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Ageless Priceless leaves me Speechless... Thank You Sweeper!!

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Pulling up my drive the other day I spied a cardboard box sitting on my front porch minding its own business. I gave it some privacy there while I busied myself with a few domestic tasks. Soon after my curiosity got the better of me so I went to investigate. Lifting the latch and opening the screen door I found a sizeable box still minding its own business out there on the porch. I invited it inside out of the sun and sat it up on the dining room table. Despite my name and address on the label I naturally assumed it couldn't be mine and had lost its way to someone else. First thing I did was contact our daughter. For reasons only she understands she often has parcels sent to me at my address, despite having a perfectly good name and address of her own. Nevermind. It seems she ordered a white t-shirt for herself, and so this package must be it! Contacting her she was excited and I was happy for her. But my wife begged to differ. "Why would they send a small t-shirt in such a large cardboard box?! Just open it!" So I did.
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If you had stuffed a circus elephant in the box I couldn't have been more surprised. Nor delighted. We had an alone moment my pan and I while my wife contacted our daughter to give her the bad news. Her t-shirt must still be in the mail. I on the other hand did my level best to keep my whoops of joy to a minimum. And the very next thing I did was this.
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It is an ageless thing of beauty and grace, with years of history left in it. So each time I pull it out and place it on yet another campfire it will speak to me, sizzling some bacon, caressing those eggs and pampering the pancakes; ensconced in the present honouring the past and taking me into the future, joining a string of campfires through the ages like tiny golden fireflies flickering as they connect canoe camp breakfasts along our travels through time and tripping. Unless you include a traditional item on a canoe trip you may never really understand the emotional connection some might feel for these old things we treasure. New is nifty but there's a reason old and faded can feel so good. "Living history" is only that if it is kept alive.

This is such a generous gift.

Thank you Sweeper.
 
Well Kev, if the winds blow freely and kind someday I'll put this pan to really good use and cook you up an unforgettable breakfast. It would be a pleasure.
Speaking of which I actually enjoyed/endured two fry ups this morning. The first was looking perfect in the pan while I rummaged around for the camera...without success. So being a recent tech genius (not) I elected to snap a photo with my cell phone. Cool. Really nice. And as I ate my creamy eggs and salty bacon my laptop and cell phone started to play their acne adolescent games. They refused to even acknowledge each other. Each device suggested the other was dead to them, and would no longer be tolerated. What? You two were getting along just fine a couple months ago?! I had the matchmaker thing working so smoothly! What has changed?! I still don't know. They aren't speaking. So I calmed down the phone and sent it to it's room, while I sat the laptop in the dining room to cool off. I finally found the camera, but not before already having finished eating the eggs and bacon. Oh. Um. Hmm.
And so as two more eggs gently simmered in the hot pan with more bacon browning nicely I introduced camera to laptop with trepidation. Okay, they're still talking. After snapping successfully and downloading the all mighty breakfast action shot I steeled myself for a second round of bacon and eggs sliding on down to join breakfast number one. And that was that.
Tomorrow morning I'll be in to a small portion of yogurt and fruit. Playing it safe.
 
I'm not sure they made pans back in the day that could withstand your flaming arse lip burning concoction, AKA the volcanic laxitive, AKA the Nightime Horror, AKA Anything That Burns Your Fingers Should Not Touch Your Intestines, AKA Bannock. Ha, Bannock, the gentlest of the breads, refreshing on a cold morning........until the devilish Brad puts the 14 billion parts per milimeter scorching Peruvian pepper into the mix.

That ancient pan stands no chance. Your bannock will burn through it like sulfuric acid on a rose petal.
 
It was an experiment that went a little wrong. Hot peppers and bannock turned out an inappropriate combination and too far from traditional for even my poor taste.
I'm not much of a gardener, my heirloom tomatoes are all cracked and the garlic were puny. The melons were just sad. I did enjoy a bountiful harvest of basil, chard and berries. And then there is the hot peppers. I don't know what to do with them all. Red Ring of Fire, Habanero Orange and Jalapeno peppers suffered pests but still producing. Miranda has made two batches of our own hot sauce (2 bottles) and it looks like we'll be making a few more. They go great in salsa, sauces, eggs...
But not bannock. Never again.

This pan sure heats up fast. The material is thinner than I expected which contributes to that, and of course makes it lighter weight than I expected too. Both good attributes of a tripping pan in my books. The bottom is a bit dented but that is okay. I may or may not hammer it out. The eggs nestled nicely in those contours. And it was I who put the scorchy shadows in the pan bottom. I only thought of a "before" photo after I used it. Ha. And of course like I said I used it twice. It came seasoned, thanks Sweeper. I assumed it was a light coating of food grade something or other so I just gave it a swipe with a damp cloth and started on breakfast. Not sure how to season this myself. I'll heat it up just a little in the oven and wipe it well with grapeseed oil? We no longer trip with bacon so there will be no bacon grease oiling this. I might have to think twice about that. We usually leave our (clean) pots out around the fire pit overnight. Never had them tossed and turned or bitten, though they might be licked, you never can tell. Dare I leave my pan out with the rest overnight? I've read of trippers coming across old fry pans left and maybe forgotten hanging from trees. All I ever find are tent pegs.
 
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Odyssey my friend you are a pleasure to read!! Easy, fluid, using words like no others on here... Ok, maybe Memaquay is a close second... But both equal as for humour!! As for bannok, I like mine pretty traditional so no chances I would try Brad's recipe.....

My pan coming from the same guy will be heavily used in the next 7-8 days starting tomorrow night!
 
My pan coming from the same guy will be heavily used in the next 7-8 days starting tomorrow night!

Ah! Another lucky tripper!! I am glad for you too! I look forward (as I always do) to your return and a good TR. Do me a favour and take some pics of your camp kitchen with the cold handle pan in action. I am still several months away from doing the same with my own.
 
So yesterday I struck out on a pan but did find several other interesting non-canoe related pieces.

Today I drove up to NH to see my mother, and saw the signs for a 'Yard Sale'. Pulling in as I saw lots of tools and chain.

$5
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The small piece in the pan so the story goes was bought by his uncle from AB & Fitch for the purpose of drinking the Cool, Clear, Water of a Mountain Stream. Looks like I'm missed one. I doubt I'll us them for water.

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Five Yahtzee dice cups??? I love that game!!

Just kidding. I wonder what is their history? Are they silvered? Did they each have a leather sleeve once upon a time? Did they come in that box? I can't quite make out the label.

Like many other things we come to cherish choosing drinking vessels can be a funny thing. My wife won't drink wine out of anything but a wine glass. Snobbish maybe, or maybe just a "feel good" thing. Plastic ones for outdoors, including tripping; we have two pairs of those to keep her in a happy place. But for me personally I harken back to a time when I sat in the summer kitchen of an older Italian couple, she working on lunch preparations while he stepped in from his bountiful garden. He poured some home made wine into plain juice glasses, and kept them topped up while we lingered over lunch. It seemed such a simple rustic and relaxed way to enjoy one another's company and culture, sopping up drippings with crusty bread, eating with our hands and clinking small solid glasses of smooth strong wine. I've preferred the humble juice glass ever since for indulging in vino here at home. On wine tours and in friends' homes I follow the proper etiquette of course holding the appropriately chosen glass by the stem and sniffing for nose, swirling for aroma blah blah blah. But at home I become a paesano (a wanna be one) and pour a modest measure into a glass that looks quite similar to your new old glasses Sweeper. Actually these juice glasses do double duty because they also make excellent whisky glasses too. That's maybe your choice of medicine? The lovely Glencairn my son brought all the way back from Scotland is refined but a little too delicate for me. Those old cups of your Sweeper look perfect for tripping. I also imagine sleeves made of birch bark as a final touch of glass class. Chin chin!!
 
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I think the cups you found are likely part of a boxed set; similiar to the set I've pictured.
 

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Brad, the “Ageless, Priceless, leaves me Speechless” left me thinking Sweeper had mailed you some info-mercial herbal erectile enhancements.

Good to finally risk a look. And I have an idea what the faux shipping label on DougD’s next package will be. Thanks.
 
Mike, the plain box label threw me off. It was some kinda young person internet clothing thing, so clearly it wasn't recognisably clear to me. That is why I immediately jumped to the conclusion it was a package meant for a hipper soul than moi. Sweeper is either blessed with such a young soul in his family or he is one cagey customer. Or both. If it had a dirty minded label (no offence) I would've easily suspected the hanky panky postal prankster toi. I have a box of nitrile gloves in the hall closet for such kitchen and postal emergencies just in case. If it hadn't been for my wife's superior logic the box in question would've sat innocently on our dining room table for days waiting for our hipper soul daughter to come claim it. Boy, that would've been an image worth a thousand words, seeing her open a box expecting a t-shirt and instead it containing an old frying pan??? What? The? Frig?
 
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Your post made me think of the "vintage" camping gear I inherited. When I was 13 years old, my father decided that we should camp on our way to Sudbury, Ont. From NJ. To that end, my father and I went out to buy camping gear. Morsan's, which has morphed into Campmor was the place we went to. Bought a 2 burner Colman gas stove and a Colman lantern with 2 silk lamps. Later we picked up a Sears Ted Williams canvas tent. I still have all 3 of these items and are all functional after 55 years.
 
I like the Coleman gear, I still have a few of my best pieces but sold off most of my collection a couple years ago.
 
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