Carmel Magazine

Carmel Magazine HO15

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am a culinar y c h al l en ged p er- s o n wi th a p en - chant for simple food. I t a l l b e g a n w i t h m y mother, whose dishes we r e unf ussy, stra i g htf or - ward concoctions that my sisters and I loved. I recall casseroles, meat l o a f , b e e f s t e w w i t h d ump l i ng s a nd c usta r d i n those l i ttl e c l e a r c up s. T h e r e w a s a l w a y s something cooking or baking or being canned, a n d I r e m e m b e r fo n d ly t h o s e b ri g h t ly c o l o r e d g l a s s b ow l s t h a t h e l d c a ke b a t t e r, s t u f fi n g , o r p a n c a ke m i x . U n b e k n ow n s t t o m e, I wo u l d b e c o l l e c t i n g th em p as s i on ately l ater i n l i fe. Fa ll a lways ma rked a s h if t in o u r k itch en . Th e wa rm f ra g ra n ce of s weet des s erts ba k in g in th e oven bes ide a cra te o f a pples r ea dy to become a pie, s tirr ed excitemen t in u s th a t th e h o lidays wer e ju s t a r ou n d th e corn er. With the ab undance of all that home cooking, there was naturall y some thing calle d le ftov e rs. T he pre vious night's dinner extras were place d in glass square d-off, stackable containe rs that sav ed space in the ice box . T he se glass dishe s we nt dire ctl y from fridge to ov en, saving time for the busy homemakers of that era. They were called Pyrex oven refrigerator sets. Pyrex has a nostalgia factor. These glass dishes were i n every h o u seh o l d and even made their television debut on "I Love Lucy." B y 1 9 2 7 , i t w a s est i - mated that 30 million pieces of Pyrex bakeware were i n A m eri c a n h o m es. B a c k i n t h e e a r l y 1 9 0 0 s , C o r n i n g G l a s s Works filled a request from the railroads to produce lantern glass tha t woul d b e unb r e a k - a b l e w he n the hot g l a ss w a s struc k b y ra i n or s n ow. T h e i r c h e m i s t s c r e - a t e d a s p e c i a l borosili- cate glass that was resistant to ther mal e x p a nsi on a nd c ontra c - tions. This new glass, b ra nd e d a s "P y r e x ," he l d up und e r q ui c k , e x tr e me temperature changes, which made it ideal f or railroad lamps, scientif ic experiments, and ultimatel y, cooking. C o rn i n g 's fi rs t l i n e o f c l ea r- g l a s s P y r ex O ven w a r e d ebu t ed i n 1 9 1 5 , fea - t u ri n g 1 2 p i ec es s u c h a s c a s s er o l es , c u s t a r d c u p s , a b r ea d p a n , p i e p l a t es , a n d s h i rr ed eg g d i s h es . E a rly P y r ex w a s c l o u d y, a n d t h e wo r d " P y r ex" c a n u s u a l ly b e fo u n d o n t h e b a s e o f t h e p i ec e. T h i s c o o k w a r e w a s a n i m m ed i - a t e s u c c es s w i t h h o m em a kers w h o 'd p r ev i o u s ly c o o ked i n m et a l p a n s a n d ear thenware. For the first time, they could bak e, serv e, and store their f ood in the same dish. C o l l ec t o rs , h owever, a r e m o s t a t t ra c t ed t o t h e c o l o r f u l P y r ex p r o d u c t s t h a t wer e i n t r o d u c ed i n 1 9 4 7 a n d p r o d u c ed u n t i l t h e l a t e ' 6 0 s. C o l o r ed p i ec es wer e m a d e o u t o f o p a l o r w h i t e g l a ss, sp rayed w i t h a b ri g h t c o l o r, a n d t h en so m et i m es p ri n t ed w i t h a p p ea l i n g p a t t ern s. N est ed m i xi n g b ow l s a r e a m o n g t h e m o st i d en t i fi a bl e a n d b el oved v i n - t a g e P y r ex k i t c h en w a r e. T h e fi rst , a n d c u rr en t ly m o st p o p u l a r, i s t h e so l i d 88 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 5 COLLECTING T E X T A N D P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y M A R J O R I E S N O W Collecting Vintage Pyrex I The popular nested Primary Color bowls

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