Mama's Canning Strainer ~ A Favorite Thing

I remember my mother using this canning strainer when she made turnips or rutabagas -- she would take the pestle and squash the cooked vegetables against the sides and out they would come through the little holes (this fascinated me as a child)!  I'm sure she used it for canning since she canned and preserved a lot, but I only remember those rutabagas and turnips!

 Speaking of rutabagas and turnips, I couldn't stand the turnips (but duly ate them as a good little girl should) -- besides tasting yucky, they were WHITE for crying out loud. Who wants white food except for ice cream or milk? OK, sour cream and angel food cake -- but that's it!!!  Rutabagas, on the other hand, were a nice orange color and tasted good with some pepper and butter mixed in.

Anyway, I used the strainer now and then but have not used it in years -- poor thing was relegated to the back of the kitchen cabinet, never to see the light of day.

So, when my daughter was here weekend before last, she tackled the closet in my office. (An awesome undertaking!) And a strainer just like my mother's was back in the corner of the closet.

Can I have this, Mom?

Well, I say, I did buy it at an estate sale to sell in my vintage shop.....

But when I juice veggies in the blender, there are still lumps and this would reeealy help.

Puh-leese, Mom?

(like a little kid -- she knows that gets to me every time)

and then....

LIGHT BULB MOMENT!

I go to the kitchen, rummage around in the cabinets, 

and find my mother's strainer

I have my mother's strainer, I tell her.

I remember when she used it, I say.

You can have it if you want. The legs and handle are rusty and the strainer is a little dented....

The estate sale one is in better condition.... but you choose which one you want....

and she said, 

my grandmother's, of course.

The grandmother she never knew.

Makes my heart swell.

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♥♥♥   Linking my mother's strainer over at Claudia's for A Favorite Thing

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