Cookstoves at Thanksgiving

A few days ago, I put out the call for people to send pictures of their cookstoves as they were in use over the Thanksgiving Holiday.  So far, I've had three responses, and it has been a lot of fun to see other people's woodburning cookstoves.  The first pictures to come in were from longtime reader and cookstove friend Tim L. from Minnesota.  Back in October, he had e-mailed me pictures of his Mom's new-to-her Monarch which is installed in her basement.  Tim sent a picture of their Monarch warming up leftover roast beef.

This Monarch seems like one solid stove to me, and Tim concurs.

The second response came from Jamie and Kate A. with pictures of their Modern Clarion range.  I'll let their text explain their pictures.



"We bought our home in the backwoods of the Downeast section of Maine and it came with an old Modern Clarion wood cookstove. It's in great shape and we just had our chimneys swept and inspected just in time for Thanksgiving. We fired it up the other day and it served us well. Still learning to properly operate and adjust the dampers, but it successfully cooked our sweet potatoes, roasted squash seeds and simmer pie filing over the past few days. I'm in love with it and am having a blast figuring everything out." 

 

 

Is that a beautiful stove, or what?  I'm hoping to hear a lot more from Jamie and Kate as they continue to get their stove mastered.

 

The third response came from Karin in West Virginia.  She has had a long relationship with the stove in the pictures below.  Here is what she had to say:

 

"My aunt found and my father got us this wonderful little stove many years ago when I moved to a home with no running water or electricity.  And no internet.  It has been a source of many fine turkeys, loaves of bread, and wonderful canned goods.

We have only burned hickory in it as that is perfect for a hot, long burning fire.  I used to can in the middle of the night to keep the heat down. 

Since my husband's death, I rarely use it any more as wood gathering, splitting is problematic.  But I have managed to get some for the holidays.  Also, a toaster oven and gas range top handle most of my cooking needs. 

It is a wonderful little stove."

 

I've been stuffed with leftovers for the last two days, but Karin's pictures make me hungry!

 

Last, I'll show you our pictures.  My parents hosted Thanksgiving, but we all contributed parts of the meal, and part of our responsibilities were the cranberries and the pumpkin pie.  This year, we prepared our own pumpkin from some we purchased at a local orchard, so you see them steaming here along with the cranberries boiling.

 

I think it would be interesting to know how many people in the United States prepared at least part of their Thanksgiving Dinner on a woodburning cookstove.  Of course, worldwide, the number of people who prepare their food over wood heat is much higher than it is here, but it always makes me curious. 

I'll leave my previous post up for awhile so that if someone would still like to submit pictures, he or she will have my e-mail address, and then I can add to this post.

Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!