"The Other Guy" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 22:36:45 -0700, "Paul M. Cook" >
> wrote:
>
>>Not hardly. And they last forever. Probably the last really good
>>cookware
>>you can buy. You can get them a lot cheaper online.
>
> Nearly $300 for a 5 quart dutch oven on Amazon??
>
> IF I was 20 years old, maybe.
> I'd HAVE to live 50 more years to make THAT worth buying!!
>
> There are nearly affordable alternatives with great ratings
> there as well, same size for $50, with over 1200 4 and 5 star
> ratings, vs about 200 3 or lower stars.

The funny thing is, when I was 20 years old, I couldn't afford to buy much
of anything. I would imagine many of us were in the same boat. I didn't
even have Reverware then and much of what I had in my kitchen was purchased
at K Mart or Woolworths during the dollar day sales. I had some hideous
soup mugs in bright green, yellow and orange that got a lot of use for
things other than soup! Because I didn't have much more to use. I did
however splurge on things like Airbake cookie sheets, some really good
Springform pans and all kinds of chocolate/candy making and cake decorating
supplies. That was what I was known for in those days. My baking and candy
making. And IMO, you just can't bake good cookies on a $1.00 cookie sheet.
I do have cheap cookie sheets now. I consider them almost disposable. I
mainly use them under things that might drip. Or I cover them with release
foil to bake fries or other things. But I would never bake cookies on them.

I also find that at age 54, even though I can afford to buy some things for
the kitchen, I can't feasibly use them. Such as a lot of cast iron things
because they are just too darned heavy. I had to take back that giant cast
iron casserole that I was gifted. Partly because I had asked for a pasta
pot and had no need for a giant casserole and the gift giver had no clue
that they bought the right thing because they do not cook. Oh... You can't
boil pasta in a casserole? But partly because I couldn't lift the thing
even when empty! When we returned it to the store, it took Angela and I
both to get it out of the van, into the cart and then up onto the service
desk. I can't imagine trying to get something like that in and out of the
oven because it would be even more heavy with food in it! And unwieldy when
hot!

The first time I bought a Circulon pan, I kicked myself all the way until it
came and I first used it. And then I was hooked! But I just couldn't
believe that I had spent so much for one pan. I think it was $54. I grew
up in a house where aside from the Revereware (which I know many here don't
like), we only had cheap stuff in the kitchen. Melamine dishes until I was
a teen or close to being one. My parents lived in fear that we would break
the dishes. Plastic cookie jar. Dime store cookie sheets. Those hideous
non-stick skillets that used to go on sale for maybe $2-3. A rolling pin
that was missing a handle. Never did figure out why it was missing but I
loved to show it to visitors and tell them that my mom hit my dad over the
head with it and knocked in clear off.

No ladle. My mom would use one of the melamine coffee cups to dip up soup
and stew. Then several times over the years she has bought me a ladle for
Christmas or birthday or some such thing. She seems to have had pretty bad
memory loss for quite some time now. Never seems to remember that not only
do I already have plenty of ladles, but she has already bought me some.
Each time she gives one to me, she tells me, "That's one thing I always
wanted. A ladle!" I never did figure that one out. We went to the dime
store all the time and surely they must have sold ladles there! My first
one came with a set of tools that I got a K Mart. 50 cents for the whole
set. In those days we really could get good bargains there. I think the
set originally sold for $3 but for some reason it wound up on the clearance
aisle and I got it on a blue light special. There was a rack for hanging on
the wall, a spoon, ladle, spaghetti server and a pancake turner. Over the
years the rack broke, and the other pieces went the way of the wind, but I
still have that ladle. Then I got flatware as a wedding gift and it came
with a ladle. I have small ladles from the dollar store for sauces and
dressings and the like. And then I have the odd ceramic ladle that came
with the ceramic soup tureen that I was gifted. I am just waiting for the
day that I can use that! I can't imagine when that day might be. Seeing as
how I am the only soup lover in this house and could not be bothered to put
the soup in a tureen to serve myself out of. But... Who in the world
thought that a ceramic ladle would be a good idea? I can just imagine it
getting broken into the soup.

Anyway... I could not believe how much better the quality of my food was in
that Circulon pan and I've since ordered two more. I also bought some Khun
Rikhon boil over stopper lids that were a tad pricey and today I saw that
Collections Etc. now has their version for $9.99. So these days I can
afford to spend more for things in the kitchen. But I do have my limits. I
might possibly spend $300 (might but probably not) for a whole set of pots
and pans. But... I have also discovered over the years that things come in
those sets that I will never or rarely ever use.

So while I can buy some pricier things now than when I could when younger, I
am also more inclined to want to pare down what I have in my kitchen. My
mom just had a garage sale. I was totally shocked at how much kitchen stuff
she had! And finally she had a ladle! Someone gifted her with a set of
tools that hung on the wall. But she had several can openers, many sets of
tongs, several still in the packages, tons of casseroles and mixing bowls,
several sets of dishes. Dozens of vases! I just don't want the day to come
when I am too old and feeble to want to go through all that stuff to get rid
of it. I am paring it down now. I kept one large vase, one medium vase and
one little bud vase. If I ever need anything more than that, I can use
canning jars. Heh! And unless it is a really expensive or hard to find
item, I am getting rid of it now, unless it is something I currently use. I
did keep my Springform pan and my Bundt pan only because when I needed them,
I had a heck of a time finding them. Found Springform pans in one store all
missing the bottoms! I did come close to getting rid of those but after
thinking about it for a minute, decided that perhaps I should keep them for
a while longer.