Pans and Eternity

I love things that are very well made and last forever, or threaten to. It was a blow last week when one of my much-loved Le Vrai Gourmet stainless steel pans, bought more than 20 years ago, parted from its handle. It was worse when in late spring our ancient food processor packed in. As that was an engagement/shacking up present we'd had it 29 years.

As regards the food processor design, or quality, has gone backwards, its replacement is far less solid, harder to clean, more awkward to assemble, and generally a bit annoying. Same maker though. Looks like planned obsolescence has hit the kitchen appliance market since the 1980s.

It's a lesson. Buy expensive and well made and it is cheaper than buying cheap and crappy. My late father-in-law's toolbox was full of chisels and wrenches and saws that he'd probably had since the late 1940s when he came to England. He too bought the best, but he also maintained them, oiled steel surfaces, sharpened blades, polished wood. I try to follow suit with kitchen gear like my paella pan, lovingly re-seasoned after each use.

I'm due to go to the tip today or tomorrow to get rid of rubbish that has accumulated here, including a Kodak printer that died young and unloved. I really need to transfer my thinking about kitchen stuff to my other purchases.

The Light Fantastic

We recently had a tree surgeon sort out a pine that had got far too big, and was blocking much of the light from our conservatory and two of the three floors above it. The difference that the clearer view has made is a revelation. My desk is flooded with illumination during the middle of the day, so much so a couple of times last week that I had to adjust my screen and drop a Russian blind a couple of feet to avoid being blinded by the light (bugger off Springsteen).

It makes a difference in other ways - tomatoes that seemed destined to remain green forever have suddenly ripened. Our next door neighbour is delighted that the newly renovated woodwork on his bays has a chance to remain dry. We hope that a tiny but nagging occasional damp problem in one corner of our dining room will go for the same reason.

The main difference though is in the way it makes you feel. Light is health-giving, needed in the production of vitamin D, but more than that it lifts your mood. SADS (Seasonally Affected Disorder) got a lot of publicity a couple of years back, Monty Don I seem to recall suffering in the darker months. Here in semi-tropical Preston we can hope that the threat of the winter blues is a little diminished this year.