Ruffoni Hammered Stainless Steel 7-qt. Braiser……I am in love!
It’s a new year and I am especially looking forward to two big milestone celebrations in 2014! In a few days I will kick off the year by celebrating my 45 Birthday, six months later, my  husband and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, and a month after that our twins celebrate their Sweet 16 th Birthday! Time truly flies by when you’re having fun!!
I have joked for years with friends and family that every woman needs to be given a bridal shower every 10-15 years to replace and/or update broken or worn out kitchen gadgets and appliances. How many times have you secretly wished for this? It amazes me that marketing companies haven’t presented this idea to the thousands of companies out there that provide kitchen items.
There seems to be a tunnel-vision focus on targeting newlywed brides. Married women (who actually have kitchen experience) and 10 or more years of kitchen experience under their belts have been pushed aside and placed on the back burner. It doesn’t seem possible that I could be the only one who would love to have another bridal shower! There must be others with this same dream?
Hundreds of thousands of women/ men/ cooks would be thrilled to be the recipients of a 10-15 year bridal shower party, don’t you think? If only one person stepped up to the plate and pitched this idea to the world, everyone would team up and follow with the same game plan. It would be a home run for everyone. Cooking equipment sales would increase and American kitchens would be updated with the newest cutting edge culinary technology!
Most of the time over the past three years was spent writing my first cookbook “Gifts of Gold and a Sicilian Kitchen with Sister Felicia, Harvest”.  Last year was spent in full-blown production mode, meeting deadlines to get  the cookbook to print. In the process of production my kitchen gadgets and appliances have taken a beating.  Many are either broken or on their last leg!
I’ve loved every moment of the journey. From compiling, writing, editing, creating, photographing, re-photographing, and actually making the recipes to the marketing and shipping of the book it was all an exhilarating experience and I am so grateful to my family and team for their integral roles in making this dream a reality!
WITH ALL THAT SAID….
I recently took a stroll through one of my favorite stores, Williams-Sonoma and spotted the most gorgeous pan I have seen. I was there to return my broken pepper mill. Just another casualty left behind in the wake of making that cookbook dream a reality. If you have never been to a Williams-Sonoma store before and you enjoy cooking, you simply must find a location near you and make a special visit. This stores wide range of products, will trigger all your senses!
 
 There are amusement park destinations for children…and there are William-Sonoma stores for cooks!
What is important in my kitchen might not be important to you in yours. But Williams-Sonoma is a place every cook (good, bad, experienced or not) can dream.  On this particular visit I spotted dozens of items I dream of buying some day. Some items that need replacing and other items that in creating a dish warrant a specific new tool.
Every time I visit William-Sonoma I think about that “10 year married woman bridal shower concept” for long time married brides that I have been joking about with my friends and family for years.
Good Morning Gloucester 