Foodie Field Trip- Is This Heaven?

It doesn't take much to get me excited these days- and a new store in a brand new shopping mall here in our city hit the nail on the head with one, and only one, store included in the project. Now some people need to drive an expensive car. Some women want the best, biggest and highest clarity diamond jewelry. Other people spend hundreds of dollars on hairstyling and spa treatments, and others spend hundreds on designer bags and clothing and shoes. I'm over all that stuff. Now, I spend my "big money" on things that are important to The Chef and I- high quality kitchen equipment and "good" grocery products. Seriously, those things go hand in hand. You might splurge on a $500 piece of AllClad but if you're just going to cook Hamburger Helper in it, save the money and buy a big box store cheap skillet. For us, we prefer to purchase what we consider investment pieces, things that will outlast us. 

Good knives are a must. I have accumulated a very nice collection of Wusthof knives from their open stock- I was able to purchase exactly the pieces I wanted and didn't end up with a knife or two that I'll never really use. I bought my block from eBay and saved a nice chunk of money on that. In fact, I often still do browse the eBay offerings and just see what's out there for sale. I sometimes grab a good buy. Now, don't think I don't also own some other knives, because I do. I have a couple Mercer Genesis knives and I'm quite impressed with their quality. Guy Fieri suckered me in to buying a big Knuckle Sandwich chef's knife when they first came out, and I couldn't resist a set of Tomodachi knives one day when I was wandering around a Sam's club. Cute, colorful, somewhat practical and disposable when they become too crummy to continue to sharpen. 

My real and true love is cookware. I've owned a set of Calphalon for a good ten years now and while some of the pots have seen better days, they are heavy, solid, the lids are all still intact with no loose handles or broken pieces. These guys are built for the long haul for sure. My next true love is cast iron. All kinds of cast iron. I love the old fashioned black cast iron that needs to be seasoned and has to be hand washed and might have been passed down for generations. There is something really special about owning a skillet that a great grandparent used to cook with. Just imagine all the breakfasts, all the bacon, steaks and burgers, all the pancakes and fried potatoes. You can't buy that kind of history. When it comes to cast iron, for me, the great French Le Creuset does it for me. Sure, I own some of the old fashioned black cast iron too, but the color pop of the Le Creuset just makes me happy. Sturdy and heavy, these beautiful cast iron, and a few ceramic, pieces are absolutely investment pieces. My first piece was a Dutch oven. I chose a color that was perfect for me- Marine, a dusty and deep turquoise that wasn't really bright or pastel, it is smokey and has a gray tint to it. I wish I had bought more pieces in this color because...... ugh, it's discontinued.  Instead now you have to make your choice between beautiful bright cherry red, sunny yellow, the perfect lime green, deep blue, a bright and pretty turquoise, pumpkin orange, and even pink. They do add new special edition colors from time to time as well.

My LeCreuset Dutch oven in Marine.

I said this is a field trip so that means we are going somewhere, right? You bet! Have you ever hear the old movie line "Is this Heaven? No, this is Iowa"? That sentence holds an entirely new meaning for me. Heaven, in Iowa, is the brand new Outlets of Des Moines shopping mall that features one store that fills my heart with joy- the Le Creuset store. My sister/friend Jessica and I made the trip the brand new mall on opening day and we had only one destination in mind- Le Creuset. She and I have a lot in common. Besides being family, we have an obsession with kitchen stuff. Cookware especially and beautiful things like bright enameled cast iron. We do the majority of our hunting at thrift stores, where you can score some great vintage pieces but we never pass up a chance to wander around, touching, holding, lusting over the beautiful brand new Le Creuset pieces.

Before we continue any further, let me insert a very brief lesson in French pronunciation here, because we cringed outwardly at the mispronounced name being spewed by literally ALL the other customers in the store and at least one employee. Say it with me: Le Crew Say. Again, Le Crew Say. Not Le Crew Set. Got it? Ok, let's move on.

The entrance walkway into the mall, which, by the way is a gorgeous open-air mall with coverings like an open roof over some of the walk ways, lovely glass store fronts that aren't looking over parking lots (those are all "behind" or around the outside of the plaza type setup), plants and benches sprinkled about, very contemporary and classy, leads right straight to nirvana......... the Le Creuset store.

Floor to ceiling glass walls give Jessica and I an incredible view of the goodies inside the store. Every size, every shape, every color of the rainbow.  We can hardly contain our glee. I said WE because she was just as giddy and giggling as I was was. Walking through the doorway literally brought tears to my eyes. I'm not even exaggerating here, guys. So many gorgeous cast iron pieces in such stunning colors, and we can TOUCH them and pick them up and hug them. Red, orange, deep blue and turquoise met us at the door and I immediately latched on the braiser. I have been wanting this piece for several years. I've entered every giveaway I've found trying to win one- and nada.

Off to the right the orange pieces have been transformed into pumpkins. I understand you can easily do this with a dry erase marker but I'm not so sure I'd try it. I was nearly jumping up and down like a kid in the toy store at this point. 

Just beyond the pumpkin display- kitchen linens. Gasp!! Le Creuset kitchen LINENS!!!!! OMG OMG OMG! Don't laugh, you people ought to know my by now.

The back wall of the store features all kinds of fun add-on pieces, like mini coccottes and mini baking dishes, utensils, a variety of cookbooks, teeny tine serving tureens, butter keepers, and crocks for all kinds of things. They even had wine glasses every bit as delicate and well crafted as Riedel. 

Teapots!!!! I die!!!!

If you wanted to, they had a table set up with filled pepper mills, in colors to match all your Le Creuset pieces, for you to try out and give it a few grinds. 

Rounding out the store, the pink pieces that you see in October and again near Valentines Day- shaped like hearts and flowers and super cute, a big selection of ceramic baking dishes, again in colors to match all the cast iron pieces, apple shaped pie pans, casserole dishes, lasagna pans, and a selection of teapots I could barely keep my hands off.

Floor to ceiling Dutch oven wallpaper

Jessica and I wasted no time getting signed up as Preferred Customers and believe it or not, we left the store without making a purchase, BUT, we both made a shopping list and we plan on working our way down the list in the very near future. We just could not pass up a visit on Opening Day!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Knife down!!! A catastrophe in the kitchen

My knives are like gold to me. If you spend five minutes in the kitchen or a kitchen store with me, you figure this out  very quickly. Wusthof is my favorite but I have a collection of open stock pieces from other knife makers because I like to try different knives from time to time. They are not all high end knives either. I have an IKEA santoku knife that I can't imagine giving up. I splurged on a Guy Fieri Knuckle Sandwich chef's knife and it was a decent knife, not something I'd want a full set off. A Cutco knife is my go-to for butchering. It's solid in my hand, heavy bladed and the sharpest thing I've ever cut with- cuts through chicken bones with no effort.

I became obsessed with owning a ceramic knife the first time I saw one in a cooking magazine. Obsessed is no exaggeration. At the time they were a little outside of the price range I wanted to pay for something so delicate but after a few years the prices came down and I was able to score a decent Kitchenaid brand ceramic knife to try. It was good and bad. Super sharp, super light and felt great in my hand. However.....you cannot sharpen these at home. The edge is extremely delicate and it wasn't long before I noticed tiny nicks and the tip had chipped off. Believe me, I was very careful with this knife, always hand washing and always storing it in it's case. So...not very durable and I'm glad I didn't splash out a lot of money.

As often happens, kitchens have accidents. Tragedy struck our house on December 14. A black cooktop and black handled knives........you can imagine. One melted Wusthof, my favorite one to top it off. I began to search for a replacement and a few friends recommended other brands to try. One in particular seemed to get the most "votes"- Mercer Genesis. Even a friend in culinary school uses them and searching prices online they were an incredible value. I ordered a new paring knife to replace the poor sad melted Wusthof as well as a flexible boning knife- something I really need for butchering game.

The knives arrived so fast I could hardly believe it. I was immediately impressed by the craftsmanship. The handles are easy to grip, slip resistant and have a slight cushion feel to them. The blades are hefty. No cheap flimsy and thin crappy metal here. These are high carbon German steel and have a lifetime warranty- VERY important to the professional chef. Now to put them to use and see how they perform.

I think many people who know me would be truly shocked to hear me say I don't see myself buying another Wusthof if I can get knives of this quality for a fraction of the price. The edge stands up to a lot of use, the handle is comfortable and fits well in my hand. It's almost a rubbery-feeling handle so it's slip resistant. I love the flexible blade on the boning knife. How I ever lived without one I'll never know.

If you're looking to invest in new knives or a good solid starter set I highly recommend the Mercer Genesis line. You will not be disappointed.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."