Columbus Foodie

Pamela at Posie’s Place is hosting a one-off food blogging event called Favorite Kitchen Gadgets, where she’s asking food bloggers to talk about “the kitchen gadget or kitchen tool you just couldn’t live without, your most used kitchen toy or your most unusual/treasured kitchen gadget or tool and the reason why.”

My choice was fairly easy, as this item (or bunch of items, technically) are things I use in my cooking just about every day – my Le Creuset cookware collection, of which only part is in this picture. I’ve been cooking since I could reach the knobs on the stove myself (even before that, with the supervision of my great-grandmother). One of the things that I noticed as an adult is that they just don’t make things like they used to: cookware, appliances, clothes, anything really. And during all of that time, I wished that I would have kept all of the “old” cookware that I had so stupidly got rid of for the new and shinier modern models in my early 20’s. So for the past decade, I’ve had to deal with handles falling off of my pots and pans, teflon coating chipping off even if metal didn’t come within a foot of the pan, uneven cooking, the inability to transfer my cookware from stove to oven, etc. I’ve bought set after set of no name brands, T-Fal that lasts maybe a year, etc. And noticed that the stainless steel stuff that my husband had brought with him into the marriage (a hand me down from his parents) looked the same as the day we got married.

It was then that we decided we were no longer going to sacrifice quality for price, and it’s pretty much been our attitude in just about everything we buy these days, but specifically when it comes to cookware and knives. I have noticed Le Creuset in professional kitchens, and saw how well they held up, and lusted after them for a while. I got my first piece (the big 13+ quart monstrosity on the bottom, which I use all the time) about 2 years ago, when it was marked down to $189.99 on clearance at Amazon.com. Very pleased with its performance, I’ve been slowly adding pieces over the years. I got all of the other pieces shown at the North Market at very discounted prices, and not shown (in my cabinets) are a bigger pan, a grill pan and panini press, and a tagine. I *love* these, and they’re worth every penny because they cook and brown wonderfully, heat evenly, and make the best stews ever. They’re cast iron with an enamel coating. I can forsee these lasting for years – I just wish I had some children to pass them on to, because I know they’ll still be around 40 years from now.