In Which There Is New Cookware

Less than a week ago, we experienced a tragedy in the kitchen. Well, in the grand scheme of things in the world, it was probably a really small one, but it was a tragedy nevertheless. My favorite 9 by 13 (and, yes, those are inches) pan gave up the ghost.

I had probably been using the pan for 20+ years. It had a non-stick Teflon lining, and the Teflon started to come off in our food. That was its last time making baked macaroni and cheese.

I posted pictures of the scratched-up bake pan and the last meal it helped make on Facebook, which is (I have found, and maybe you've found this too) a MARVELOUS place to moan and groan about the hardships you have experienced in this world. I also posted these remarks:

So my favorite 9 by 13 pan has turned on me. I bet I've been using it for 20 years plus. It has probably been deteriorating for a while, but tonight when I made baked mac and cheese, I found some little shiny dark particles at the edges, which I carefully removed, of course. I remember that meme about how they can tell you're a Methodist - you love Jesus and own a 9 by 13 pan. Well, JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL!!! My 9 by 13 pan is DONE FOR!

My husband planned to go into town on this day to go to WalMart for some things, eat out, and run a few errands. So when I heard WalMart was on the list, I decided I was going to purchase a new pan. I looked up WalMart online and discovered a cheap bake pan available for $7. Great. That would do.

So I strolled into WalMart and checked out the kitchen goods area. I discovered an even CHEAPER pan than the one advertised online. I could buy a non-stick 9 by 13 pan for about $4, or a non-stick pan with a plastic lid for about $5. Great. I grabbed a pan with a lid and walked away.

But a few aisles away, I had second thoughts. Had I explored ALL of my options before deciding? After all, around here, a pan is practically a lifetime commitment. Would I really be satisfied with my el-cheapo choice?

And in looking around further, I discovered a REAL bargain: a two-pack of Pyrex baking pans. The one is 9 by 13, and the second one is 8 by 8. Best of all, the whole set cost just under $10. I TOOK IT! (And by the way, upon getting home and checking online, I found the same set - selling for either $26 or $32 - on Amazon. That made me feel even BETTER. Who doesn't love a bargain?)

I got the new Pyrex pans home and washed them in soapy water and dried them off and placed them on the stove, where I snapped this photo of them. They are ready to use now, and my husband and I gloated over them. How could we get so excited over such a simple thing!?!

My husband grasped the larger pan, which is QUITE heavy: "Boy, that's ONE BIG MOTHERF*CKER!" he pronounced, sort of proudly, in an unusually frank use of language. And so it was that the pan got its nickname.  ;-)

I don't have the ingredients for lasagna in the house. Perhaps I should have bought them when I bought the pan. But I am thinking - lasagna, sometime soon! After all, it would be a shame to let such a Big MF of a pan to go to waste!  And so it is that our tiny tragedy has a happy ending, less than one week later!

By the way, don't miss my previous baking adventures on Blip, including what came to be known in latter years the Ice Cube Tray Apple Pie Debacle; and the inspiring follow-up episode, Tiny Apple Pie Redemption. (Yes, we Methodists are big on redemption.)

And be sure to watch for my new cookbook:

Oven Mitts of Fury: Tales from a Methodist Kitchen.
:-)

The song to accompany the posting is the one I referenced above: Carrie Underwood, with Jesus, Take the Wheel.