LeCreuset Archives - Good For Spooning

There should be a meeting I can go to. It has become clear that I have a cookware problem and its name is LeCreuset! I am not sure what it is about that gorgeous enameled cast iron cookware that makes my pulse race, but I love it. I remember “finding” it for the first time at the LeCreuest outlet in San Marcos, Texas in 1996 right about the time I started to get “serious” about my cooking. The Hubs was in med school and the only thing I could afford in the store was a silicone spatula. Not to be deterred, I visited that store often and touched and looked at all of the “Flame” colored cookware, wanting each and every piece. Having only watched Julia Child in black and white, I didn’t realize until years later that LeCreuset was her cookware choice as well. Once I learned THAT tidbit, my cravings became insatiable.

Make no mistake, there can be no substitute

I don’t know if it is the variety of beautiful colors, or the curve of the three lines as they encircle the lids, or the name itself if you say it the RIGHT way – it is le crewSAY not lah crooSET – but I just love it. I love the way it looks. I love the weight of it. The way it performs is brilliant and I have never been disappointed with any of my purchases. And make no mistake, there can be no substitute. It must be French and it must be this brand. Others are equally gorgeous, but as is often said, there is no love like your first love. None of my pieces match and that is intentional. I love the mix of colors and shapes and I have no need to own a matched set of anything. Each piece was bought on sale, either because the store was going out of business, the color was being retired (like the kiwi, fennel and cobalt) or the store opted not to carry my beloved brand any longer. And it’s not like they sit there collecting dust. I USE them. All the time!

A couple of years ago, we remodeled our kitchen, putting in extra cabinets and super cool rolling drawers for my cookware. Upon completion of the installation, the Hubs said, “Now you have enough cabinets to hold everything”. Well, that worked for a while. As I moved items into the kitchen from the OTHER places in the house where they were stored, the cabinets began filling up faster than either of us thought was possible. Now they are completely full and the new law of the land is that I can’t bring any more kitchen stuff into the house unless I get rid of something of equal size/shape/space allowance to make way for the new item. Notice the verbiage. I can’t bring any more into the house…he said nothing about buying new items, just that I can’t bring them in the house. Getting rid of a wooden spoon to make space for a stock pot isn’t gonna cut it. This is a problem.

I always start in the clearance section

In January Mom came to visit and we made a trip to SoCal. On the way back, we stopped at the Williams-Sonoma outlet in Primm. Big Mistake. John thinks I should be banned for life from that store AND Sur la Table. I can’t leave those stores without some cool shit tucked into my reusable shopping bags. I simply cannot do it. It’s almost as if it’s programmed into my DNA or subconscious or something. For the record, I always start in the clearance section of any store. On the latest trip I found a gorgeous LeCreuset forest green enameled cast iron Dutch oven, for 75% off. Of course I couldn’t resist!

“Is there any particular reason why there is a LeCreuset box in the back of the car?”

True to my word, I didn’t bring the new Dutch oven in the house, knowing the agreement of removing something before I could bring it into the kitchen. I left it in the back of my SUV, never telling John about the purchase. A few weeks after the purchase, John saw it in the back and said, “Is there any particular reason why there is a LeCreuset box in the back of the car?” I told him about my purchase and sticking to the agreement we made, He grunted and said that he really meant I wasn’t supposed to BUY anything for the kitchen until I got rid of some stuff. I gently reminded him that wasn’t what he said.

Still it sits in the back of my car. And it is a signature piece autographed by Chuck Williams which I didn’t even know until I was loading this pic!

Here we are, coming up to Easter in mid-April and it is still in the back of the car!

I have given away, to a friend in need, a box and a bag full of kitchen stuff, but can’t make space for the pot where it belongs in the kitchen. The Offspring says emptying the dishwasher or putting away any of the hand washed items is like playing “Kitchen Tetris”. I keep rearranging things hoping to magically cull some space. It’s not working. I will have to get rid of SOMETHING, but I am not ready to part with anything…yet. Truth be told, when The Offspring moves out into his own apartment (after paying down his student loan debt), some of my cookware will go with him. You know I have doubles of LOTS of things, including, but not limited to two 7¼ quart oval LeCreuset Dutch ovens. Keep in mind that the above pic is ONLY my LeCreuset. It doesn’t show the stainless, non-stick and classic unglazed cast iron pieces… He’s going to be the only single guy I know in his age bracket with decent cookware that is not a culinary professional.

Whoever said, “There’s no such thing as too much of a good thing,” is a liar. It is possible to have too much of a good thing when it comes to cookware. And for now, it seems I do have too much of a good thing…and the box is still in the car.