A few of my favorite things

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things"

Ahhh yes.  Bright copper kettles and brown paper packages...a few of my favorite things, too.

I have been officially in the market for a few new pieces of cookware for a while now.  My current set is almost 15 years old and I've had to toss a few pieces along the way. The remaining pieces consist of a large saute pan (it's held up well to constant use, but the non-stick coating is starting to get scruffy) and a couple of saucepans and stockpot, also starting to show their age.  My favorite stockpot is a hand-me-down stainless number; it has lost one of its handles.  My lone skillet (a gift from younger son a few years ago) is also starting to show signs of wear and tear.  I think it's time.  And I'm ready to graduate to stainless.

Yesterday, I spotted and began immediately coveting a big All-Clad saute pan at Williams-Sonoma.  (Okay, yes. To be honest, I heart almost everything W-S sells.  Doesn't everybody?)   Fortunately I had the girl along and she dragged me out of the store before I did anything rash and foolish.

Here's where my current infatuation with beautiful cookware meets reality:  just how many saute pans and skillets do I really need, and how big do they really need to be?  It's one thing to lust after a full cadre of skillets and saute pans, but let's be serious.  I've managed to cook for my crew with just 2 or 3 skillets, a handful of saucepans and one big saute pan over the years.  Does it really make sense to expand my ensemble when I'm scaling back the quantity of food I'm serving?  Will my cooking improve if I use these pans?  Quite frankly, that single All-Clad saute pan retails for more than I've spent on skillets and saucepans our entire married life.

Practicality took over: I've read reviews and compared several high-end cookware lines against each other.  I scoped out eBay and several cooking sites to figure out the going rate for All-Clad, Caphalon, and Cuisinart.   

And...then I marched over to Amazon and placed an order for this Cuisinart 5.5 quart saute pan.  I've had a Cuisinart saucepan for a couple years, and it is my favorite saucepan ever.  The Multiclad line got good reviews, even when stacked up against All-Clad.

But then Amazon did what Amazon does best:  it immediately began showing me additional items I "might" like, including a set of Cuisinart Multiclad skillets, saucepans and a new stockpot with steamer insert, plus lids.  All for a very low price - about 60% off list.  (About the same price as one full-price All-Clad from Williams-Sonoma.)  AND free shipping.

Soooo...of course I caved into temptation.  There is more than a little irony here:  I will have the best and biggest set of cookware I have ever possessed, and use it to cook for an ever-dwindling crowd of regular diners.

I can rationalize this purchase in two ways:  one, today is our "when we met" anniversary.  Exactly 28 years ago, I laid my eyes on the cutest boy I had ever seen.  He made my heart go pitter-pat, and my pitter-pat go booga-wooga.  (He still does.)  I figure my well-timed purchase lets him off the hook for a gift - I couldn't be more delighted with my gift and he didn't have to worry about what to get me.  I'll be giddy with excitement (if not surprise) when the UPS guy drops it off next week. 

And since I had a gob of Amazon rewards points, it cost me $6 and change.  I think I'll be humming "Favorite Things" until my brown paper packages show up next week.

P.S. To a couple of my favorite people in the whole world: I hope the cruise was wonderful and you have a safe trip home! Can't wait to see the pictures!!!

Seattle:  60 and rainy.  KC 94 and dry.

Giveaway Saturday

Last year, our congregation held our first school supply drive.  To be perfectly honest, it was a spur of the moment decision to undertake this effort, and we wound up surpassing our own goal by 50%, giving away supplies to 150 Rutherford county children in just under an hour.

This year's drive had lots more volunteers (including the same core team from last year), and we set our sights on helping 150 children.  The donated supplies kept coming in, and last night we prepared for 225 children, once again exceeding our goal by 50%.

Then the question was, would the families come?  I awoke this morning to thunder rolling - great for the lawn and my water bill; not so great for public events like the giveaway.  By 9:30, several families were queuing up outside our doors, and we opened 15 minutes early.  After the first wave of families, things slowed down, and I admit I was more than a little worried:  what if we didn't have a good turnout?  What would happen next year - would people be willing to give supplies and commit their time if we fell flat this year?  (I am a world-class champion worrier:  why limit yourself to worrying about tomorrow when you can worry about something that won't happen for another 365 days???)

As usual, my worries were unfounded.  And shame on me for doubting.

A few volunteers made signs and stood near the highway; it worked.  In just a few minutes, more families began to trickle in. As we closed in on the 2-hour mark, the trickle became a steady stream, and the last few minutes were a flurry of activity.  As we closed our doors to take down tables and haul out the trash, we were left with 4 remaining supply bags.  No sooner had we put them in storage when a volunteer came back in and asked if we had any supplies left - a family had just come in, hoping they weren't too late.  We handed over those remaining bags, grinning from ear to ear.  I guess the only question remaining is, how many do we think we can help next year?  And how many more than that will our generous members make it possible to help?

It's humbling to see so many of our members come out to help, and to see parents with tears in their eyes tell us how they were thinking their children would go back to school empty-handed next week, and how much this helped their family.  It is truly more blessed to give than receive.

Several waves of showers rolled through the area; our crepe myrtle became a weeping variety.  Maybe I just haven't paid good attention in the past, but I've never seen it do this.  Ah well, I'm sure the flowers will "shake it off" and right themselves soon enough. 





P.S.   A note to you-know-who:  Thinking of you, and hoping Alaska is gorgeous this week!

Temp in Seattle:  68.  Inside Passage forecast: rainy & cool.