I'm Just A Fool In Love

An amazing thing happened to me on April Fool's Day. I got new pots and pans. I'm not even fooling...this was a BIG deal to me! Our old set of non-stick pans, which had served us well for many years, started to chip and flake. I got online and read about the health concerns connected with that and knew we needed to get rid of them immediately. Thus began the epic undertaking that we shall call The Great Cookware Research Project of 2011.

Stainless? Non-stick? Tri-ply? Glass lids? Copper Core?

I began to carry the burden of deciding exactly how many quarts the *perfect* stock pot should be. (I'll spare you the mystery. The answer is eight, if you have a big family. That's just to you from me, because I'd hate for you to lose as many hours of sleep over it as I did.) Buzzard was a champ, no two ways about it. The man who needs only one macaroni and cheese pan to eek out survival spent untold hours debating brands, features, cost, and set configurations; all while somehow managing to convince me that he was having fun. Undoubtedly, the multitude of food network shows I have subjected him to have paid off in spades. He has kitchen opinions, and that is very sexy. He even got this whole ball rolling by getting advice from a former coworker named Larry who is a total foodie and who used to work part time at William Sonoma.

Larry is my new hero. He gives fan-tab-u-lous advice.

Thanks to Larry, and after a dozen rounds of comparison shopping, we welcomed the ultimate in kitchen luxury home to its new forever family. :-) We ended up with All Clad d5; a fact which still gives me a tingle.

In the end, we figured there were two important facts that were never going to change. We have a big family, and I love to cook. Plus, they are big and shiny and that got my attention!!!

Now you clearly understand my absence from this space. I've been busy standing at my cooktop, looking like the spitting image of an episode of Iron Chef. I tuck little children into bed at night, then I stand at my sink in my pearls with my bottle of BarKeeper's Friend, lovingly shining my saute pan. It's all very amazing.

Of course, a certain someone would tell you that the very best thing about my very exciting purchase is that it came in a HUGE and very sturdy BOX! One that has been sitting in the middle of my den all week being used as a fort. So cool. Just one more reason my new pans totally rock. I'm one blessed girl!