I'll say this for me: Consistent. When a show closes, insomnia follows. I was out like a light, exhausted, by 9:30. Then about 1:00 this morning, SNAP! Wide awake. It's the weirdest thing.
So... like everyone everywhere (according to some sources), I look at porn when I can't sleep... KITCHEN porn. Mama needs her a new soup-making stockpot sort of thing. The old one, inherited from Phil's side of the family, just hasn't got long to live and that's a fact. It was once, long ago, heated without anything in it, and subsequently the pan's layers have just been separating for ages since. With the amount of soups & stews & pasta sauces I've produced since the Great Layoffs of 2008, it's aged badly; really bumpy and curvy and generally misshapen on the bottom. Won't be long.
Fortunately, due in part to all those above-referenced cheap eats, I can finally afford to replace it if I don't go too crazee-like. It's officially my birthday present. I want enameled, and I want red.
The pretty little Paula Deen stockpot I like @ Target has some pretty bad reviews online, makes me skittish. I could always try one & return it if it disappoints, I guess. Having the part-time job there, & hence the discount, makes Target a go-to in most cases. But... Paula Deen Paula Deen, what have you done to us, darlin'? Is it true what they say about the pretty stockpot?
Keeping in mind that I have a tight budget but grandiose dreams, I did a lot of kitchen-porn-surfing, indulging in a few drools over the high-end, nearly-a-grand apiece copper works of art, on down into more realistic realms.
Here are the winners from tonight's exhaustive online Kitchen Porn search:
1. Rachael Ray's big 12-quart one for $49.95 plus $10.99 shipping ($60.94)http://www.rachaelraystore.com/Product/detail/Rachael-Ray-Enamel-on-Steel-12-qt-Stockpot-Red/300438
or
2. The 8-quart one from Le Creuset which may be the better investment for $54.99 + free shipping ($54.99! That's like about 1/2 price compared to most sources!)
http://www.chefscatalog.com/checkout/cart.aspx?action=checkout
and some interest in
3. The Tramontina enamel Dutch oven [as recommended by Cook's Illustrated] for $49.97 from Wal-Mart (free shipping site-to-store)
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tramontina-6.5-Quart-Cast-Iron-Dutch-Oven-Red/11989387
I still have my mother's old cast-iron dutch oven, although its original glass lid was lost in a tragic Thanksgiving-Day glass-breaking mishap a couple of years ago. Said Dutch oven, no doubt using a substitute lid from some other pot, will soon be pressed into service for the famous promised beef stew. But I still need to replace the old soup pot (kettle?) no matter what. Definitely leaning towards the Le Creuset for my birthday present. It's built to cook a lot of cheap or fancy meals well, over many years, and it's gorgeous.
And... I want it.
That's a kitchen-porn feeling, baby.
2 comments:
Buy the Le Creuset pot. Great pot, very good price for that manufacturer, they make good pots, and it's red enamelware like you desire.
The very one, you'll be tickled to know, is on its way to me! :) YAY!! Have desired the Le Creuset for years now. It's coming directly to me as a gift from a dear old friend (by that I mean "longtime," of course -- she and I are both exactly twenty-nine years old). It's part of a plot on her end to move up the beef stew recipe posting. Now all I have to do is remember how I make my famous stew (kidding!). This blog CAN in fact be BRIBED successfully.
Post a Comment