Post Script
I know that a PS is supposed to come at the end. But life interrupted the blog post and so it is at the beginning this time. There has been a real flurry of activity around here.
The inside of the house is complete. There is still the wool room, but it is on hold for a couple of weeks. The next couple of weeks are for finding places for the stuff still in the storage locker. We will also let go of some of the stuff from the storage locker. Before we moved I got rid of some things but kept others “just in case”! So now comes the final cull!
Hank
Meet Hank, my new induction stove. He is not really dressed fully yet – his backsplash is being installed tomorrow. But he is still looking pretty jaunty.
Hank is a thrifty guy. Uses less power, almost 50% less than a regular stove and cooks faster. Simply because the heat transfer is instant. The old stove that came with the house was on its last legs. It had an old glass top, which I hate. The heat cycling always made it hard to control the cooking process. Induction stoves give you much more control, almost as good as gas. Some chefs think that they are better. They certainly are safer for people and the environment.
Now Hank is also a pretty fancy fella. Turns out that he requires his partner to invest heavily into all the modern doo-dads! Like pots, magnetic pots, induction requires pots that will conduct electricity. Now, in my working theory, stainless steel pots are magnetic and nearly every one of my pots was stainless steel. Hank and I would get along just great. Or so I thought. That was right up until the moment I started cooking!
My base supposition was incorrect. Turns out old stainless steel pots were not magnetic! They need a carbon core to become magnetic!
So, Saturday evening I am planning to cook a meal on my new stove! I didn’t check the pots. I just filled and placed on the stove and waited for the magic to happen! There was no magic! There was no heat! This new relationship was going nowhere!
So I found a magnet and proceeded to test every one of my pots and my favourite roaster. Nothing, nada, they were all duds. Thirty years of collecting pots down the drain.
And I mean collecting. Do you remember when Paderno pots first came on the market. They ran sales with “try me” pots. I couldn’t afford the sets, or the regularly priced pots. I was a single mum on a very limited income, but I watched for those sales. I collected every “try me” pot there was and occasionally even bought a full priced pot!
So back to Hank and the Saturday night supper. So here it was. Six pm and nothing was happening in the kitchen. Talk about a fraught moment!
I was thinking I needed to start a new collection. Buy pots one at a time, just like the early days. My real beau, my husband was having none of that! He said lets go and get a new set of pots, a whole set, all at once. Live a little, he said. So off we went and bought a full set of induction ready pots!
Once we got home we washed what we needed and proceeded to start again!
Hank came through. There was magic! The water boiled within minutes, the fry pan heated almost as fast and everything proceeded as it was supposed.
Sunday I went and bought a new roaster. It was actually a large au gratin pan, made by Hestan. However, it looked like my old open roaster. And it could go from oven to stove top, which was necessary if I wanted to make gravy. Which I almost always do.
My old pots owed me nothing. We have already taken them off to find a new home. They held a lot of memories. We cooked big family meals with them. We shared food with friends around the table for high days and holidays and everything came from those pots.
I really do have a thing about pots. A while ago I wrote about my grandmothers pots. These pots will not work with this stove because they are made from cast aluminum. However, the turkey roaster will still roast in the oven. The birds are the best when roasted in that roaster! And memories will still be made.
I did keep my turkey roaster. Nothing could replace that.
Hank, the new pots, and I are going to team up. We will create more memorial moments using the new pots and old recipes!
Happy Cooking
Lynette
PS. for real! Next month’s square is almost done. If you want to add the beads you will need a few extra supplies. A 1.0mm crochet hook and 24 size 6/0 beads. Mine are clear mirrored glass. They sort of look like raindrops!
