Right now, I am soooo excited I cannot tell you!

Yes, I do realize that I will now be revealed for the nerd that I am, but I simply don’t care. Not a whit.

Just. Do. Not. Care.

Why? you ask.

Because I have finally scored the one, the only, my beloved new tea kettle.

Let me tell you, she’s a beauty alright. Sleek, smooth, rounded and voluptuous.

Curves that go for miles.

And her shine, ahhh her shine.

It’s positively stellar. Intergalactic, even.

You see, Red Beauty as I like to call her, is not just any old red. Oh dear me, no.

She is CANDY APPLE RED!!! And shiny metallic to boot.

I know, I know, hard to believe I stumbled upon such an unbelievable treasure. It took months, eight to be exact. You’d think that it would be easy to find a tea kettle. Just go to the store, peruse the aisles and pick one out.

You’d think that, but you would be wrong.

My trusty old tea kettle – sadly I never named her, shame on me – was old, scuffed up, looking the worse for wear. It wasn’t until she began to rust around the bottom edges that I realized her days were numbered. Off I set to a couple stores looking for a new metal kettle.

How difficult could that be? Pretty d@mn hard, thank you very much.

Almost as hard as searching for the Holy Grail. Not quite, but almost.

It’s not as if I were being picky. I didn’t care if the new one was shiny or polished steel, I just wanted a simple tea kettle. Of course in the back of my mind I may have been hoping to find a red kettle, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

Why eight months? In part because I’ve been gone for some of the time dealing with family issues, but mainly because I had a hard time finding tea kettles.

Oh, I could find tea pots, no problem. One of my favorite places to meet friends for koffie of thee has a gorgeous line of imported English tea pots that I positively drool over. But I didn’t need another tea pot, what I needed was a tea kettle.

It seems the Dutch prefer electric kettles. To me they are so impersonal, so utilitarian, so…well, just plain ugly if the truth be told.

Besides, I’m often only making one cup of tea at a time, or as my British friends say, a cuppa.

I like the ritual of making tea. I enjoy filling the kettle with cool water, feeling the heft of the kettle as I place it on the stove, the click of the gas burner as the flame shoots up. Most of all, I enjoy hearing the pleasant, rising whistle of the boiling kettle.

I am no science geek, but the fact that a kettle of boiling water makes a whistling sound gives me great pleasure.

So when I finally found a place that offered a selection of kettles at reasonable prices, I was beside myself. I was perusing the aisle, weighing options in my mind when I saw her: Red Beauty.

I saw her and had one thought, and one thought only: she must be mine…

It seemed that there was only the store model remaining, so I excitedly asked the clerk whether there were any more in stock. I had visions of her loveliness brightening our uninspired kitchen, when he suddenly reappeared to dash my hopes.

Sorry, mevrouw. Geen meer.

The words cut to the quick, slashing my daydream of kitchen splendor into thin ribbons of disappointment, longing and regret. They pooled in the pit of my stomach, refusing to leave.

Even Husband’s look of confusion mixed with fear as I recounted my horrific loss later that evening did not deter me. I was inconsolable.

Until yesterday.

I had stopped by the shop to pick up some garbage bags – yes, I realize my life invokes envy in many – when I happened to see the store manager.

I approached him quickly. He would likely say I cornered him, but let’s not waste time with semantics. In my best mediocre Dutch I asked if I might purchase the store model.

My heart leaped upon hearing his reply: Jazeker, naturlijk.

He ducked into the store room. returning not with the empty box I was expecting but with a box containing my very own red kettle!

Why red? Because our kitchen is small and boring, white with mismatched appliances and touches of black. So we went bold with vivid red as accents: dish towels, some cooking utensils, small lampshade, garbage can.

I know, pretty outrageous. But that’s how we roll: out there, trend-setting, avant garde.

Well, okay, not really. But when I brought Red Beauty home yesterday, gently rinsed her out, toweled her dry and set her on the stove, that ‘s how I felt.

Like one of those Pinterest kitchenistas always pinning photos of dream kitchen counter tops, tiles, back splashes, faucets, paint chips, cabinets, appliances and cooking paraphernalia.

A Pinterkitchenista, that’s exactly how I felt.

(Is that even a word? Well, you get my point.)

With Red Beauty on my stove top, I am indeed a Pinterkitchenista*.

So if you’re in the neighborhood, do stop by. I’ll put Red Beauty on to boil and make you een kopje thee.

 

*Now all I have to do is find time to go pin something on Pinterest.