When I created Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop, the setting and premise for my Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, I thought I was being so creative. I mean, who ever heard of a shop like that existing in the real world, right? Well, guess what. Not only do they exist, there are least two of them. One in New Orleans – where my series is set!! – and one in New York City – my hometown!!

I’ve visited Seasoned, the shop in New Orleans, and will visit again on my next NOLA trip to check out their new location. But although I follow Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks on Instagram, I’d never been to her shop. So, I made a pilgrimage on my recent trip to the city.

After lunch in Midtown, my husband Jer and I took a quick subway ride down to the East Village, where we found Bonnie’s shop on a leafy street, housed in a charming brownstone. (Yes, we call them that even if they’re made of bricks.) I stepped into a dream come true…

The cookbooks! The kitchenware! It was as if the shop I imagined for my series protagonist Ricki James-Diaz had come to life. And in a historic, picturesque setting, no less. I took a ton of photos and Bonnie even kindly let me interview her, which I plan to share when I kick into full metal promo for the summer release of A MURDERER’S GUIDE TO MARDI GRAS, my 5th Vintage Cookbook Mystery.

When I first discovered these shops exist in real life, I was a bit deflated because I could no longer give myself credit for coming up with a brilliantly unique idea. But having browsed the offerings at both stores, I’m now excited to know that I’m not alone in my passion for culinary history. Judging by the Likes on Bonnie’s posts, there are a growing number of us out there. We aficionados love how the cookbooks capture their particular moment in time. Their illustrations (or lack of), ingredients, and writing style offer a fascinating window into the decade they were published. Likewise, kitchenware evolves with time, rendering some items from the past downright archeological.

I couldn’t leave Bonnie’s wonderful shop empty-handed. There was no way I could add another cookbook to my huge collection, but vintage kitchenware was another story. I debated between three items. My first choice was a tea timer. Since tea is my go-to beverage choice, it would have gotten a lot of use. Then I spotted these gorgeous handmade bowls fitted with slots to hold chopsticks…

Given how much Jer and I love Asian cuisine, I knew we’d put the bowls – and chopsticks! – to good use.

The final item I found myself drawn to was the oddest: a rusty, rotating canape… bread cutter? I guess??? I never entertain anymore, so it was clearly the least useful. Plus, I had questions about the rust, if I did take a chance and experiment with the contraption.

I went back and forth between the three. But honestly, it was no contest.

I don’t think I have to tell you which one earned a spot in my suitcase and a place of prominence in our living room.

Readers, is there an old kitchen item you’d love to have again, or brings back memories – fond or otherwise? (Personally, much as I loved my grandmother, I do not miss her hand eggbeater.)