Talena Winters

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To Everything There is a Season

Nearly two months ago, only days before Thanksgiving, I broke one of my favourite and most-used pieces of Pampered Chef Stoneware--my Rectangular Baker. I had received it as a wedding shower present, and it was well worth the investment of the lady that bought it for me! That item had been used in my house nearly every day for the last seven years, since the family grew large enough to require it.

Unfortunately, while I was still getting used to the stove in our new trailer (which was laid out a little backwards from our other one), I set it on a back burner, and turned what I thought was a front burner on high to boil water in a pot. Only a few minutes later, an ear-splitting CRACK was heard and my beloved Baker jumped apart into several jagged pieces.

I nearly wept.

This piece normally goes for somewhere in the $60 range which didn't really fit into our budget in October, but I knew I would need to replace it right away. So, with the help of a few friends (who supported my catalogue show), I was able to get a new one on the November 60% off hostess special from Pampered Chef. And with my Hostess Bucks I got a Rectangular Flat stone, replacing my last one which broke several years ago. Yay!

Brand new Pampered Chef Stoneware! Yay!

When it came last week, I couldn't resist photographing my new baker with the Rectangular Baker lid which I earned in 2003 when I was a consultant for the Pampered Chef. It has been used nearly as much as my original Baker was, and therefore has approximately the same amount of "seasoning".

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Thing of beauty, isn't it? Believe it or not, all that "ugly" brown look is desirable in this kind of cookware!

As thrilled as Jason was that I replaced these pieces so economically, when he saw that new stoneware sitting there with it's virgin, still-rough surface his reaction was, "Great! More stoneware that I won't want to touch for five years." To him, the effect is akin to the sound of fingernails on a blackboard. I don't understand it, but I love him, anyway! ;-)

Ironically, only days after the Thermal Shock incident, Jason replaced the offending stove with the one from our last trailer because the "new" one's oven (which was actually much older) went kaput. He used its parts to fix some of the issues that the other one had given me trouble with, and so far, it seems to be doing its job admirably.

Chalk up one more for the "parts trailer!"