A Pot

      Not just any pot, the companion to my Always Pan: the Perfect Pot.  I've been wanting one since they introduced them, but I didn't actually need one.

      On the other hand, the nice ceramic nonstick is a lot easier to hand wash than stainless steel.  And the pot is exactly in between my large RevereWare pot and my big stewpot.  Since the one is sometimes slightly small and the other is so big that it's a chore to deal with, I was tempted.  Then the From Our Place people had a sale (It's still going on as I write) and prices dipped from "Maybe someday" to "Why not today?"  It arrived Friday.

      Mine is a bright acid-green (apple green or wasabi green).  I used it last night to make a kind of pot roast, with a London Broil in the starring role.  It's nice, heavy enough to distribute heat well and the nonstick interior is just as good as the pan.  The lids are compatible in size, though of different design, and the clever spoon-holding handles work nearly as well with my silicone spoons as they do with the purpose-made wooden spoon that arrives with the pot.  The body of the pot is thick cast aluminum, with a colorful exterior and a gray ceramic interior.

      Drawbacks?  The cast-in handles are like the short one on the Always Pan and they heat up just as much as it does, so you need an oven mitt or hot pad to lift it using them.  (A high-end Le Creuset dutch oven in the same size has the same kind of handles -- at well over twice the sale price.)  I have ordered some silicone grabbers made for that kind of handle and we'll see how that works.