Alabama Treenware, ‘Organic by nature. Heirloom by choice.’

MADISON — This isn’t your grandmother’s kitchenware, but the beautifully crafted wooden products available from Alabama Treenware could one day become your grandchildren’s.

Lindsey Boothe said despite having been “the kid who was supposed to go to medical school,” her love of cooking and big family breakfasts and Sunday dinners led to the necessity for better tools.

“I literally left the kitchen one day while making waffles and went out to the garage and made the waffle fork that we sell now, the jam spoon was the same way,” she said. “I don’t have anything that was passed down to me, and everything I had was just cheap and crappy.”

Once a set of wooden spoons made for a personal friend gained traction through social media, Boothe’s self-described “accidental business” was born.

Using ethically sourced hardwood, mostly from within a 60-mile radius of her home in Madison,  Boothe creates items ranging from spoons to pizza cutters in her backyard workshop. And, beautiful as they may be, Boothe said they are not meant to stay that way.

“It’s great if someone thinks a jam spoon is beautiful, but what I think is important is that one day their kids can have that same spoon and they can hold it and it will be stained purple from all of the jam and they have all of those memories and they can tell people those stories and say ‘that was Mom’s spoon,'” Boothe said. “My main goal is to make sure it holds up and works forever.”

Even Boothe’s recently released cookbook, “Provisions: Food, Drink and Tools for your Table,” is centered on the idea of families creating their own memories. By including wide margins on the pages, Boothe invites people to revise the recipes to their own tastes and for those recipes to become second nature so her book is no longer needed.

“The main thing I want people to take away from my work is that they won’t always be here, but their legacy can be,” she said. “And there is nothing that can bring more comfort to someone’s children than a warm meal that reminds them of you.”