> FWIW, it really pays to buy cookware "in person" especially if you are
> not familiar with the specific product line. It is hard to tell quality
> from a picture. There is nothing like hefting the pan, feeling the
> handles in your hand, checking the fit of the lid, etc.
>
> If you don't already have a nice 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan, and you
> can get a good buy on the stockpot, you might consider a saucepan too.
> That's much better for reheating (less clean-up, won't lose so much
> water) a few portions of soup or pasta sauce than a big stockpot.

Thanks for the help - I'm leaning toward the Williams-Sonoma one right
now, if I don't find anything better. I've been frustrated with the
selection in local stores - everything is either very expensive or very
cheap. I don't think availability on ebay really means anything - you
find plenty of excellent brands on ebay. I miss Costco - I dropped my
membership for financial reasons but sometimes they had great things
that aren't available elsewhere. But their cookware selection had
become pretty limited by the time I left, at least at our local store.

I already have some nice smaller pieces, including two smaller saucepans
that I use most of the time (even for pasta, since I'm often cooking for
one), and a Le Creuset dutch oven that I use for most soups, stocks,
etc. But if I'm making a large batch of pasta, sometimes it's easier to
heat up the sauce in the same pan instead of washing two pans (with no
dishwasher, I've grown to loathe dishwashing and I'll do most anything
to avoid washing an extra pan). Sometimes I want to heat up a huge
quantity of soup for some reason. So I need a big stockpot. Most of
the time it will be just for pasta, but I don't want to buy a pan that's
too flimsy to use occasionally for those other things. But I don't want
to spend $100 on a pan I won't use that often. I can think of too many
other things I'd like to have!

Karen