Oak Spoon

Weeks ago, after trekking through the woods, I came home with an oak branch.  I had carved sculptures out of oak before, but never spoons.

It got carved into a spoon pretty quickly. Then, it sat in my spoon collection, loved, but unused.  

I had read that spoons made out of oak need a lot of attention.  After they get wet, the grain rises up and you have to resand them a bit.  While I wanted to try using it for cooking, it took me a while before I could stop admiring it and start using it.

Today I gave it a test drive.  Though I don't usually leave my wooden utensils in liquids as they cook, I subjected this poor fellow to the full simmer in a pot of homemade applesauce.

The grain did rise a bit, but I really loved using the utensil.  I don't know that I would carve oak spoons to sell because people might not appreciate the roughness. Regardless, I adore the oak spoon and will use it in spite of its bad habits.