I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. White several years ago. She invited my sister and I over for afternoon tea and a little visit. Not only did she whip up a tasty snack (baked fresh from the oven), she told the most entertaining stories. It was then I knew I loved her.
This summer, my Mom, my sister and I, once again had the opportunity to have tea with Mrs. White. Not only did she cook up a snackers feast (with the most unique treats...her own recipes I'm sure), she set up her table with fancy china and old fashioned cutlery.
It was the pickle fork that caught my eye. It had a plunger on the end that would shove the pickle off the tines of the fork. My sister became enamored with it as well. So much, that she played with it endlessly during Mrs. White's entertaining stories.
This gave me an idea for my sister's birthday. I decided to track down such a fork for her and surprize her for her birthday.
Unsure where to start looking, I had heard about Ebay and decided to give it a try.
Much to my delight, there was a large choice of pickle forks to choose from on EBay. Unsure of how to bid or purchase items, I lost the first bid I put on an Art Deco pickle fork from the UK.
And then I found it....an exact replica of the pickle fork at Mrs. White's house!!! I placed my bid and succussfully won the fork. It was being shipped from New Zealand, so I was a little worried that it might not arrive in time for my sister's birthday.
So to be on the safe side....I continued looking and found another pickle fork that was similar. I placed a bid and won that one as well. This one was from the UK. So hopefully between the two forks, one would arrive in time.
I thought I was done with the pickle forks....but no....for some reason I kept on the look. Maybe it was reminder emails that EBay sends about all the pickle forks I looked at or ones that I might be interested in......anyway.....I found this one which had 3 prongs on the end....
Then I went to some local kitchen stores to see what they had.....the clerk showed me the "alien" pickle fork that had little prongs come out of the end to grab the pickle....
Waiting for the pickle forks to arrive.....
In the mean time, the forks would need a special container. So off I went to the thrift store to find a box. Unsure of the size, I took a guess and found a cool pen box. I brought it home, sanded and painted it and got it all ready.
Finally the pickle forks came in the mail...with a few days to spare! The packages were so cool. How these people packed up the forks to send them in the mail was so interesting. They came with little hand written notes, and the hand writing was interesting....giving me a sense of the person who sent the package. I couldn't bare to throw these notes and envelopes away...so I glued them in my journal.
The moment of truth was when I took one of the forks and tried to fit it in the box....a perfect fit! It even had room for two. So the second pickle fork went in as well.
Needless to say that my sister was more than thrilled to see the pickle forks...and we reminisced about Mrs. White's tea and her original pickle fork we had seen.
Shortly after her birthday, my sister ran into Mrs. White and proceeded to tell her about her gift. Mrs. White was excited and surprized that I was able to find a similar fork.
A few months went by, it was around Thanksgiving....my family and I had the pleasure of visiting with Mrs. White one afternoon. She was busy preparing for company that she would be entertaining the next day. Although we didn't plan to stay long, Mrs. White engaged us as usual with her wonderful stories and just before we left, she said she had something to show me.
She left the room and came back with a really interesting pie server. It had a plunger on it as well! Similar to the pickle fork! Can you believe it? Where does she find these things?!!....
