About teapots and thrift stores

Today I was lucky. I walked into a thrift store, basically to bring some stuff back into circulation. And of course I took advantage of the situation to stroll around for a bit. And, I was lucky. Before showing todays find, I am going to show my whole collection of tea- and coffee pots, to place my find in the right perspective.

 First here is my Columbia pot by Bodum. Not vintage, but very dear to me. It was a graduation present of my university rowing team and it has been engraved. I got it in 2006 and still use it everyday as a teapot (although it is actually a coffee pot). I love the shape and the way it is so easy to use. And it reminds me of the good times I had at my rowing club. This one is quite hard to photograph, so in the reflection you see a bit of me. Hello, everyone!

Next one is the Eva Solo tea maker. I have been totally in love with this one for quite some time. One day I was rewarded with a bonus at work, and because I wanted to remember this special moment, I bought this teapot with the bonus. I love it because of the clever and simple design.

The Peacock vacuum bottle is a thrift store find. Unfortunately, the logo is not on the bottle any more, but I still like it because of the nice shape. It was in very bad state when I found it, but some cleaning did miracles for this beauty!

This Regout Maastricht teapot is another thrift store find. I think this company is one of the nicest Dutch ceramics companies, and these teapots with their nice pastels are gorgeous. A purist would disagree with my teapot, since originally the lid and the pot should have the same colour. So this combination is not original. But I am kind of fond of both the blue and mint colour in one teapot.

Another Dutch brand is Daalderop. This teapot is the one I use at the office.  It has a double wall, which is good if I get distracted because of a call or other important working life things. And I adore the vintage office look it has. And, hello reflection again, this teapot reveals a little bit more of my camera and me!

And, last but not least, todays find. I already had this Melitta coffeepot. I love it. I think it is one of my favourite vintage finds. It is not an Eames chair in mint condition, or an Arne Jacobsen egg chair for a bargain, but love isn’t necessarily about big items (and, both an Eames and an Arne Jacobsen are just a teeny tiny bit out of reach at this moment… They kind of never go away for a bargain).  Todays find is the matching creamer. Yeah, that little jug right in front of it. I found it stowed away at the back of a drawer. And although I am still on the watch now for a matching sugar jar, I am very happy about this find!  

I really hope you like my little collection. Of course, over time I hope to expand it with some more nice items. I am always on the look for ceramics of brands like Arabia Finland, Iittala and as soon as I spot an affordable Picot ware tea set, I will certainly get it. 

Broad bean perfection

Just a small post to present you this picture of a broad bean or fava bean, just before preparing it into a bean spread with lemon and pecorino cheese. Great on toast or a bruschetta as a starter or lunch.

I love the way nature found a way to protect the bean from cold and harshness. Can you see the fluffy interior of the pod? Amazing.

I'll publish the recipe for the spread later this week. I forgot to take a picture because I was too obsessed with eating it. Luckily, I have a sourdough starter bubbling up right now, I think the spread will be perfect on a fresh loaf of sourdough bread. So, I'll make a new batch this week!