Kitchen Rediscovered - Quality vs. Quantity

 

In the kitchen, as in life, there are times when paying a little more for higher quality items really influences the overall value and pleasure it brings.   

20-ish years ago I was visiting a friend in Chicago.  While wandering through stores that I would have never considered "affordable" I found the perfect pair of jeans; but how could I ever justify spending $80 on a single piece of clothing?  My friend imparted an invaluable perspective: "would you rather spend $80 on one pair of jeans that make your ass look incredible, and you will wear nearly every day until you finally have to retire them with a funeral because you love them so much OR, would you rather have 4 pairs of crappy $20 jeans that you dread putting on because you feel frumpy and cheap every time you even look at them?"  Fair point.  My oracle then offered a barometer by which to judge all future purchases: "If you wore them just twice a week for a year that would be around $0.75 per wear...would it be worth it then?"  The jeans came home with me and were dubbed "The Good Ass Jeans."  By the time I had to retire them, my relative cost was well under $0.10 per wear and worth every damned penny.  

My Dad and I had a similar exchange years later in an aisle at Bed Bath & Beyond.  I had just closed on my first home and was feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility.  Still, I wanted to mark my adult milestone with a small gift to myself.  A french press coffee maker was something I had wanted for years.  Standing in the store I fussed with indecision holding the stylish $23 one that I really wanted in one hand and a clunky, but functional $16 one in the other.  Dad's patience was waning so he asked, "In three months when you are all settled in and making coffee on a Saturday morning will you miss the $7?"  Well, no.  I just didn't feel like I should spend even a penny extra.  Dad continued, "so in three months will you be happy with the ugly one or will you always wish you had spent the $7?"  With Dad's nudge I gave myself permission to not just settle for functional.  11 years later it still makes me happy when I pull the sleek press out of the cabinet for a special occasion brewing.   

I offer this walk down my memory lane to explain what it happening right now on my Christmas Wish List.  To say my sheet and pizza pans are battle scarred is an understatement.  I've had my plastic measuring spoons since college - it shows.  I have one really good knife in my kitchen and a drawer full of crappy ones that never see the light.  My enameled Dutch oven is lovely and well loved, but too small to cook family meals in without inevitably having a boil over stove top mess.  There are also a few kitchen items that are remnants of Adam's first marriage.  Sure they work and are in fair shape, but after 10 years it would be nice to use a crock pot without the   ex-wife's intrusive image coming to mind. 

In short, with my kitchen joy rediscovered (and having a number of kitchen tools at camp that are better than what I have at home) it's time for an equipment upgrade.  I've already started cleaning out cabinets and discarding things that haven't been used in years.  Quality over quantity is the current mantra so anything new means that the old will be promptly relocated to either the trash or donations pile. 

This is my current Christmas List:

A Bamboo cutting board that stores 7 flexible cutting mats

Bamboo Adjustable Drawer Dividers

A stainless steel knife block

A magnetic set of dual ended measuring spoons

Global 3.5" Paring Knife

Global 5.5" Vegetable Knife

Global 7" Chef's Knife

Global 6.24" Boning Knife

Pizza Pans

Silicone baking mats

A 1/4 cup scoop for muffin/cupcake batter

21x15" sheet pans

4.5 Qt Crock Pot

6 Qt enameled cast iron Dutch oven

Though not kitchen related, Extra large, fluffy bath towels are also on the list to replace the the current 10-14 years old ones...  We're adults.  The kids are adults. We work and are generally pretty frugal.  I have to remind myself that sometimes it is OK to update something before it wears out completely or just plain dies.  

Still instead of the proverbial devil and angel on each shoulder battling it out between good and evil, I have: "These are things you use routinely, it's ok to just want something nice now and then that will genuinely bring a spark of joy into your life when you use it!" vs. "But it isn't necessary, you have stuff that still does the job.  Maybe not as good of a job, but you get by and you can adapt.  You could spend that money on other things or other people.  Are you really going to engage in this kind of selfish wasteful behavior!"  

I guess I am going to need to spend a little more time convincing myself that it is not greed or blind consumerism to dream of replacing 14 year old bath towels or 25 year old measuring spoons.