In a world which has become singularly devoted to specialization and its narrowing functions besides, this picture at C.W.’s place* made me hoot with joy.
Let’s look at this beauty from the perspective of Mom preparing Thanksgiving Dinner: a cooktop with six burners, five ovens and three warming drawers. In other words, you can prepare simultaneously your turkey, vegetables, pies and anything else you desire, plus you’re keeping pre-cooked dishes warm for the table, and have maybe a spare warmer for the plates. None of this time-juggling nonsense that modern tiny and inadequate ranges force you into.
Now let’s consider all the things that Make Kim Happy: not a single electronic doodad to be found anywhere, which means that any failures over time (if any) can be repaired by a competent mechanic or electrician, or else by replacement of the failed part installed also either by the homeowner or either of the above technicians. You’d have none of this “Oh, one of the electronic switches has failed so you have to replace the entire panel” or even worse, “It would be cheaper just to replace the entire range than to fix this one thing” (a comment which always has me reaching for my 1911).
Oh, and did I mention that appliances such as this one would probably last for fifty years (or even longer)?
And yes I know that this Hulk-y thing of beauty is bigger than most modern kitchens, all by itself. [20,000-word rant against modern interior design omitted]
To me, the tipping point of this piece was New Wife’s reaction to the above, which was awe and wonder, coupled with envy that someone somewhere has this lovely beast and she does not.
It’s wonderful, fantastic, and every home should have one. Yes, it’s no doubt Too Much for the modern generation, whose idea of home cooking is a call to DoorDash or some such foulness. I don’t care about them and nor should anyone else. I just know that if I were younger and the head of a decent-sized family (as I once was), this appliance would make my wife’s life far easier, and that’s all I care about.
Feel free to argue the point with me, but you’d be wrong.
*Ol’ C.W.’s (misnamed) Daily TimeWaster website has been a longtime staple of weekend viewing for New Wife and I, as we spend every Saturday morning in bed with cups of tea and coffee respectively as we catch up with a week’s worth of his brilliant pics. I know that he features a lot of links (ads) to Amazon, but I also know that the stuff he features is mostly very desirable to a lot of people — to me no less than anyone. I have probably followed an Amazon link and subsequently purchased no fewer than four or five of the products per year of reading his website for the past decade (or longer).
And no, it’s not a waste of time. Looking at the various things of beauty and enjoying his occasional dry commentary could never be a waste of time.
Keep it up, buddy.