Yes, Guillermo Del Toro’s film Pan’s Labyrinth is really wonderful. Go and see it!!
However, behold (click for larger):
I forgot to mention these earlier. This was my Christmas present to myself (with some contribution from my mum and sister – thanks!). I’ve been saving up for while to replace the All-Clad pans that I’d been using a lot before. I love the simplicity of the design, combined with the usability and durability that comes with well-made professional cooking equipment. There’s nothing like them1. With the exception of one or two all-Clad pans, all the ones I used a lot in the past went with my ex-wife after we separated and then divorced last year (they were mostly all hers originally), and so I’d been meaning to replace them, and have been saving up to do so. Now, of course, I’m having problems using them as they are so nice and shiny… sigh….
It’s all for the greater good of bringing you more cooking posts here on Asymptotia, of course!
-cvj
1All-Clad people are the Cat people of the cooking world. Calphalon (hiss!) people are the Dog people. You can’t be both. That would be wrong.
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Awesome collection! We have similar pan taste.
But I cringe to see the forks in the teflon pan.
(Pans are a terrible thing to lose in a divorce. I’m so sorry.)
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I originally felt a strong attraction to the All-Clad line of pans, and then I picked one up and the spell was broken. They have the most uncomfortable handles of any pan I have ever held. How can you enjoy the full cooking experience if you wince every time you have to flip an omelet, etc.? Calphalon won me over, and I have yet to look back.
P.S. Not to throw too much credence behind Clifford’s assertion, but I am also a proud dog owner.
I have a vivid imagination, Clifford. 🙂
I would be more happy if the contents of the pans made your mouth water, rather than the pans themselves!
-cvj
Your beautiful cooking pans are making my mouth water. I cannot tell you how tired I am of living like a poor student. I’m anxious for my misadventure in Italy to finish.
“Calphalon or not, I am most definitely a cat person.”
(Hisssss!) I sense a disturbance in the force….
Seriously, there’s some dissonance there… you’ll convert to All-Clad one day. Or you’ll get a dog. One or the other. 🙂
-cvj
I woke up one day last Fall and realized that I am a grown up now and that I no longer had to use the set of pans that I got with grocery store stamps as a graduate student. I had used those “free” pans for over 20 years and they were pretty bad. So I asked for pans for Christmas (clearly the gift in vogue for this past season) and everyone in my family chipped in. Now I have every pan that Calphalon makes, including the turkey roaster! I honestly have no idea how I managed to live so long without real pans.
Next, I am working on replacing the stainless silverware that my college boyfriend’s brother and wife found in a shoebox in their attic and gave to me (it’s terrifyingly ugly)…. and then there’s the plastic college football stadium cups that I still use…
PS: Calphalon or not, I am most definitely a cat person.
I have done pretty well with copper bottom Revereware for quite a while. I think you get used to cookware the same way you get used to driving a car. There comes a familiarity that is comforting.
Elliot
All-Clad is wonderful stuff. I heartily recommend the big, deep roasting pan. Perfect for doing a Turkey or other large roasting hunk of meat.
Gosh, I just had to buy myself a new pan and I guess I’m a dog person.
There is no proper way to cook cornbread, as far as I can tell. I like it crispy, so I pour the batter onto a couple big non-stick cake pan and make it like crackers. And my favorite brand is also the cheapest. I try to buy them when they are on sale for 3 for a dollar. It turns out that the recipe dates to the 1930s, and the company that makes it to the early 1800s. I would guess that it must have been served to me often as a youth.
I love my All-Clad Stainless and Copper-Core cookware. I agree: it’s the best, and it’s a pleasure every time I cook. I use the 5.5 qt Dutch oven quite frequently: in a 200-degree oven, it works exactly like a slow-cooker on “Low”; in a 300-degree oven, like a slow-cooker on “High.” The 4-qt sauté pan is a standby, as well. Also the 4-qt pot (soups and stews) and the 3-qt pot (casseroles). Great stuff.
I have four Le Creuset pieces too. Great heavy pans for long stews, oven cooking (as you say), etc. And you’ll have seen their wonderful wok in my detailed post on Beef Lo Mien a while back on CV.
Hmmm, that reminds me…
Cheers,
-cvj
Now i am officially envious; the Peace Rose and other garden/landscape opportunities mixed with a nearly full set of All-Clad is just too much. I was for years a faithful believer in Le Creuset (great to cook with, terrible to pack and move), and still have and use their large pots for stews, soups, and oven cooking, but slowly over the last decade i have been adding an All-Clad here and there (skillets and saucepans so far). Your giving to yourself is certainly a giant leep forward.
Yes.. no kitchen is complete without a cast iron skillet, imho.
Cheers,
-cvj
Nice! We’re still slumming it with IKEA. The one pan I really feel I need is a cast iron skillet so I can make proper cornbread. My mom was using one as a doorstop back home, but I thought cramming it into my suitcase would have put me over the luggage weight limit. Oh well.