Priceless Pots from my Past

In the process of taking over my dad's condo, I've cleaned out a few closets and cupboards and made several trips to the Goodwill. But there are a few items I will never part with. The large pan with the lid belonged to my grandmother and she used it, as did my mother, to make mashed potatoes. It needs a good cleaning, although those folks on the Antiques Roadshow would probably say it's more valuable with a little potato residue.

The stainless steel saucepan belonged to my mother. It's well over 40 years old, and I remember it well from my childhood. My dad used it to cool his coffee. Mom would pour him a nice steaming cup of coffee before he left for work. Those were the days before styrofoam cups with lids and cars with cupholders. With the clock ticking away, Dad would resort to pouring his coffee from cup to pan to cup to pan to cup to cool it off enough to drink it before he had to leave. I've always marveled at people who could drink their coffee or tea steaming right out of the pot. I'm just like my dad. Hubby is usually offering to reheat my coffee in the microwave just about the time it's cooled just right. I guess I inherited those cool coffee genes.....

So I've been busy getting ready for the Kansas relatives to arrive. They called this morning and it looks like they'll be arriving later this evening. Probably just as well what with the horrors of Friday night LA traffic and all. Meanwhile, I've been working on clues for the kids' treasure hunt that I mentioned yesterday. I decided to go with the rhyming clues.....just to see if I still had the knack. Here's an example: "Clue number 3 is folded neatly under the trash. Walk slowly, so into the window you won't crash!" Or, "Clue number 9 is under the breakfast toast-making thing. You're almost done with your hunt....don't you just want to sing?" If the clues aren't silly enough to make the kids laugh, I know they'll make their dad chuckle. He's a big kid at heart. And just in case he's expecting a prize, which I know he will be, I made him a blueberry cheesecake.

So now that I've finally figured out how to post more than one picture, Blogger seems to have started a rationing program. Or maybe they just think that someone who would put corny-looking pots on their blog should be limited to just one. You'll just have to imagine my nice seagull picture here. Today the sun is out and I'm hoping the June Gloom has gone south. Maybe we can look forward to six weeks of nice sunny weather now that the seagull has seen his shadow. But you'll just have to take my word for it......