Whoa! Didja get the numbers off that truck?!?

January 15, 2006 - 9:22 a.m.

Let's burn something

When I was a young pup, fresh out of mom and dad's house and on my own, I didn't have much. Two of my sisters threw a kitchen party; they invited all my friends and they each brought something for my fledgling housekeeping efforts. One of the things I got was some dime store cookware; you know, the stuff that looks like Revereware but costs about $30.00 for the set. I was thrilled, having nothing.

When my grandmother died in the early '80's, I got some of the stuff from her estate. I scored a tiny little washing machine, that got hauled from WI to MI in the trunk of my 1966 Wildcat. Trunks were big, you could do that back then. Of course I had to prop the lid open with a 2 x 4. It never really sealed right after that. I also got a ton of knick knacks, some of which I still have 20 years later; and her set of Revereware. I guessed it was nearly as old as me. The stainless finish was still stainless; one of the pans had a blister on it, I'm guessing she left something cooking in her elderly absent-minded state once; before they decided she was a danger to herself and packed her off to The Home. I used that cookware right up until yesterday. It worked great although the skillet could be a cleaning challenge, and my first ex wife made off with two of the lids from my set, the bitch.

I bought myself another Christmas present yesterday. Slowly, I'm moving from a garage sale lifestyle. I'm not giving up the cast iron skillets though, the cast iron will always reign supreme in the oven although these can go in there too.

After being damn close to the brink five years ago (windmilling on the edge of the pier, as it were), it's nice to be able to live like a grownup... with grownup stuff. I've never been a culinary master, my desire to cook a meal has dropped off to the base level of cheerios marinading in a milk sauce, drizzled with honey, consumed before the TV, with two watchful pups nearby. I figure having good cookware is like having sharp tools, making my minimal efforts easier. When they pack me off to The Home, someone will eventually start a household with this stuff.

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