Really Good Cookware - Number 20
Monday, November 20, 2006 at 10:04PM 
I have a question: why is it that only married people get the good cookware? Even the ones that don't know how to cook. I understand that it's all about "setting up your new household" and all that, but I still think it's completely unfair. I cook all the time; I enjoy it, find pleasure in it, want to invite friends over to my tiny apartment to eat it...and yet, when it comes time to cook I really only have the basics. Why do I need a man, a ring, and a party in order to parlay for good cookware?
I realized this over the past few days as I've been preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, I am cooking this year. I extended an invitation to my parents to come to my house as an option against our usual "three people staring contest" and surprisingly, they accepted. It was an oh shit moment for me to be sure. So, my parents and a few friends are coming for Thanksgiving, and I don't even have six wine glasses that match. I don't have a roasting pan, or serving dishes, or serving utensils, or water glasses, or a fat separator. (You know - the thing that makes gravy-making so much easier - let's just say I don't want to be skimming in front of my mother.) Over the weekend I visited the well-stocked portals of Bed Bath & Beyond and Sur La Table - as I walked among the aisles I realized, why don't I get to have any of these things?
That is why good cookware is number 20 on my list. The Mario Batali pre-measured prep bowls, the Emile Henry tagine, the emroidered dishtowels, the mandolines, the silipat liners, the Kitchen Aid classic mixers in ten colors, the square plates, the trivets, the copper zabaglione pots, and anything by Le Creuset. It's true, anyone who's worked in a kitchen knows that this is the kind of gear isn't in the "must have" category, or even the "nice to have" category, but only fits into the "nice to have in your custom-built-out gourmet kitchen with stainless appliances, hand painted tile, and marble counters" category. Too bad that the kind of people that generally have these kinds of kitchens can't cook worth a damn.
I cook as good as I look - which is usually pretty good, even on a bad day. But I can dress up real nice on special occasions. I only wish I had a large enough apartment to accommodate dinners for ten or twelve, and the kind of Edwardian architecture built-ins to house all of the wine glasses and plates I would need to set the table. Alright, I admit, I'm a little far away from all this, but the list is all about the dream...
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Lilou