Gather Ye Rosebuds

I say this, not as a food geek, or someone with superior food and cooking knowledge, but as someone who can read, and generally has a bit of common sense for a lot of things.

So, with the prospect of the Calphalon One rebate offer, I have been on amazon.com looking at a few possible pans to use this and the gift cards with to my advantage. I will still need to see the pans in person and get a feeling for the size and practicality in my kitchen. In the meantime, there's the web to get the ideas going. While I don't need this particular size, since I have it in nonstick already, I still looked at the 9" chef's skillet, also called a "grain pan", for the reviews. Among the many excellent reviews, there were the negative ones. And these people are like, "I can't cook my eggs in it...boo hoo hoo!" and other equally stupid things. Now, go back a few sentences to where I said it is also called a "grain pan" and see if you smart people can figure out the most popular use for this pan. Correct! Grains. This pan is for cooking pasta, rice, barley, etc. GRAINS...which involve using a fair amount of water or other liquid for the cooking process. It is also commonly used to make sauces with because of the narrow bottom and rounded sides. Again liquid. If you want to cook eggs, use a regular skillet, not a chef's skillet. It was not designed with the intent to be able to use it to cook eggs with. Maybe one of the two larger chef's skillets, but certainly not the 9" one. There's just not a lot of flat surface to work with in this small pan. Although, while a little odd, I do admit that I have frequently cooked eggs in mine without a problem, but it *is* nonstick. Eggs just need nonstick. Grab yourself a One Nonstick skillet to keep your collection the same. The only difference is the skillet is nonstick in the nonstick collection. The fact that the lids in the nonstick collection are glass, and stainless steel in the regular collection is just not an issue here, since it is lid-less. I am sure you could probably use the regular One line to do it, but do yourself a favor and stick with a nonstick pan for your eggs, ok?

( Next idiot says... )

I forgot to mention it, but my everyday 10" pan came in yesterday, or was it Friday? Whatever.

I am a little disapointed in it though. For starters, it is one of the pans made in China, and you really can tell a difference in just looking at it compared to the chef's skillet I have that was made in Toledo, Ohio. And yeah, what the reviewers on amazon said about the handles is true. They are thin, and kinda pointy in a hard way, but I think the bigger issue is how wide they are. The handle on the lid is 2.5 inches wide which is fine for me, and the handles on either side of the pan are just 2 inches. My tiny hands feel scrunched with my fingers wrapped around them, so I can't imagine someone with bigger hands holding the pan by them. I doubt these issues will play a significant role in my cooking with them, but I will have to cook with it to tell. Still, it makes the newer Calphalon One Infused cookware look more appealing. Made in Ohio, and the handles look better, but I will have to see that in person. I may just try out a piece of it with the Macy's gift cards I still have from earlier this summer. Or with their rebate program thingy which has pans that would be good.

So, all that said, I do still want to cook in it, and I have like, no money til Friday. I have some frozen chicken breasts, so I could cheaply get a can of mexican style corn, maybe some beans, and some yellow rice and throw it all in the pan to cook. That would be fast and cheap. I bet I could do it. I want to do a light curry with winter squash (acorn or butternut?) and sweet potato, along with apples, dried apricots, raisins, and maybe some dates. Sorta fruity, autumn inspired. Maybe serve it with basmati?

I need to get Chas up. We have things to do. Maybe money from a client, and then I could get stuff for a nice dinner tonight.

I also need to remind the men in this household which pans they can use to cook with or wash for me. And since I offer to exclusively wash my own pots and pans, that should not be a problem. I can't deal with typical misuse of the pans like using metal utensils, too high heat, or putting it in the dishwasher. I am too ananl with my cookware. :p