Pots and pans.

 We have been house sitting in quite a few homes now and we have had kitchens of various sizes and quality. One or two were pretty scummy, but mostly they have been nice kitchens and in some cases, just lovely large kitchens to cook in.

This house on the Gold Coast has a really nice kitchen. It is not large but it is very well designed and easy to work in with plenty of storage. I still have my own kitchen gear in storage, but also have brought some of it into the house here to use too.

The house sit owners have left a fully equipped kitchen but a few of the pots and pans are past their best now, and mine also are fairly old, so I have been watching for sales so I could get some new saucepans for myself and also use while we are here.  I finally took the plunge last weekend. Robins Kitchen has got a really good sale on, and we were up on the Sunshine Plaza on the Sunshine Coast for the day to visit some people. We went into the big shopping plaza there, it’s a huge area and very nice. We found Robins Kitchen and after fossicking around for a while I bought a set of three saucepans, stainless steel, Baccarat brand, known for good quality, and reduced from $300 to $139.00.

Repacking ready to take back.

 The first time I used them I had trouble with them. I used the large one for spuds, mashed them and then used a normal spoon to get the mashed potato onto the plates. As Peter was washing up he brought the pot into me and showed me the scrape lines all along the bottom where I had used the spoon. I was not impressed at all.

I rang the shop and they said to take them back and as I was on the Gold Coast I could take them back to a closer shop, in our case the one in the Runaway Bay shopping centre.

The manager there was really good…..she was as shocked as I at the scrapes on the bottom. She offered a full refund….but I still needed a set of saucepans so eventually decided on another set of three Baccarat pots but the black non-stick type.

So I hope these will be okay.

Over the years as the family size increased I have had quite a few different pots and pans, some of the cheap and nasty ones, and a few expensive ones when I could afford them. The expensive ones are always worth their money, they just outlast the cheap stuff. So I am slowly replacing my old stuff for good quality new stuff, with the intention that they will last me until the end of my cooking days.

Still going after 48 years. Peter put a different handle
on the middle one, it cracked and was unsafe.

 The first set of saucepans I ever had were a wedding present from my uncle John. They were Murray Brand, made in Australia, copper bottom and had a really good reputation. I have used them for years and years, and eventually handed them on to my daughter when she was first married and setting up her kitchen. She is still using them after 48 years use. Not bad eh?