Break the Cycle

Been cooking up a storm and the pans are 100% awesome.  Here's some eggs I made this morning - if you notice - no oil in the pans - and watch - the eggs are near the bottom of the photo - then I can just tilt the pan a bit and they slide right to the top - amazing.  Over easy - and they don't break.  Nothing sticks - if you've ever made frozen veggie burgers - they stick - without cooking spray - check this out and that's after I've cooked one side and flipped them - nothing stuck.    Oh, and last but not least, the hummus I made the other day - it's all gone now - but I did the entire bag in the crockpot then froze the rest of the beans - so the next batch while be quick and easy to whip up.

Last night I used one of the "sear" pans - because I wanted to cook, then bake.  Wonderful.  First I did the onions and peppers - they turned nice and brown and softened, but didn't burn.  Added my meat (97% lean ground beef .... frozen) and was able to brown that as well - without anything else burning.  Added the rest of my ingredients, make some bisquits from cornmeal to drop on top - and threw the entire thing into the oven @ 400* for 30 minutes.  When it was done - perfect - and clean up ??? A breeze !  Can't wait to try the larger sear pan on a nice size roast with lots of root veggies !

Used the 10# fry pan last night for eggs (yes, I know it wasn't on my menu, but the kids wanted eggs and periogies - and it's a lot easier then what I was planning!)  Verdict - awesome pan.  When they said "slide" - it did.  I have 3 kids that like dippy eggs, and 1 that doesn't - usually I start with the dippy eggs, and when I break one - it goes to the kid that doesn't.  She usually ends up eating before everyone else.  Not last night.  Nope - pan #1 of dippy eggs - perfectly flipped and fine.  Pan #2 - the same.  Pan #3 - 2 more perfect dippy eggs.  Kid #4 was just watching, I don't think she likes my new pans so much - because whoever gets their eggs first gets first dibs on the pot of perrogies ... she was afraid they'd be all gone by the time she got her eggs. I did use the smallest pat of butter to make the eggs - but 1/2 TBS in the beginning - and that's all I used, including making my own eggs AFTER #4 got her scrambled eggs....

Somedays I feel so lucky.  While we were away at the swim meet last weekend, my second daughter called to tell me FedEx had left a HUGE package on the porch.  I told her to bring it in.  I heard her over the phone struggling with the package.  I knew I had ordered a pair of FitFlops from Amazon, but I didn't think they were THAT big (ok, ok, I have exceptionally large feet - but still!) She read the package for me - Calphalon.  Seems as if I won the big prize.  Calphalon started an online group via Big Tent - and the first 400 people to confirm with their address were being sent pieces of Calphalon, with the agreement that they'd try them out, and then write an honest review of the piece they received.  Some people got waffle irons, or stockpots, or fry pans, or utensils.  I received the entire package - a 10 piece set !  How very awesome is that !  Now, the prize for reviewing the pans is the same 10 piece set - and it's valued ...