I had dinner Friday night with my 24 year old son and his girlfriend.  I gave him a couple of hand me downs from my kitchen, and as usual, he was grateful and responded “I don’t know where I’m going to put this, but thank you.”

I came home, got online and read a negative post on one of the forums criticizing someone else’s cookware.  A young woman who had posted a picture of her new pan was crushed when a person felt the need to degrade the maker of her pan and then proceeded to post a picture of their whole set of high end cookware..  I felt so sorry for this young woman that I thought about her all day Saturday.

I have been passionate about all things culinary for as long as I can remember. I am not as young as I once was so my collection has grown to include items that at 24 years old, I could only dream about owning.  I admit I own Le Creuset, All Clad, Viking and some other high end cookware.  It also took me many years to collect these items.  I didn’t do it overnight.

I have also owned Revereware, Corningware and all my mother’s old hand me downs.  I cooked in those pans until they were passed down again.  Some of my cast iron pans are unbelievably old and have passed through so many people’s hands, I think some of them still have the memory of their prior owner’s touch and feel in them.

So while I review items on this blog, I don’t want to loose the thought process from where we all started.  When did it become alright to bad mouth someone else’s kitchen because your pot or pan happened to cost more?  Do I think that the All Clad Copper Core skillet is nicer than a Walmart pan?  Of course, but I also think if you can cook a mean fried chicken dinner, I don’t care what kind of pan it came from.

I have seen the arguments that cast iron is better than all clad and copper is better than non stick, but the truth is if the pan works for you, than that is what you should use.  I love the look of copper, but I hate the maintenance.  For those who swear by it, I say that’s great.  As long as you find joy in your kitchen, I don’t care if you are using a 1939 Griswald that is so ugly you don’t want to bring it out when company comes over.

Sure we all like to brag a little when we get something new (especially if no one else in your house appreciates that great find), but it doesn’t mean that we have to take the wind out of someone else’s sails to fly our own. Some have gotten so caught up in the “status” of owning something they have forgotten the joy of why they wanted it to begin with.

This doesn’t mean that I won’t review items objectively and state their pros and cons, but I won’t put down a product because it isn’t “high end” or is not my taste.  Will I still drool over the All Clad colanders, sure.  I’m always going to dream about great items for the kitchen.

So the next time someone shows you something for their kitchen that they are proud of –spread the culinary joy!  “I’m happy for you!”  I really am.  I hope that every day in your kitchen, as well as in your life, brings you joy!

Oh and by the way, keep the hand me downs coming, Mom.