What's Cooking?

As a child, Sunday mornings were something I loved. It was the one day when Mom cooked breakfast. Biscuits and gravy, waffles, bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, always lots of good, wholesome, artery clogging food. If you know me, you know how I enjoy eating. As I've grown older, I have come to enjoy cooking as well. This morning's experience has taken much of the joy out of my day.

A recent upheaval has resulted in a change of address, and the need to acquire new furniture, cookware, and handy gadgets. The furniture was easy. A few donations from family and friends, plus a timely moving sale and my new apartment is all set up to enjoy football on a 60" flat screen HDTV. Still waiting on that donation. Trips to K-Mart, Best Buy, Lowe's and WalMart have filled in a few of the empty spots in the kitchen. Just a little more work and (and a TV donation) and the place will be perfect.

What better way to celebrate my new home, than to cook up a big Sunday breakfast. One I wouldn't have to share with two brothers, two sisters, a mother, a step-father and a dog named Bert. Scrambled eggs, sausage patties, grits and toast would be a great way to start the day. Okay, need to put grits on the grocery list. I break out my brand new, non-stick skillet and start the sausage cooking, while I whip up the eggs. While the eggs are cooking in the sausage grease, I'll put the toast in the... Better put toaster on the list and use the broiler to make today's toast.

Should sausage patties stick to a non-stick skillet? When I purchased my economy cookware from WalMart (MainStays brand), I had assumed the non-stick label referred to the inside surfaces being resistant to the adhesion of food. Apparently, it means the pan will not stick to the stove. While this is a good thing, it did require the pan be scrubbed briskly with a non-abrasive scouring pad, before the eggs could be cooked. During my non-abrasive scouring (accompanied by several abrasive exclamations), I managed to remove most of the non-stick coating and alter the shape into something resembling a kidney. The toast, sausage and scrambled eggs (minus the 24% which are now a permanent part of my kidney skillet) were all delicious. However, the overall experience, while educational, was not satisfactory.

Later today I'll be making a trip to get some high quality cookware and a toaster. Maybe next Sunday's breakfast will be a better experience.