The Aga Cooker - Anglophile Friday

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There is something so charming about an Aga!  Secretly, I imagined living in a Yorkshire cottage with my dogs, my cat(s), a tile floor, and an Aga. And Kevin.

I want that kitchen (above) - complete with chubby yellow Lab and minus the lazy guy reading the paper while the carrots wilt. Okay, I'm not exactly coveting it, but it does make me think about painting my kitchen cupboards white. You-know-who is not fond of the idea. He says it's a fad. Maybe, but...

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I LOVE this Aga and the photo. I first saw the photo in a book I bought from Goodwill, 'Perfect English Cottage.' If you've not seen that book, it's worth checking out on Amazon. If I never get to England again, I will look at my photos and will page through Perfect English Cottage from time to time.

The only thing I don't like about the photo above? If you zoom in, you'll see that the tablecloth has pompoms along its edge. Eek.  But I do love the white beams.

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That photo makes me want to go paint something. I wonder if it will inspire Suzan of Simply Vintageous? You've got to visit her blog if you're not already a follower. The conversations between Suzan and John are hilarious. Anyway, I digress. Back to the subject of Agas.

I did a Google search for info on Agas and came across this article from the UK Telegraph. The following is an excerpt:

'I hadn’t always been an Aga aficionado. I regarded them as status symbols that people pretentiously described as “best friends”. They were the toys of Marie-Antoinettish pseuds who wanted to play at living in a farmhouse in Wales – when actually they were hedge fund managers from Notting Hill. Madonna and Guy Ritchie had one, just as they donned Hunter wellies and Barbours and claimed to love hunting and fishing. (Now I wonder if maybe they divorced after a row over the gas bill.)


'Tessa Glass, a mother of two, who has an Aga in her second home (another eco crime) in Sussex refuses to believe she is an Aga lout, wilfully helping sea levels rise, all so she can scoff perfect Yorkshire puddings. 

'But Aga owners are green,' she protests. 'They’re the kind of people who love the country and have dogs. Apart from the footballers’ wives, that is.' She’s taken aback when I explain that flying to New York twice a year would cause less devastation to the rain forests. 'La la la, not listening,' she cries. 

'Not listening, indeed. The list of celebrity Aga owners who also profess to be eco warriors makes hilarious reading. Sting and Trudie Styler lecture us about the Amazon but – natch – they own one. Prince Charles is forever warning us of climate Armageddon but his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, 'wouldn’t cook on anything else.'

'Colin Firth, whose wife runs a chichi “green” store is another fan. Not so much hypocritical as puzzling is Sharon Stone’s avowal that an Aga is the first thing she would save in a fire, though the lightest model weighs 64 stone...'

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I hope you'll follow the link and read the entire article. It's hilarious!

 

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Every Jack Russell Terrier needs a matching Aga. Doesn't that photo make you want to just rush out and plop down £5-6,000 for an Aga? - or maybe a Jack Russell Terrier.

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Imagine - a raspberry-colored Aga!! Isn't it beautiful. And for only £5,000+ pounds, it can be yours!

Nice sink, huh! It's deep enough to bath a toddler in, although I don't have any small children around here. Still, I like it. Actually, I have a great old white enamel cast iron sink with built in drain board, standing up along the wall of the garage, just in case I ever need another sink - which I'm sure I do, even as I write. It is a great old sink, and there's been a small ongoing debate for years now - about its usefulness and whether or not it will one day be hooked up to water lines again.

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Here's another article, this one from Housebuilder's Update. Again, an excerpt:

'The Aga stands head and shoulders above all other gender issues in selfbuild land. 95% of women aspire to owning one, 95% of men just don't get it. I have seen many an otherwise well-thought out ecologically-slim footprint completely blown out of the water by a shiny new £5,000 Aga in the kitchen. Indeed I suspect that there are many husbands who have only managed to persuade wives to go through the four years of chaos and upheaval it takes to selfbuild by using the promise of an Aga in the kitchen at the end of it all. It's a powerful, if expensive, seduction tool, the ultimate selfbuild babe magnet. If it's the price it takes to get a selfbuild off the ground, maybe it's a price worth paying.

'As a man, I am one of those who just don't get it. I have cooked in houses with Agas and about the best thing you can say for them is that they are quaint. But as a man, "What do I know?" as the current saying goes. Yes, the Aga will definitely be too hot for a three-bed cottage, but what’s logic got to do with it.'

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I guess the only things I like about this photo are the hardwood floor and the avocado/lime-colored Aga. I don't fancy my piano(s) in the kitchen.

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Very pretty, but I think this was a show kitchen. Who really lives like that - (besides my sister and my daughter?)  lol    I mean, c'mon. Flat surfaces are there for a reason.  Just look at my desk, for example! (maybe not) But it is a nice black Aga.

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And here's my sweet little happy 1913 Home Comfort cast iron cookstove:

It costs nothing but wood to run - and doesn't have to stay on all year 'round!

I should have moved my gloves and hat before taking the photo.

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 This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and  Cure for the Common Monday and Mealtime Monday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Mosaic Monday  and Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and On the Menu Monday and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and Love Bakes Good Cakes and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and 3boysandadog and Trueaimeducation and Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and  Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special