This story actually started back in 2012 when my wife and I moved down to Corpus Christi to spend our twilight years on the coast. Of which after a couple of years, we knew there was no place like Burnet County to call home, so we came back to the Hill Country.

Once we got our house and started outfitting it, we were buying most everything new, as we were maintaining a residence up here and left our old stuff behind. One Sunday afternoon we went to the CC Convention Center to the annual home and garden show. We were more killing time than actually shopping for anything in particular.

I saw this fellow demonstrating stainless cookware and paused to see what the big deal was all about. There were many benefits to it, but I didn’t get interested until he showed us how you could put meat, vegetables and spices in one their slow cooker pots and a few hours later a nice batch of stew was ready to eat. Notice I didn’t say he added any oil, water or broth.

The pots and lids are constructed to form a seal as the heat builds up, trapping all the juices from the meat and vegetables, leaving you with the tastiest food around. And healthy too.

I am not willing to discuss how much “I” paid them for that set of cookware. Please note that I said “I”. My wife was in no way connected to this purchase. She didn’t object, she remained silent. I had assumed the cooking detail once I retired. She had cooked as many meals as she felt like she ever needed to by that time in her life.

I never regretted the purchase. Once we were back in Bertram, the large collection of cookware found a new home here. After several years of use, they still look like new.

Now to get onto the point of this story. I decided tonight go back to my roots. I would have white rice with butter, sugar, cinnamon and a little milk in it, just like my mother made us so many times growing up.

I got out one of those pans, put water in it and brought it to a boil. Then I put the rice in and simmered it for a few minutes, then covered it and set it aside, to let the rice absorb the water.

When I went back to remove the lid, it was locked on with a vacuum seal. As much as I tried to pry it off it was stuck tight. I had a young man here visiting and between the two of us it wouldn’t budge. It had welded itself together.

We tried running water over it, then we even put it in the freezer to see if that would have an effect on it. I figured surely I wasn’t the first person this had ever happened too, so I googled it. There was a YouTube video to help with that predicament. Something as simple as putting it back on the burner and bring the temperature back up and the steam inside released it. How amazing and easy was that. What did we do before the internet.

I’m sure glad KitchenCraft lasts forever a lifetime. I don’t think I could pull the trigger on that purchase again.