Perfect baking bowls and Gramma Fay.
My Gramma Fay, was born Fanny Smulovitz. She changed her name as a young woman to Fay Small. Fay worked as a salesperson in the high-end giftware section of Marshall Fields on State Street in Chicago, when I was a kid.
One of my rites of passage was being able to take the IC train alone, from Hyde Park, downtown to Randolph and State streets to meet Gramma Fay for a Saturday lunch. I have vivid memories of going with her to The Berghoff restaurant, located two blocks from Fields. When we arrived we would take a flight of stairs down to a lower level dining area. Women were not allowed to eat with men in those days at the Berghoff.
But the Bergfoff was known for great food at fair prices, served within the time frame of her working lunch. When we parted, even though I was full, I would find my way to a counter at Fields, where I could purchase a Frango Mint bar for twenty five cents. It would be gone by the time I reached my 53rd street exit on the train. It made for a perfect Saturday afternoon.
As a consequence of Fay’s job, I grew up learning to appreciate the quality of a great glass; what a double Old Fashioned was, what a “rolly polly” was for, or why Steuben bowls could not be used for indoor putting practice. Needless to say, both of her sons had really fancy bar accessories.
In addition to all of this valuable domestic knowledge, our house was the recipient of product mistakes at a greatly reduced price. We had cork bar coasters with monograms that were not our family initials at all. But we had coasters!
When Fay passed away I was charged with dismantling her home, and seeing that family members were given the items of hers that resonated with them most. Needless to say she was heavy on beautiful glass decanters, that now reside in the homes of my brothers and cousins around the country. Without knowing that someday I would have a bakery of my own, I kept all of her cookbooks, recipes, some glass canisters and her set of Revere Ware stackable baking bowls, and of course a decanter or two.
Without a doubt these bowls are exceptional tools for baking. I use them every day. The density of the metal is perfect, they clean easily and dry fast, and are not too heavy to handle.
They’re equipped with circular metal hanging clips that “chime” with a distinctive sound, as they hit the bowls while they travel around the kitchen, making for some magical bowl “music”.
Often when I am using them Gramma Fay pops into my mind. There is something wonderful about the entire experience of baking with them that comes close to those perfect Saturday lunches with her!