How's My Third Child Doing?

So last week I mentioned my new third child (no not DH!), my All Clad pots and pans. And Agrigirl (so psyched you read my blog!) asked how they are helping my cooking. I have been giving this alot of thought this week and I have come up with a few things....

1-They are all the right size. I have another set of less expensive pots and pans that were a gift when I went to college and was living in an apartment dorm at NYU. I have been moving them from apartment to apartment all these years. But they are good for single person and couple quantities. The dutch oven is about 6 quarts, the pots are 2 quart and maybe 1.5 quarts. And I will keep using these. But the new set is bigger. The Dutch oven is 8 quarts, the saucepans are 3 quarts and 2 quarts. They work a little better for the quantities that I am cooking now that I am feeding a skinny three year old and a very fat baby.

2-The shapes are well thought out. This is true particularly for the saucepans. As you know water boils faster when it is in a wide shallow pan than it will in a tall column shaped pan. The 2 quart saucepan is tall and thin, which means I can make soup without all the water boiling away, which means less work. I like less work.The saucepan is less tall than it is wide, so it is easy to boil things like potatoes for mashing. I just like it when things work.

3-They are wicked cool looking. Need more depth to that answer? I didn't think so.

4-Nice aluminum core heats evenly. It really does. I had some concerns about aluminum leaching into the food though. So a couple months ago I ran into an All Clad company rep at Macy's who assured me that the aluminum core was well encapsulated inside the stainless exterior, and no leaching would occur. No aluminum comes in contact with food. But the heat is very even which allows for even browning.

5-Food doesn't stick to these pans. Amazingly enough, food doesn't stick so much that you have to scrub, unless you burn it. They are not non stick pans, but I have had amazing luck with eggs, oatmeal and other things. After cooking I have just let the pan soak and then a few hours later they are as gorgeous as ever. I like less work. Have I mentioned that before??

This really sounds like a sales pitch no? Well, consider it one. I have no issue spending good money for something that is really good and will last. I plan on never buying pots and pans again for the rest of my life. And after I am gone, I will let the Things decide who gets what pan. This cookware will still be around and kicking then. How is that for investment dollars?