Simple Obsessions

Christina Pirello is the author of cookbooks and has a cooking show on PBS called Christina Cooks. txrad has been watching it for a few weeks and it's quite entertaining. She prepares vegan meals using whole foods and natural ingredients.

The attraction for me began when I saw Christina pull a wooden spoon from a drawer and I experienced love at first sight. Not for Christina, but the spoon!

We had a very nice wooden spoon which txrad would use to stir-fry toppings for our pizzas and I broke it one day while scrubbing it in the sink. Being unable to find a suitable replacement I finally bought a plain cheap wooden spatula to use until I could find my dream spoon. The spatula is ugly and rough; it offers a very unpleasant feel in the hand and has absolutely no charm. I'm surprised I haven't gotten a splinter in my fingers yet.

I had tried to send an email to Christina but it came back undeliverable. Last night we were watching the show and once again she whipped out that spoon and my lust went into overdrive.

I raced to the computer and began searching on the internet using certain keywords which I hoped would yield the desired results. Bingo! On Christina's website, there is a sidebar column with a section titled "Things I Love" with a link to "People and Things." As I frantically scrolled through the list I was suddenly confronted with a section labeled "Jonathan's Spoons" with a link to another website.

Voila!

Those of you who know me know I am prone to oddball antics. I tend to get excited by things which others might view as being.... um... queer. Odd. Seven bottles short of a 6-pack.

I have my own theories about the art of cooking. It should be a sensual experience, not simply a chore in order to have a delicious meal when you're done. The utensils should be a delight and fun to use as should the cookware. I am thoroughly satisfied with our tools in the kitchen but the absence of a favorite wooden spoon had created a gaping hole in the sensuality department.

Finding a source for these spoons as well as others was the most exciting thing to happen to me all year. More importantly, there are two retailers right here in Austin which carry Jonathan's Spoons. I will be heading out later today to fondle them all and hope to return home with the object of my lustful desire: the "spotted slim spoon." And then I shall find something to cook.

To quote Jerri Blank, just looking at this spoon makes me "moist as a sponge cake down there."