waffling

The waffle iron died--after a long life of devotion to golden-brownness--at roughly age 70. ish.

You could hardly ask more of a household appliance. To gamely cook deliciousness for 3 generations of children is a feat not to be equaled by any Sunbeam or Proctor-Silex you might find at Target today.

The thing is though, now that I think about it, that it probably only cooked for two generations, one of which was not mine. It was there during my mom’s childhood, and I conscripted it back into service for my children, but I suspect that during my grandmother’s hermit years--roughly from the 60s to her death, in the early 80s, it barely saw the light of morning.

The waffles have been sticking to the top plate for some time. It was only last week that it became clear that the upper element was a goner. I loosened the 4 screws holding the top burner to the waffly-imprint surface, and had a look inside. The wires which used to carry the current from the bottom to the top had corroded into nothingness--there was an inch or so swinging loosely just to show me how it used to work...but there was no hope of repair, and it was sufficiently amazing that the rusty old, baked-on-greasy old bake temp indicator had outlasted the wiring.

Its like will not be seen again. A waffle iron sitting in permanent attachment to a stainless steel ornamental tray with almost rococo handle brackets. ‘Tis true--the paint has chipped off the handles, but the dangly ivorine knob you grasp to reveal the toastiness of your cooked-to-perfection waffle is as jaunty as ever.

I acquired it at my grandmother’s passing--missing a cord. This was in 1982. Fortunately, a nice young man at the local hardware store, by the name of Jeff Clement, was able to fix me up with a lovely, fabric-wrapped match. Actually, he fixed my mother up with it, because I was a little too awkward to talk to him.

I wonder if Williams-Sonoma sells anything nearly worthy of serving as a replacement waffle iron. I wonder if I will want to spend that much money. I will have to ponder. Pancakes aren’t bad.