Bubbe’s Kitchen: In Honor of our Grandmothers

Bubby’s Kitchen

When Dena first showed me a picture of the towels for this kit, I responded, oh my goodness, that’s Bubby’s Kitchen!

Bubby, if you’re not familiar, is the yiddish word for grandmother. For me, the word has always had a warm and cozy feeling of comfort. Similar to the yiddish term of endearment bubbalah that I use when babbling to my children.

Bubby’s kitchen is a place where yiddish words like mashugana, and kvetching were such a fixture that I grew up, before having the truly shocking realization that they were not in fact English words. My Bubby is forever imprinted in my memory as a little old lady, in floral housecoats putzing about the kitchen. The kitchen was the center of everything, often the center of chaos in the midst of holiday preparations and drama. Occasionally a place to steal a quiet moment together, or sneak an extra cookie. The kitchen has always felt so full of love, sweet smells and delicious food. The space seems so tiny and smushed with all of us in it, always something for me to do, until I’m the one in the way. The kitchen junk drawer is also home to all the notecards and scraps of paper that her mother’s recipes are written on. These days my children particularly love helping me make the challah to prepare for shabbos, it feels connected to all the history in this room.

I have been working for Dena remotely for the past few years, and I happen to have spent a large part of that time living with my 94 year old Bubby. My Bubby’s kitchen walls, and ceiling are covered with a rather bold vintage wallpaper with green and yellow flowers that’s been dated since I was a child. I have been obsessed with making towels to match the kitchen from the very first weaving project I did. My Bubby absolutely adores everything I have woven, all of the color variations of other patterns that I tried. Some of which turned out better than others. But even after carefully picking out the perfect colors, I didn’t quite get it right.

These towels have a brightness and warmth that feel like my grandmother’s kitchen. I couldn’t be more charmed and delighted that Dena designed such a gorgeous project in a perfect match for my Bubby’s kitchen.

Joanna