When I was growing up, once a year my parents would take my sister and me on vacation just after school let out for the summer. We'd rent a little house in Gearhart, OR that was a block from the beach and settle in for four or five days of laziness, walking along the shore and several hours of skee-ball in the neighboring town of Seaside.
This house was tiny, mostly just graying shingle, a sprawling deck and a kitchen where everything was at least fifty years old (it has since been sold and remodeled into a charmless monstrosity, built to impress instead of to comfort). The thing my dad liked best about that kitchen was that it came with an old waffle iron. You know the kind I'm talking about, big and square, with rounded corners and covered in chrome. The waffle plates lift out and are reversable, making it possible to lay the whole thing flat and make pancakes on it. We had a waffle iron like it at home, purchased at a thrift store when my parents were first married.
We always gave the first waffle to the dog, as it was always a little too greasy and a bit flaccid. The next waffle would be perfect, crisp and brown on the outside, but steamy and tender on the inside. My sister and I would scoot in one side of the built-in breakfast nook (covered in sparkly turquoise vinyl that was cracked in places) with our plates (heavy old mismatched stoneware) and dig in. My dad would stand at the counter, making waffles until the batter was all gone, a plate of his own breakfast at his elbow. He often commented that he'd like to take that waffle iron home with us, as it was superior to ours. He never followed through on that threat though, mostly because he wanted to ensure that it would be there for the following year.
These days, I buy every old waffle iron I come across at thrift stores and rummage sales. They have to have cast iron grill/waffle plates and be covered in chrome. I have one or two in reserve at any given time, in case my primary iron craps out. The rest I pass along to special friends and close family, so that they too can know the magic of the waffle.
Let's hear your memories of kitchen tools and appliances.
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