Introducing, The World's First . . . .

Introducing the first Lovespoon/Companion Spoon set in the world. As far as I know. I asked the most knowledgeable person I know about it, and he had never heard of such a thing. I've also not seen anything about it in the research I've done, so, until someone can prove me wrong I'm going to lay claim to it!

The Companion Spoons are a matched (more or less) pair of eating spoons to accompany the primary lovespoon. They will be available with the names of each of the loving pair carved or kolrosed into the handle. I'm also thinking about producing some manner of spoon rack in which to house the Companion Spoons. I haven't decided precisely what form that will take yet. 

One thing that is blatantly obvious is that the color of the wood for the Companion Spoons don't match the lovespoon. Well, it did before I finished them! The eating spoons and the display spoon require (??) different finishes. The lovespoon was finished with an application of hot neutral shoe polish. This leaves the wood of the spoon very near the original color of the unfinished wood as very little of the shoe polish is absorbed by the grain. Obviously I can't finish the eating spoons with shoe polish. It may not be toxic, but it certainly will contribute a distinctive whang to the taste of anything eaten with the spoon. 

I finished the eating spoons by soaking them in food-grade mineral oil. I've been using an eating spoon finished with mineral oil for about a month now, and I'm liking the way it holds up so far. Could I finish the lovespoon with mineral oil? I could. But just because I could, does that mean I should. What do my Gentle Readers (yes, both of you!) think? Oh, ye who are more knowledgeable about wood finishing than I (just about everybody) think about that idea? Leave me a comment about what you think. 

Next time I'll go over the evolution of a lovespoon design. Until then, let the chips fly!