I celebrated a birthday recently and must have been a very good girl last year because I was gifted two Le Creuset cast iron pans.

My generous husband gave me a deep covered sauté pan in a beautiful blue. Poor dear searched high and low for this pan. I admired it in a Williams Sonoma catalog, but he forgot where I saw it. It’s not available in many places yet.

Oh my, is that pan heavy. It’s “almost” too big for meals for the two of us. Luckily we’re big leftover fans. I’ve made a few “one pot” meals in it. I haven’t quite mastered the “one pot” method, but am working on it. Less clean up is always a plus. The pan works well and clean up is a breeze. It has an enameled interior like the dutch ovens. My only problem is finding someplace to store it. I think a rearrangement of the kitchen is needed.

My wonderful in-laws gave me a 2 3/4 qt oval dutch oven in Dune which is a beautiful cream color. They gave me my first Le Creuset dutch oven several years ago that started this trend in fine cookware. I had always admired Hope’s dutch oven and they surprised me with my first Le Creuset. Now I have this lovely piece to add to my weighty collection. It is the perfect size for two. I can’t wait to use it. They told me they want to keep me cooking. I will gladly oblige, gifts or not.