kindling pile, until I held it up in front of the window and saw that I had almost carved right through the bowl. I could see the sunlight shining through the middle. Eureka!! For a long time now my wife, Amy has been asking me to carve some kind of slotted spoon. Since I repeatedly scowl at the stamped out, hideous piece of bamboo or rubber wood or what ever, with the perfectly machined four slots in it, that she won't let me take out of the spoon bucket next to the stove. The only remnant of all the Target or Crate and Barrel mass produced crap that used to be in there. What I decided to do was to keep carving until I went through, then stick some sand paper in there and smooth it out and viola a spoon that performs all the functions of the rubber wood junk. Anyhow here is a couple of  shots of the "spoon with the hole" and the spatula...I also threw in a couple of the new batch that still need some carving work and the finish.

the hole in the bowl

 

 

 

you can see the quirky shape here

but with the hole in it this one easily

scoops boiled veggies out of the pot to

the plate leaving the water behind

 

 

 

a couple of the spatula

 

 

                                               and few from the new batch ...along with
                                               a gratuitous shot of a hanging wall shelf
                                                                     I'm working on.

Diggin' On The Long Spoons

Hey all I'm back! It's been much longer since my last post than I would wish. My goal is to post at least once a week or every 10 days; something like that. I had a pretty busy January though, between the family and the "real" job that actually pays the bills, I haven't had much time to sit down and write. I've been bouncing around a bunch of good post ideas in my head, so I should be able to get a few out in a short time. I was able to take care of some housekeeping issues on the blog, though. I had heard back from a bunch of people that you couldn't comment unless you had a google+ account; I changed that so anyone can comment, anonymously or not....whatever you prefer. Also, I added a couple of gadgets (I think that's what they are called..)  You will see them in the upper right hand side - one is to follow by e-mail and one is to follow on google+.  If you follow by e-mail you will get updates on posts, comments, and all that good stuff. One more thing and then we'll get to the long spoons; I've got a new batch of spoons that should be ready in the next couple of weeks and I will be adding a paypal button on the blog so you'll conveniently be able to buy spoons right here!

Now to the spoons.....the big spoons. The two spoons in the picture up top are two of the longest I've made thus far.  The one on the left is maple; it's about 13 1/2 inches long and has a long, skinny, but shallow bowl.  The one on the right is a monster...cherry, 15 1/2 inches long, again with a skinny, shallow bowl. These are primarily cooking spoons which is why I keep the bowls shallow and thin, as they function more like a paddle or a boar oar.  You don't need to hold all that much in a cooking spoon; just enough to take a taste of your favorite sauce or broth.

 



skinny shallow bowl on the cherry

 



 

In this picture, the maple is in front and the cherry is in back. You can see in this shot that I like to put a little bit of scoop in the bowl; I feel this helps get right into the corners of pots and pans. Also, you might notice how thick the handles are. For my eating spoons, I try to make my handles as thin as the wood will allow me so they feel comfortable between the fingers, but with a cooking spoon, I like to keep them robust for leverage and durability. The maple is in regular use for me, and I find myself reaching for it more and more .

 

My only true spoon design philosophy is to make what the wood gives you and I was fortunate to come into these long pieces of wood, because that is what it comes down to. If I have a long log I make long spoons... if it is short then short spoons....bent then bent, and so on and so forth.

 

Maybe next time we'll talk about the short spoons...I've got a little lilac and a little apple I just finished up that I'm dying to show off!