Jolt Country

Out of nowhere, I got a $500 check from my old, dying grandmother today in the mail. I'm going to spend this on my kitchen, so I---

Anyone with a brain wrote: Wait, do you have a bed yet?

No, I'm sleeping on my couch still, but what I'm tr---

Anyone with half a brain wrote: And your "dining area" is still completely empty except for the three boxes you still refuse to unpack, right?

Well, yes. But we must have priorities. So this found money is going straight into the kitchen.

Now. $100 or so is going into a 10" chef knife. Period. I could have lived without this if I hadn't gone to cooking school and been allowed to use one. Now I have to have it. So, that leaves you with $400.

And, I'll tell you, what I want with that $400 is a nice set of pots and pans. Something snazzy. Something professional. Something with nonstick surfaces that you can still use metal with. Something that weighs more than three ounces. Something... good.

Tell me what to buy. I know a full "Calphalon One" set is about $500, and I'd be willing to splurge for the extra if it's really worth it, but I haven't studied this stuff, so I'm hoping one of you (not that I'm thinking specifically of Bruec here) will know more than I do, and be able to make decent recommendations.

Thank you for caring.

You've got me looking at the Craigslist housewares section for Denver. Dammit.

Oooo, lookie, I can get this.

I just haven't decided what I could be using it for.

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. Maybe when she dies she can send you her bed.

I did make it clear that this was my $500 we're talking about, right?

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. Maybe when she dies she can send you her bed.

I'm hoping for the dining set myself, but I gue---

HEY!!!! Don't you talk about Grammers that way!!!!!!!!

I'm just saying that to a corpse, those spending money on life-giving food, well, that's pretty gauche.

Hunh.

Vitriola's "blue" is, in fact, exactly the stuff we replaced our hopelessly-soot-damaged china with after the fire. It's durable as hell and looks pretty good. I give it two thumbs up.

Anyway, pinner, to answer your question, I've been cooking with All-Clad for years now. It's great, even when my darling wife boils all the chicken broth and lemongrass away and soots up the inside something fierce so I have to scrub and scrub and scrub until it is clean again.

Don't pay list for All-Clad, of course. But Williams-Sonoma sometimes has terrific sales on it. I don't know who else carries it offhand, but Bed Bath & Beyond or Linens & Things might. If you can get it at 50% off list or so it's completely worth it. Hell, it might even be worth list, but don't pay that for it.

Bruce

You could also just make another 4 Thai dinners and not have to worry about this problem.

An X-BOX and Halo 2. It's got all you could ever want: racism.