Meet Clarise: my red Aga & my daily inspiration!

So yes, it’s time to meet the inspiration behind My Red Stove. Meet Clarise, my claret red British beauty of an Aga. She’s a beast at 5 feet wide with four cast iron ovens serving up anything that can be roasted, baked, simmered, or warmed. Add two hobs..those double 12″ insulated burners on top that look more like giant closed waffle irons than burners, of which they can boil and simmer 6 pots at once if need be. And last but not least, add a large top warming plate. See why the love affair continues? 😘 It truly was love at first sight many years ago when I first lusted after an Aga in an upscale kitchen display in Atlanta. Acquiring one became a reality when we built our log cabin and decided to design our kitchen around this stove. Nothing could stop me from getting my dream cooker at that point. So we traveled to Aga Thyme in Charlotte for the demo and to put a down payment on the order. (BTW, incredibly nice people, Bonnie Fleming is the “Aga go-to-person” to be sure!) They then begin to build my custom Aga in England and six months later it’s shipped to us whereby a lovely installer, Walter Sands, (who has also traveled to England to be trained in the nuances of an Aga), …who for the next two days lovingly puts it all together piece by piece! I’m sure a surgeon couldn’t be more skilled than Walter! That was four years ago now and many a delicious meal has been devoured in our log cabin kitchen, all lovingly and delicately cooked by Clarise. Well, I did have a hand in it too of course. I love cooking on my red stove but if you aren’t cooking on an Aga don’t let that stop you from trying the recipes we’ll be cooking here. They’ll work for anyone and will be amazing from your stove too… if you just make sure to put the love ingredient in them. So kick back and share our adventures in the kitchen with Clarise and me. We hope you will enjoy My Red Stove as much as I do.

My log cabin kitchen!