Wooden Spoons? Seriously?

Spoons I Made Out of Maple, Yellow Poplar, and Basswood

Don't make fun of me for this suggestion, but I swear any grandmother would love a wooden spoon as a gift.

Until recently, wooden spoons to me were funny-shaped sticks I picked up for 3-for-a-dollar at WalMart and didn't hesitate to stick in the dishwasher, because they were easily replaced when they got splintery and gray. Of late, though, my perspective has changed. I've been consolidating my kitchen stuff; I no longer want to cook with disposable-quality tools and I want to take care of the good equipment I do have. I've also become aware that the old adage, "They don't make 'em like they used to," applies to wooden spoons as well as it does to cotton sheets, eggbeaters, and toasters. Did you know that people hardly ever used the softer, spongy woods for wooden spoons a hundred years ago? They used durable, dense, closed-pore hardwoods like maple, cherry, and apple wood. Spoons made of such woods can be heirloom quality and last for generations.

As my awareness grew, so did my quality spoon collection. In the process of buying spoons from handcrafted spoon makers, I decided they were costing more than I could afford and that I would do better to start making my own. So I did - some out of maple and poplar wood I had lying around and others for practice out of basswood. (Basswood is generally claimed to be too soft for food applications, but I'm testing that now by using my own basswood spoons.) Now I'm firmly addicted to the hobby! 

This poplar spoon has some flaws in the bowl. Poplar is not ideal for spoon making because it is somewhat soft. But it is easier to work than maple.

When I posted the picture at the top of this post to Facebook, I was surprised  to get such a wistful "I want one!" response from various people. My woodworking was by no means expert and the utensils I made were kind of weird. But it seems people were looking beyond the flaws to the beautiful, natural and functional objects underneath.

Handmade wooden spoons are probably the perfect gift: 

• They're gorgeous because wood is gorgeous.
• They're made of material that complements any decorating scheme and appeals to most tastes.
• They're useful.
• They're one-of-a-kind. 

They're also quite cheap for what they are: functional, enduring, and ornamental at the same time.  A wooden spoon will NOT be stuck in a drawer and forgotten. The only problem you might have if you give a grandmother a wooden spoon that's extra spiffy in the looks department is convincing her to put it into service rather than just use it for display. (This happened to me when I gave my grandma some gorgeous decorative plates years ago. I wanted to bring beauty into her daily life, but I do believe she never actually used them!)

So you have a couple of options if you want to give a grandma you know a wooden spoon as a gift. You can buy one from treenware makers. (Treenware is another name for handcrafted household wooden objects like bowls, utensils, etc.) Or you can make one yourself. If you want to try making one, I'll be happy to do a tutorial if you like. There are many different ways to make wooden spoons and they kind of depend on the sorts of tools you have on hand.

If you opt to buy before you try, I bought my first wooden utensils from Whetstone Woodenware, Alleghany Treenware, NH Bowl and Board, and even eBay and Amazon.com.  All were awesome.

Hope this idea works for you...but I do warn you, even if you opt to buy one as a gift, you might just get lured into making the darn things, like I did!