Out of the Blue - A Little Book of Inspiration

 

Her kitchen was small with a wooden table and wooden chairs, an open dresser that held her cups, jugs, mugs, plates, eggcups, platters – everything was on display.Food was kept in the lower part of the dresser. 
She had an open fire.  All family gatherings and activities revolved around it as it did in Rinkippen and at home on the Dublin Road.  All open fires had huge chimneys – plenty of room for Santa to come and visit us.  If you leaned in over the fire and looked up you could see the sky. A black iron crane stood on one leg to the left of the fire and a long arm extended from it.  From this arm swung the hangers to hold the various pots and kettles over the flames.
I loved the whistling noise made by the cap of a boiling kettle hopping up and down.  Black three legged iron pots (now used in Oughterard as flower pots) had different uses – boiling potatoes, meat and vegetables, boiling water for Saturday night baths, water for Monday’s washing was also boiled in the larger pots.  The smaller pot was called a skillet – porridge was cooked in this over a gentle heat.  The black pot with straight sides was called an oven. It was used to bake bread, cakes and tarts. It was placed to the side of the fire.
We placed hot coals from the fire on top. Grandma and Mam made delicious cakes in an oven like this.

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