As you know by now, I really love to spend time in the kitchen. When I moved into my first apartment more than 20 years ago, I was living on a really tight budget and the only way I was able to stock my kitchen with utensils was to buy really cheap ones at the grocery store. When my $1 wooden spoon broke the very fist time I used it, I learned that you really get what you pan for.
I managed to make-do for a while, but as soon as I was able, I started replacing all of my inexpensive wooden spoons with higher quality woods like walnut, cherry, olive, maple, bamboo. Some of these replacements are more than 10 years old so they've been well worth the investment. I attribute their longevity to their quality, and to the fact that I spend a few minutes a couple of times a year maintaining and protecting them so they stay in tip-top shape. Here's what I do:
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