On a recent shopping trip to Wally World, Ian and I got fairly domestic. I’m not sure how it started–probably something to do with the fact that we’ve been meaning to get a new salt shaker/pepper mill set–but once we got on a housewares kick, we had a hard time stopping. To be honest, the way in which we’ve accumulated kitchen utensils and appliances is rather convoluted and complex, so the idea of simply going out and getting a bunch of it all at once has never really occurred to us. Here’s a run-down of how we’ve gotten most of our kitchen supplies:

When I started college, I inherited Katie’s old dorm silverware and bought a couple small microwaveable bowls. I got some free plastic cups from various fund raisers and organizations and still have many of them. When I started a bank account up here, I got two Pyrex glass dishes. The parents gave me a plug-in tea kettle which I have in the office right now and still use all the time. When Ian moved up to Terre Haute with Damien, we shared dishes with Damien and slowly added a few more things like a coffee maker. Ian already had some pots and pans that he got from his parents, but we got a big cooking pot and ladle for spaetzle once I brought a spaetzle maker home from Germany. When we lived with Courtnee, Lucas, and Damien on Crawford, we got a few new things such as a knife set (from the wedding) and a crock pot and a deep fryer and more cookie sheets (Damien had used a pizza cutter on one and kinda ruined it so he got us more though we still have the one with all the grooves in it), etc. We finally moved out on our own which meant we needed plates, bowls and more silverware to cover for the fact that we were no longer sharing. While living there, we inherited Ian’s grandma’s ceramic plates, bowls and cups but we kept them packed away so no one would break them (and because we didn’t have the room to have them out). Over various Christmases, we’ve gotten an ice cream maker, a pizza stone, pots and pans, cookie sheets, a tea kettle (We got a second this past summer.), and a hand mixer not to mention a lot of very well-used plastic containers. Since moving to Ohio, we’ve gotten a rolling pin, bread pans, cake pans, wire racks, a ton of random cooking utensils such as spatulas, a pizza cutter, an ice cream scoop and a meat tenderizer. We eventually got a metal container to hold the important utensils near the stove, and we got glass canisters for sugar, flower and the like. We also picked up a second large pot with a lid for chili. So far, I have failed to mention the veritable swarm of mugs I’ve collected since high school–mugs which Ian wishes weren’t taking up so much of our cabinet space. Our kitchen was starting to have a fairly complete complement of kitchen gear, but well, after years of accumulating stuff from lots of sources, some of it has broken or gotten really worn, and other stuff like the microwave has just stopped working right. It’s mismatched and crazy looking. The salt shaker/pepper mill combo wearing out was just enough catalyst to get us looking for all new kitchen gear.

So we went to the housewares department for a salt shaker and pepper mill (we got really nice ones, by the way), and ended up with a new set of stoneware plates and bowls, new silverware (We can finally retire Katie’s old dorm silverware!), a tray for the silverware (We had been using one of the decorative baskets that came with the Pyrex dishes.), and a new microwave. We saw a microwave that talks, but Ian decided I’d probably freak out too much if it started talking when I wasn’t expecting it. Recently, Ian brought up the old kitchen table from the basement, so it is now where the old camp table was in the kitchen, and believe me, it’s much more sturdy and less insane-looking than the camp table. Now all we need to do is totally go through and wash all the dishes, organize and put everything away so I can feel like we have a real kitchen with real plates (Not plastic!) and silverware (The set we used to have always felt fake for some odd reason.) with our new microwave. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even feel like cooking more. Hehe, maybe. Now what we need is a dishwasher. 😉

On an unrelated side note, I got ten inches of my hair chopped off Tuesday. It’s a little longer than it was the last time I got that much hacked off, so I like it better than the last time. Now only another two and a half years before I can donate more hair to Locks of Love. If I remember, I’ll post a picture.