Kitchen Pickin’: Made in the USA

EAST TEXAS (KLTV/KTRE) - This week on East Texas Kitchen Pickin’, Jeff brings a bunch of made in the USA products to the set. Steph also has an item with it’s own American story.

Blue Whirl egg beaters

Jeff: No, this isn’t a medieval torture device. Mrs. Awtrey picked up this one and said “I thought you could use it for the show.” I had to explain to her she shouldn’t do that. Maybe I’ll expense it (kidding). This is actually worth something. It’s got some rustiness but some vinegar and lemon juice should remedy that.

Steph: I just love these! I actually don’t own one, but have always stopped to admire them when I see them at Canton or or in shops or at sales. They were well made, and this one has held up amazingly well over the decades. This is a good example of “they don’t make things like they used to!”

Pampered Chef measuring scoop

Jeff: I got this Friday along with two other scoops similar to it. The price was right and I know Pampered Chef is a very popular brand. It’s still in pretty good shape and seems pretty easy to use.

Steph: This is definitely easy to use, and still in very good condition. I looked at the PC website, and they have measuring spoons like this still available, but they’re now clear. They sell for $12. They don’t have this exact kind of measuring scoop anymore. I like the handy, practical way you can measure things with this!

Tupperware measuring cup

Jeff: We went to a nice lady’s house where she had a bunch of cool, old stuff. I found this measuring cup in a box with a lot of other stuff. Somehow, I found the lid separate from it. I think it’s the first time I’ve found this kind of lid. The cup itself is actually the second I bought over the weekend.

Steph: I am still debating whether I should buy this from Jeff. It feels so much like home to me! I guess my mom had one. I have a jadeite one, and I have a modern glass Pyrex one, but my mom must have had this Tupperware one, because I know I’ve had this in my hands at some point over my life. It’s so well done.

Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook

Jeff: We got this at the same lady’s house. She was really sweet to us! We told her we did resale and she said “well, I’d like this to be used for a good cause,” and handed me this book. Looks like this is from 1965 and it’s pretty worn, but I couldn’t turn this nice lady down on a free offer. Thank you, Barbara!

Steph: Barbara sounds so nice! And I do love an old cookbook. This one reminds me of some of my mother’s old ones. Just a few random shiny pages of color photos scattered among the yellowed print pages of recipes. You can really get a feel for a generation’s style of cooking and eating by reading old cookbooks. It’s a peek inside history that I really enjoy.

Mirro pressure cooker

Jeff: This looked old and cool so I took a closer look. Mirro is a company founded in 1909 in Wisconsin. I have no idea how pressure cookers even work so I did a little research. This weight I found inside the pot is to be used on top of the cooker. When I was looking up the value on this, I saw the weight by itself has some demand.

Steph: This is a nice find! I like the look of these old stainless pots with black accents. I’m a little scared of pressure cookers, but lots of people love them! They made good food when my mom made meals with them. She wasn’t scared of anything in the kitchen.

Cow pitcher

Jeff: I’ll let Steph tell you the fascinating history of this company but I’m really surprised with the uniqueness, age and quality of this pitcher, it’s not worth more. It’s really interesting how some things look like they can have a ton of value and don’t and others look like trash and they’re worth a mint. But Steph enjoys this and that’s all that really matters.

Steph: I do enjoy this one, for sure. I was drawn to it due to the raised, or “relief”, cow painted on the front of this pitcher. Pretty appropriate for East Texas! I turned it over and saw that it was marked Otagiri Japan. Japan? I wanted to learn more. I found out Otagiri Mercantile Company was a Japanese-American manufacturer of stoneware ceramics based out of the San Francisco area. It started in 1946 and closed in the 1990s. The pieces were produced by a small group of artists who hand painted and glazed them. According to themakersguild.com, “The Otagiri Mercantile Company was established by Chiyoko and Goro Otagiri after their return to Japan in 1947 and following their release from an internment camp for Japanese Americans.” You can click that link to learn more about this interesting company. As for me, I just love this cow pitcher and will keep it in the East Texas Kitchen, for now, so we can all enjoy it together. I found it in a “junk” shop in Mineola for a few dollars.

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