Knife Therapy and Lipstick on a Pig

My knives were in some serious need of sharpening. Unfortunately, my waterstones were in need of flattening, and you cannot have sharp knives without flat stones.

I've been resistant to investing any more in my sharpening stones by adding to my collection a flattening stone.  I have a DMT extra coarse, but that doesn't quite do it. Again, the ubiquitous wisdom of the internet was at my disposal.  I saw a video using a turned over piece of ceramic tile.  The back is unglazed and had a grid to provide abrasive qualities.  The combination of water and elbow grease helped get my stones in shape.  Not ship shape....I didn't have quite enough energy, and my hands and arms are sore today from the effort of the flatteneing and the knife sharpening. But my knives are sharp!

There is a therapeutic value in the the rhythmic effort of moving a knife blade over a progression of stones under water.  Not great for a manicure, but I don't have a manicure.

I had to forage for some food and visit home.  I'm 30 minutes away from my folks, and once I'm home, my inertia is high.  But I made a mission westward and had a quick visit with my stepmom.   My dad was away at his 'meeting'.  I then worked my way back eastward topping at Tuesday Morning because it was in the shop of the Aldi's that I wanted to visit.

At Tuesday Morning, I winnowed my way through the aisles.  I have many very nice things, that I've purchased from TM over the years.  My Sabatier and Deglon knives are part of that trove of treasure.  Still beautiful and useful after all of these years.  (And sharp too!).

I picked up some gift bags...particularly wine bags which are nice to have handy; a couple of double wire journals, and sauntered down to the housewares aisle.  I spent an inordinate amount of time on the kitchen stuff.  Picked up a Paula Deen french rolling pin, some silicon tipped tongs and then turned my attention to the cookware.

In the past, I purchased two enameled cast iron oval pots, one small, one large.  But at $35, you truly get what you pay for.  The enamel stained, cracked and began to peel on my largest pot.  Oh, there are still grill or water for wood uses for it, and it will not be retired--merely repurposed.  But you cannot confidently cook food in something if you are are concerned that your dinner will contain enamel chips.

Now to the lipstick on the pig chapter....

That's when I spied them...beautiful "Staub" 6.5 quart round enameled cast iron dutch ovens--at significant savings: 129.99 v. $300. The Staub identifiers were the  Staub sticker on the outside, Staub rooster nob (which I see costs about $30 on line), Staub  ribbon and Staub insert. However, I'm a natural researcher, and I think that what I bought is a dressed up Kirkland Signature pot with a Staub knob.  How did I find out?  Naturally, I'm going to check out my deal.  I noticed that the top is different on my "Staub".  Further, I note that my pot only says "Made in France".  There is no "Staub" on it.  And...the Kirkland pot has tab handles v. the loop on the Staub. The only difference between my pot and the Kirkland pot is the Staub handle. 

Do I feel ripped off?  Well. . . YES!  The euphoria of finding a fantastical deal v. a so-so buy is obliterated.  Buzzkill.  Sniff.  Buyer must always beware.   If I'm buying Kirkland Signature, please identify it as such. I guess that some of the following must be true:  (1) Kirkland Signature is made by Staub; (2) Tuesday Morning was either duped; and/or  TM knows what it is doing.

I no longer have a Costco membership as it is just too far away from me (40 minutes) and not within my traveling realm as I don't work close by).  If I want to buy Kirkland, (and the pot I have is here) I can do so for about $100 to 109 on Amazon (or 90 with a Costco Membership).  With the $30 Staub nob, I have a pot for the same price as I would spend otherwise sans the membership.

Sigh...  A good value, but not the good deal that I thought. And the pot is not so much a pig, but there is a great deal of lipstick on it.

I did email TM this a.m.