This is a bad take. Read through the first thread again. Tim did a great job of prompting others to be more mindful of what they own, and be less wasteful. This thread is about appreciating what one already has.
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We have worked with refugees from Afghanistan and the Ukraine as well as women recently released from prison and visit with and provide help to homeless people every week. These things certainly have enriched our lives. I spent the latter part of my career running the state agency that administers affordable housing, poverty assistance, and homelessness programs. The work made it fun to go to work early and stay late. But coming home to cook, especially when we could share it with someone who really needed a lift, was always the best.
BTW third world conditions are not that unusual here in the USA. The migrant laborers who put food on our tables endure deplorable conditions.
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I am glad you love the pine block. I was always afraid it would be too sift and get chewed up. Next time I see a downed pine tree I may see if I can get a few pieces. Cross cut or longitudinal/end grain?
I still think there is a bad joke somewhere ā sorry I am trying to find the humor but I do not seem to able to find any. Was there not just a post about $3200 meal for four people?
Seem kind of strange a post about āyour three most irreplaceable cookwareā become insensitive to Ukrainian people. Of all the injustice things are happening to Ukraine, I cannot imagine a cookware post is something offend them.
Seem to me that the complaint of a cookware thread itself is the real First-World problem.
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Love making food for the peeps; not just refugees/migrants. Always comes back with new riches for me. When you have strong reason to cook, you shine your brightest. Now, give Polish chop suey to an Afghaniā¦JK, no pork. Since most donāt have DLs yet, Iāll take Latino families grocery shopping. Just watch 'em shop. No help needed there. We have some stores with kickass produce for cheap. Love seeing the relief when theyāre sniffing cilantro, and grabbing garlic. I get a āmuchas graciasā when they get home, then, sooner or later, Iāll get a regional treat they make with pride.
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I think most HOs realize they are discussing first world topics\problems and are grateful for their ability to do so.
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Oh . . . and: momās large black cast iron pan circa 1940ās, a beautiful china soup tureen I found in a consignment shop and the Waterford champagne flutes my aunt gifted me for my 21st birthday oh so many years ago.
In case of fire or flood these are admittedly not the first things I would grab.
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I was there, it is a tough situation and reading a thread about what one would give up, the a thread about what one would keep made me sadā¦ā¦
The people I interacted with were not able to keep three pans.
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Hi JMat,
To respond to Vecchiouomoās thread, I was reminded of the kindness I experienced in Japan, a trip I once guided for students from around the world, and a special gift from a lady in her 80ās to a newly married couple.
None of the items were pots or pans.
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The OP was writing about cooking items. A pan, knife and casserole.
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I would absolutely keep:
- 7 quart Le Creuset dutch oven
- crepe pan (my great-grandmotherās)
- My 6 quart KitchenAid Pro stand mixer
This subject has clearly hit you hard due to your experience with the Ukrainian refugees, so much so that it is affecting your ability to enjoy benign activities in a typically safe space. I would think a vast majority of us are very sensitive to what has quickly become a more scary world, and if we canāt talk about things as mundane as what we have in our kitchens in order to get away from those dark thoughts for a few moments, what is there left to enjoy? Should life be all despair all the time? I sure donāt want to live that way, and no one can be actively compassionate 100% of the time. Itās not at all mentally healthy. One of the recommendations for stress relief is to find things you enjoy and participate in them. Cooking and talking about cooking is stress relief for most of us. This thread and the other are simple discussions about what would stay or go in our kitchens in a hypothetical scenario. If it came down to protecting our families as those in Ukraine have had to do, Iām sure weād run and leave it all behind in a heartbeat.
Please allow yourself some time to get away from the burdens of the world, even if itās just a few minutes to relax and read something lighthearted such as what is being spoken of here. It is admirable that you were able to actively help, but participating in stress-relieving activities is also important for everyone, mentally and physically.
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Hi JMat,
If youāve been following Vecchiouomoās posts, you know how deeply he feels about these possessionsāand all the love they represent.
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Has this thread gone off track or what? Iāll keep my opinions to myself on certain issues or Iāll get catch grief. Back on topic:
My 40+ year old Corelle Autumn Harvest pattern platter.
A 2 1/2 qt. saucepan my granddaughter gave me for Xmas one year so I could steam broccoli for her favorite broccoli and cheese sauce. We refer to it as the broccoli panā¦
A very small blue T-Fal pan with cover. Still in like new condition
A Revereware saucepan that has stood the test of time.
OK, thatās 4.
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Thank you: compassion and despair. Probably equals PTSD.
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I did not enjoy watching everyone voicing their criticisms of your statement @JMat. Itās been a dog-eat-dog world in HO lately. This longtime Onion is getting tired of it all.
A private message goes a long way, Onions.
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I suspect youāre right. If the experience of all of that didnāt bother you in your heart, you wouldnāt be a good human.
You clearly also enjoy cooking, in spite of everything youāve gone through recently. You came here today to try to feel part of a community, which is a healthy step. If the world were more perfect, what items are meaningful to you in your kitchen, even if you had to go on the run like the people you mentioned? If you could take even one thing with you, what would it be?
I havenāt answered this postās original question yet myself. I have a hard time coming up with only three things that I can whittle it down to because Iām rather attached to lots of things. Truth be told, Iād leave it all behind if I had to, but I bet I would grieve over it, even if it could eventually be replaced. I have experience with this (see below).
Having said all that, there are two items in my kitchen that really donāt go with anything else I own, but they mean something to me. My own parents lost all their/our things but a few boxes of stuff when I was a teen. It wasnāt in a war, but it sure felt like it. We moved to another state, and my mother bought plastic dishes at a local discount store, all they could afford at the time. Things have gotten better since then, but when I moved out all those years ago, I was given those plates to set up my apartment. I got rid of most of them years ago, but I kept one dinner plate as a memory. It sits underneath the other dinner plates in my cupboard. I just canāt let it go. It reminds me of where I came from. That ugly plastic plate has been in my family since 1983! The plastic must be toxic as all get out from that era, but if I had to leave home and take a kitchen item, it would come with me if I had time to grab it.
The second item is a Corning Ware cornflower blue meat fork that my mother gave me. It just reminds me of childhood.
Lest you think all I am is sentimental, Iād fight before Iād hand over my Lello ice cream maker. It was god-awful expensive, probably more than one should spend on such things, but it makes really great ice cream and is enjoyable to use. I just love to watch it churn.
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I took a bit longer than I expected to piece together my list. The original prompt leaves so many ways to look at this idea. Which 3 items are so sentimental I could never let them go? Which 3 things are so fundamental to my workflow I couldnāt cook without them? Which 3 things would I take with me in an emergency?
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After my Grandmother passed away I picked out a beautiful little Fire King bowl with a lid. Itās the only truly sentimental piece I have. I believe itās made out of pyroceram similar to Corningware.
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I start every day with a 3qt Demeyere Atlantis sauce pan to boil my tea water. This sauce pan would be versatile enough to form a pair with one other piece of cookware to do most of my cooking.
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The one do it all pan I would pair with the sauce pan would be a 6-8qt 12" wide braiser or rondeau.
Iāve had to flee my home twice in 7 years due to the threat of fire, and the only thing we ever had time to grab was the pets and a backpack. Luckily we had a home to come back to both times. Thanks Tim, for pushing prompts with a bit more substance than the usual 300$ vs 350$ 8" frying pan threads.
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I do not ditch anything. As I said before. It goes in the garage on a shelf. Cookware purgatory. Might use it someday. In the meantime.
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See now - short, sweet and to the point. I need to make a note of that for myself to do the same.
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