In the olden days, my late sister had more or less a complete set of Le Crueset pans and saucepans.
She got bored with the colour - she had originally wanted the orange ones but her wedding presents got her the brown ones instead.
So she said I could have them! All of them !! A couple of thousand pounds worth of them!!! For free!!!
They were my pride and joy until the day my house was burgled. The basā¦ds took my Le Crueset. What a strange thing to steal!
Iāve never replaced them because of the cost but seeing your post has reminded me to look on eBay. I may get the bargain youāve just got. Well done that man! No doubt helped by Mrs.DrMarkH!
We have rather a lot of Le Creuset frying pans and casseroles. My mother gave them to us as she could no longer use them easily. Now I find myself in a similar position . One that had a slight chip is now a plant pot.
We have a collection of Le Creuset stuff too. However, for everyday cooking we (and by that I mean my OH) find we use our Cookut cocotte more than Le Creuset. Itās so light in comparison.
We inherited a set of saucepans from my mother when they became too heavy for her, and they still get almost daily use. The cast iron stuff seems good.
However weāve also had a couple of frying pans, and the non-stick is poor quality, plus the stainless steel pan bowed badly quite quickly despite not being obviously overheated, and replaced FOC once, the replacement bowed too. Reasonably sure itās not me, since my steel Circulon pan is still flat and good after about 15 years.
I love using āfamilyā stuff.
MiLawās butter knife
FiLawās long, narrow-bladed ham-knife and the amazing knife-sharpening steel which was his Dadās before him
and thereās lots of other bits and bobs, which make us smile and chat to those āelsewhereā
We have lots of inherited stuff too: kitchen table bought used by my grandfather, and their steel too, monogrammed EPNS cutlery from my Austrian grandparents hotel, to name a couple.
The most bizarre of these is a ceramic container about 25cm across, in the shape of a hollowed out tree trunk, which is used for storing odds and ends such as paper clips, batteries, shoelaces, birthday cake candles, rubber bands, tubes of glue, old wine-bottle corks, and a non-working wristwatch.
Itās known as āAuntie Maudās Potā, and there will probably be a fight as to who inherits it when my mother dies.
very glad (aka cheerful news) that Sud Ouest have NOT put todayās photo-article about Notre Dame behind a paywall.
Makes me feel proud to be French (in my head and heart) when I see how the crafts and trades have worked together and come up with something so beautiful.
Just got back from the Telefon repas at the salle in the next village. It started really badly. I got there early at 1145 for the midi rdv and was first in the queue to pay my way in. Refused, because I did not know the surname of the friend of very many years who had booked the table so I wasnāt on her list. Lots of old friends greeted me as I stood there like a bloody doorman for 45 minutes before he arrived and allowed me to take my seat. He and his wife were on our table along with others that I knew, but then he and wife were diverted to another table. Then Gilbert, āle Majorā (grace his Legionnaire rank) was spotted alone on another table so he was rescued and joined us.
But a very good meal was stretched out over several hours and the damage to my wallet was reduced from ā¬30 (including wine) to ā¬26 for some reason (perhaps it is in aid of kiddies and oldies? )
I cut up the leftover chicken leg from last nightās hearty couscous evening before I went out and split it between the dogs, they have been very good in my multiple absences this weekend so I thought it was only fair.
So now it is 30 minutes relaxation on the bed before their real dinner is due at 18H. This includes being licked all over and bowled over on first re-entry. It is so nice to be wanted.
Our central heating has been cleaned of nearly 30 years worth of debris, new pump fitted and is quietly warming the house. We found a decent local plumber, and he should have come last weekend, but was injured playing football. The weather is mild, and for the first time in a few weeks we wonāt need to light the living room stove.
Just back from the village Christmas market we went around the village in a huge crowd stopping for the kids to sing their carols. It culminated in carols in front of the Marie and the Christmas tree being turned on. I feel a bit sad, theyāve gone all modern this year, usually it is an enormous real tree (which to be fair a couple of years ago fell over in a wind storm breaking a brand new shutter!).
In the next step of the slow migration to la Vienne, I rode down on the motorbike today. A bit of a chilly departure at 2 degrees but it warmed up nicely by the time I got here.
. One that had a slight chip is now a plant pot.
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