The Story of a Dough Bowl

Today I wanted to share the story of my dough bowl with you.  You may have noticed it sitting on our living room shelves a couple posts ago... it was a very special gift from my father-in-law who recently made it by hand for me.

 I've known for a while that he was making this for me and periodically he would share his progress, but when he gave the finished bowl to me on New Year's Day, I was simply in awe.  My father-in-law is very gifted when it comes to wood-working... it's his hobby and as long as I've known him, he's always whittling on a piece of wood in his down-time, but I was still blown away. 

A more perfect dough bowl there could not be in my eyes.  It was made from a pecan tree that had been cut down about 50 years ago and is large at 2 1/2 feet long. 

When I held it for the first time, I couldn't believe how perfectly the handles fit in my hands. Instead of being a simple straight cut, you can see here how rounded they are and were carved in a downward fashion to make handling comfortable.

I love every little detail, from the worm holes in the side of the bowl to the natural cracks in the wood.

The back of the bowl is every bit as beautiful as the front and so smooth that it's hard to comprehend what it looked like originally.

 I was thrilled when my father-in-law told me he had taken some pictures of the bowl in process and when he sent them to me this week, I knew I had to share them.  You can see here the piece of pecan wood he started with. 

The hollowing was created with a spade drill bit and a grinder.

As the bowl took shape, he used a wood roughing-out tool (Scorp) to smooth the inside before sanding.

  Afterwards he sealed the bowl with food safe Watco butcher block oil.  I love how the oil slightly deepens the color of the wood and gives it a finished look and feel.

 I'm not sure where the permanent home will be for our dough bowl, but for now it's displayed with some wintery pine cones. I don't feel like I could ever say thank you enough to my father-in-law for such a special gift - it's a treasure in my eyes. 

I thought I'd share this last picture with you as it makes me laugh... I frequently use our kitchen table for taking photos because the natural light is wonderful, particularly when it's dark and rainy out like today.  When I take pictures I'm often shooting around table clutter and little hands that love to help me "style"... see the pine cone tower?  (smile)

I hope you've had a great Monday!